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Honorable Bennett J. Johnston 

 March 2, 1990 

 Page 2 



Mr. Brooks stated that he believes there is no case where 

 streams can be enhanced through careful manipulation of buffer 

 strips, yet in a 1984 paper from the Pacific Northwest Stream 

 Habitat Management workshop (attached) and again in a 1986 

 North American Journal of Fisheries M anagement paper (also 

 attached) , Mr. Koski indicates that enhancement is possible. 



Mr. Brooks' attitude toward 100' buffer strips on minor fish 

 streams and complete watershed setasides for the "important 

 salmon producers" indicates that he is advocating absolute 

 protection of every single potential fish. This is not the 

 "multiple use" concept that the U. S. Forest Service is 

 charged with. In any case, the biologists I have talked with 

 assure me that there is no evidence that a minor impact on 

 habitat will result in a measurable reduction in the number of 

 fish produced by any particular stream. 



Indeed, streams are not fragile, ancient, unchanging eco- 

 systems; they are in a constant state of change. Natural 

 sediment is constantly being moved through a stream. Trees 

 (large woody debris) in streams continually come and go. 

 Openings in the forest canopy are ever changing and catastro- 

 phes of nature are a fact of life. Mt. Saint Helens blew up 

 in 1980 and devastated streams in Washington state. Yet, 

 within the last ten years many of these streams have substan- 

 tially recovered. The south fork of the Toutle is open for 

 sport fisheries again. The north fork has not recovered as 

 well because massive amounts of sediment are being deposited 

 annually. 



Please do not unnecessarily lock up vast acreages of the 

 timber we depend on and constrain the U. S. Forest Servicers 

 ability to manage the forests. We are proud to have partici- 

 pated in many stream enhancement projects and we anticipate 

 more projects in the future. Surely the positive benefits to 

 fisheries management from the timber industry should be 

 weighed against any potential negative impacts. 



Sincerely, 



Owen J . Graham 



Timber Division Manager 



:ts 



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