SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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51–600 l
1998
NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
FIELD HEARINGS
before the
COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
SEPTEMBER 2, 1998, PASCO, WASHINGTON, AND SEPTEMBER 3, 1998, BOISE, IDAHO
Serial No. 105–111
Printed for the use of the Committee on Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house
or
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Committee address: http://www.house.gov/resources
NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
FIELD HEARINGS
before the
COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
SEPTEMBER 2, 1998, PASCO, WASHINGTON, AND SEPTEMBER 3, 1998, BOISE, IDAHO
Serial No. 105–111
Printed for the use of the Committee on Resources
NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES
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DON YOUNG, Alaska, Chairman
W.J. (BILLY) TAUZIN, Louisiana
JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah
JIM SAXTON, New Jersey
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado
JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California
WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland
KEN CALVERT, California
RICHARD W. POMBO, California
BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming
HELEN CHENOWETH, Idaho
LINDA SMITH, Washington
GEORGE P. RADANOVICH, California
WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North Carolina
WILLIAM M. (MAC) THORNBERRY, Texas
JOHN SHADEGG, Arizona
JOHN E. ENSIGN, Nevada
ROBERT F. SMITH, Oregon
CHRIS CANNON, Utah
KEVIN BRADY, Texas
JOHN PETERSON, Pennsylvania
RICK HILL, Montana
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BOB SCHAFFER, Colorado
JIM GIBBONS, Nevada
MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho
GEORGE MILLER, California
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia
BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota
DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii
SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas
OWEN B. PICKETT, Virginia
FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey
CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California
CARLOS A. ROMERO-BARCELÓ, Puerto Rico
MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York
ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD, Guam
SAM FARR, California
PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island
ADAM SMITH, Washington
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
CHRIS JOHN, Louisiana
DONNA CHRISTIAN-GREEN, Virgin Islands
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RON KIND, Wisconsin
LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas
LLOYD A. JONES, Chief of Staff
ELIZABETH MEGGINSON, Chief Counsel
CHRISTINE KENNEDY, Chief Clerk/Administrator
JOHN LAWRENCE, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
Hearing held in Pasco, Washington, September 2, 1998
Statement of Members:
Chenoweth, Hon. Helen, a Representative in Congress from the State of Idaho
Hastings, Hon. Doc, a Representative in Congress from the State of Washington
Nethercutt, Hon. George, a Representative in Congress from the State of Washington
Romero-Barceló, Hon. Carlos A., a Delegate in Congress from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Smith, Hon. Linda, a Representative in Congress from the State of Washington
Smith, Hon. Robert F. (Bob), a Representative in Congress from the State of Oregon, prepared statement of
Statement of Witnesses:
Anderson, James D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Prepared statement of
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Baker, Jim, Northwest Salmon Campaign Coordinator, Sierra Club, Pullman, Washington
Prepared statement of
Baker, Jim, Northwest Salmon Campaign Coordinator, Sierra Club, Pullman, Washington
Prepared statement of
Response to questions from members
Ballard, Clyde, Speaker of the House, Washington State Legislature
Prepared statement of
Curtis, Jeff, Western Conservation Director, Trout Unlimited, Portland, Oregon
Prepared statement of
Erickson, Richard, Secretary/Manager, East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, Othello, Washington
Prepared statement of
Ferrioli, Ted, Oregon State Senate
Prepared statement of
Givens, John, Executive Director, Port of Kennewick, Kennewick, Washington
Prepared statement of
Hale, Bob, Hale Farms, Hermiston, Oregon
Prepared statement of
Kilbury, Charles D., Mayor, City of Pasco, Washington
Prepared statement of
Lundquist, Lynn, Speaker of the House, Oregon State Legislature
Prepared statement of
Mastin, Dave, Chairman, House-Senate Executive Branch Task Force on Salmon Recovery, Washington State Legislature
Olsen, Darryll, Ph.D., The Pacific Northwest Project, Kennewick, Washington
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Prepared statement of
Phillips, Rob, Director, Northwest Sport Fishing Industry Association, Oregon City, Oregon
Prepared statement of
Stelle, Jr., William, Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, Washington
Prepared statement of
Response to questions from Committee
Ziari, Fred, Chairman, Eastern Oregon Irrigation Association, Hermiston, Oregon
Prepared statement of
Communications submitted:
Bowman, Leo M., Chairman, Board of County Commissioners, prepared statement of
Christensen, Shirley D., President, Sunset Orchards & Farms, Inc., Othello, Washington, prepared statement of
Fancher, Helen, President, Washington State Assoc. of Counties, Tacoma, Washington, resolutions passed by
Johnson, Linda M., Director, Government Relations, Washington State Farm Bureau, Olympia, Washington, prepared statement of
Lonn, Robert D., Consultant/Planner, NW Council of Governments & Associates, Soap Lake, Washington, prepared statement of
McCleary, Edward, Tacoma, Washington, prepared statement of
McGregor, Alex, State President, Washington Association of Wheat Growers, prepared statement of
Meissner, Louis, Chairman, Governmental Affairs, Greater Pasco Area, Chamber of Commerce, Pasco, Washington, prepared statement of
Norris, Charles R. ''Chuck,'' Hermiston, Oregon, prepared statement of
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Perleberg, Columbia Basin Nursery, L.L.C., prepared statement of
Puzey, Kim B., Ph.D., General Manager, Port of Umatilla, Umatilla, Oregon, prepared statement of
Riley, Susan, Secretary/Treasurer, Columbia Basin Environmental Council, Soap Lake, Washington, prepared statement of
Riley, William, Director, Big Bend Economic Development Council, Moses Lake, Washington, prepared statement of
Stueckle, David J., LaCrosse, Washington, letter to the Committee
Sullivan, Suzanne, Burbank, Washington, prepared statement of
West Coast Seafood Processors Association, Portland, Oregon, letter submitted to Hon. Don Young
Hearing held in Boise, Idaho, September 3, 1998
Statement of Members:
Chenoweth, Hon. Helen, a Representative in Congress from the State of Idaho, prepared statement of
Kempthorne, Hon. Dirk, a Senator in Congress from the State of Idaho, prepared statement of
Statement of Witnesses:
Batt, Philip E., Governor, State of Idaho
Prepared statement of
Cantrell, Shawn, Northwest Regional Director, Friends of the Earth
Prepared statement of
Doeringsfeld, David, Manager, Port of Lewiston
Prepared statement of
James, Olivia, President, The River Company
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Prepared statement of
Kerr, Thomas, Commissioner, Valley County, Idaho
Prepared statement of
Klemm, Jerry, President, Pulp and Paperworkers Resource Council
Prepared statement of
Limbaugh, Mark, Executive Director, Payette River Water Users Association, Inc.
Prepared statement of
Little, Jim, Idaho Cattle Association
Prepared statement of
Maynard, Robert A., Perkins Coie, LLP
Prepared statement of
Pollot, Mark, Foundation for Constitutional Law
Raybould, Dell, Chairman, Committee of Nine, Water District 1
Prepared statement of
Sanchotena, Mitch, Executive Director, Idaho Steelhead and Salmon Unlimited
Prepared statement of
Stelle, Will, National Marine Fisheries Service
Stuart, Tom, Board President, Idaho Rivers United
Additional material supplied:
Chapman, Sherl L., Executive Director, Idaho Water Users Association, prepared statement of
Darm, Donna, Regional Administrator for Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Region, prepared statement of
Moss, DeWitt, on behalf of Northside Canal Company, Twin Falls Canal Company, and Committee of Nine, Water District 1, prepared statement of
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FIELD HEARING ON NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1998
House of Representatives,
Committee on Resources,
Pasco, Washington.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in the Columbia Basin College, Workforce Training Center, Pasco, Washington, Hon. Richard W. Pombo presiding.
Mr. POMBO [presiding.] Before we get started, I would like to announce that there is an overflow room. It is room 130 and 131. There is, I am told, a live video and audio in the other room.
So everybody could either try to come into the room, or there is an overflow room that I am told is comfortable and has live audio and video in it so you can see the hearing. But we'd like to get everybody in if possible.
Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to bring the House of Representatives Committee on Resources to the state of Washington and the Tri-Cities area. We look forward to this hearing today to learn more from you about how the Endangered Species Act is being implemented and enforced in this Northwestern region of the country by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Chairman of the Committee, Congressman Don Young, the Congressman from the state of Alaska, sends his best regards and his regrets that he cannot be here with you today. He has asked me to chair this field hearing for him.
In 1995 when the Republicans became the majority party in Congress we all had great hopes that we would be able to amend the Endangered Species Act and implement common sense approaches to species protection, similar to those that the 1973 Congress envisioned when they originally adopted this law.
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Congress believed that this law would be used to prevent the extinction of species, but never dreamed that it would turn into a tool to be used by a small minority of people to impose Federal land and water use controls on the majority of people.
They also never envisioned the widespread injunctions and economic and social dislocations that many of you are now familiar with.
For the last 4 years many of the members here present and others in Congress have worked to bring about a common sense approach that protects both species and the rights of our citizens.
Unfortunately, instead of sitting down with Congress to discuss the future of protecting the nation's species, the Clinton Administration has chosen to stand in the way of genuine efforts that would have brought about change. Changes that would have protected the right of our farmers and landowners while still ensuring the protection of wildlife.
The ESA has been law since 1973. Currently there are over 1100 domestic species protected under that law. Time is long over-due for the administration to work cooperatively with Congress to fix the ESA. It is outdated and it is broken. It is broken for people and it is broken for wildlife.
As many of you in this room today can attest to, it punishes those who do the most to provide habitat for wildlife.
Today this hearing will focus on the role that the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, plays in enforcing the ESA. The ESA gives NMFS the authority to perform all the duties required by the ESA when they involve ocean dwelling species and marine mammals.
The Fish and Wildlife Service enforces the law and performs all of the duties required by the ESA for all other species. However, when land based activities are affected by the ESA, both Federal agencies are involved in regulating those activities.
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If you have endangered species on your property in this region of the country, you may be required to obtain two Federal permits under the ESA for the same activity.
It seems to me that there is no need for two Federal agencies to perform exactly the same duties and regulate the exact same activities.
The House Resources Committee is here today to hear from you. We are here to listen to your ideas on what we, as your elected representatives, can do to improve the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
I strongly believe that as our country begins to enter the 21st century we must and can find a more friendly and fair way to accomplish the goals of this outdated species protection act.
Surely we can reduce the regulatory burdens on average citizens, small businesses and state and local governments, while still protecting our natural resources. I hope today's hearing will help you find a way to make improvements in this law in ways that work for both species and for people.
I would like at this time to recognize the Ranking Democrat, Mr. Romero-Barceló.
STATEMENT OF HON. CARLOS A. ROMERO-BARCELÓ, A DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I congratulate you for holding this hearing today.
Since this legislation that is the subject of the hearing will require a complete reorganization of at least two government agencies at a considerable expense to the American taxpayers, I sympathize with the need to hear from witnesses more knowledgeable on this subject and the issues than most of us in Congress.
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I appreciate the chairman's concerns for the Endangered Species Act and the idea that we must be looking for ways to improve our endangered species recovery efforts.
But I have reservations that the Bill that would strip the National Marine Fisheries Service from its authority to implement the Endangered Species Act is the best solution.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has spent decades gaining the expertise to address endangered species problems related to marine fisheries and species, while the Fish and Wildlife Service has focused its expertise on terrestrial species.
I feel that a transfer of authority at this time could slow the recovery process for salmon and other marine species at a time when many of these species are in trouble and can ill-afford a delay.
For an island like Puerto Rico it has proven that officials to have just one agency making management decisions for both marine species and commercially valuable marine fisheries, to divide responsibility between two different agencies with two different cabinet heads has a potential of a real quagmire, creating twice the bureaucracies and taking twice the time to make management decisions.
In fact, the Committee has already heard from representatives of the West Coast fishing industry who are opposed to the legislation for this very reason.
If there are problems with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act, we need to address those fundamental issues.
One of the more serious issues is funding. In the past decade the National Marine Fisheries Service's responsibility with respect to endangered species has grown dramatically, but their budget has not followed suit.
This year the administration requested a $10,000,000 million increase in the Endangered Species Act, but the appropriators only provided level funding.
As a result of delays in the development of recovery plans, consultations and other activities that cause people to complain that the National Marine Fisheries Service is not doing its job will continue.
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This bill does nothing to address that problem.
In addition, fundamental changes are needed in the law itself to streamline many of the processes that people find so frustrating, regardless of whether it is the National Marine Fisheries Service or Fish and Wildlife Service implementing the law.
If we want to do something to really resolve the Endangered Species Act conflict, we must provide the agencies with the financial and legislative resources to do their job in a timely fashion.
It is clear that the majority of Americans support the protection of endangered species and the law is not going away, and whether moving our problems from one agency to another is the solution, I don't know. But let us work together to reauthorize the law in a way that makes it better for both the species and the people.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. I would like to recognize Congressman Hastings at this point for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. DOC HASTINGS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, I really appreciate you and my colleagues for coming here to the Tri-Cities and Central Washington for this field hearing.
Clearly, the Endangered Species Act and its implementation has impacted those of us in Central Washington.
And let me just give you my observation on how the ESA has worked here.
Using the Endangered Species Act, I believe that Federal regulators have squeezed their way into every aspect of our lives. From water usage, commercial and sportfishing, irrigation diversions, hydroelectric production, and even flood control, an assortment of Federal agencies end up making decisions for our region, oftentimes circumventing the state and local decisionmaking process.
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While we have a variety of different species protected under the ESA here in the Columbia Basin, by far the most sensitive, and important I might add, is the issue of saving and restoring our historic salmon runs. The history and culture of our entire region is at risk in this debate.
The ability of the Federal Government to deal with the decline of salmon runs will test the ESA's efficacy in addressing difficult and complex regional issues.
Locally the Federal Government has already declared the Snake River steelhead, Snake River Sockeye, the Snake River Chinook and the Upper Columbia River steelhead as endangered. That's just essentially in Washington State. Adding Oregon and Idaho, the list becomes even larger.
Clearly the role of the Federal protection agencies is going to grow if more and more populations are listed.
As you well know, the Endangered Species Act does not protect species. Let me repeat that, because I believe it is one of the largest misunderstandings of the ESA. It protects distinct population segments.
This is a regional classification that ignores the strength and health of the species in other regions. A specie may not be in danger of extinction at all, and in fact there are many that are not even close to being extinct.
But the ESA specifically provides for the protection of distinct population segments of species, and therefore the protection of Sockeye salmon of the Snake River or Chinook salmon of the upper Columbia can be federally protected under the ESA.
Even the controversial Northern Spotted Owl has never been in danger of becoming extinct, just locally extinct.
I would conclude that there is a big difference.
I share the belief that regional populations of distinct species should be preserved as best as possible.
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To accomplish this, however, we must look at the entire life cycle of a protected population. This is where preserving and restoring salmon populations become very, very difficult.
We are committing regional resources, and in some cases national and international resources, to the preservation of a local resource. And we know so little about the conditions that each salmon stock prefer. Therefore, making necessary adjustments become very costly, with a very limited likelihood of complete success.
Let me give you an example. Why can the Sockeye return to the Okanogan River through nine dams and through hundreds of miles, and still be a viable specie, while the Upper Columbia River steelhead, who goes through exactly the same dams, the same hundreds of miles, is listed as endangered?
The question is, is it ocean conditions, the timing of the harvests, their path through the Northern Pacific, the temperature of the water, the depth of the migration that protects them from predators, or something else entirely?
I think we need to find out, and that's the coordination that I think needs to be looked at.
Unfortunately, our Federal fishery managers and their supervisors, right up to the Department—to the Secretary of Interior, have so consistently blamed the dams for the decline of all the salmon runs that they have become the targets of the most dramatic adjustments for the sake of the region's salmon.
Deep drawdowns below the minimum operating pools, reducing irrigation diversion below Federal contract levels, eliminating timber harvests near streams, delaying grazing permits for cattle, and outright removal of dams, all of these options have been studied, considered, or mandated in our region, with no certainty of recovery, or even making the sustainability of salmon, and I think this issue must change.
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What has yet to be comprehensively addressed in my view is the commercial harvest of salmon in the open ocean.
I don't understand how our fisheries managers can continue to allow the harvest, and I am not referring to incidental catches in this case, I am speaking of harvesting endangered salmon stocks by commercial fishermen. I think we can all remember that when the spotted owl was listed in the 1980's, that the threat of removing one tree within their owl circle was considered a take under the ESA.
Now, because the Sockeye salmon from the Snake River is not visually distinct from Sockeye salmon from Alaska or Canada, commercial fishermen continue to harvest millions of pounds of Sockeye each year.
I will be very interested to hear why the National Marine Fisheries Service has not required each commercial fisherman to be issued an incidental take permit for every endangered salmon caught or killed.
I would like to know why our region has committed billions of dollars to recovery efforts when commercial harvests continue unabated.
I will just make this, quickly four recommendations that I think need to be a part of any ESA reform.
First, we need a comprehensive approach that doesn't leave predator control to nature. If we are to protect the region's salmon runs, we must protect them from their natural predators, as well. For example, the Caspian Tern population at the mouth of the Columbia is now one of the largest in the world. There has been a recent report that the Caspian Tern has consumed over 11 million smolts. I might add that that is more smolts than we barge down the Columbia River.
So we need to look at it, have a comprehensive approach to the predator problem.
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Second, we need an approach that doesn't put commercial fishing and tribal fishing under different Federal jurisdictions.
And third, we need to have the BPA and the Northwest Power Planning Council working with the Federal agencies, not at the mercy of them.
I would like to see a program implemented, in conjunction with the Power Planning Council and BPA, that would voluntarily offer to compensate fishermen for setting aside a portion of their salmon harvest.
This is very similar to what we do with land as far as habitat under the Conservation Reserve Program.
And, finally, I would argue that most importantly, local citizens need to be at the table, making decisions for themselves.
We had a case of that in the upper Mid-Columbia with the Mid-Columbia PUDs agreeing to a habitat conservation plan that will last for some 50 years if it is implemented.
But the bottom line of that whole plan is that local people will be at the table. That's the approach we need to pursue.
So, in closing, I would just like to say that once again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for bringing this hearing, and I am looking forward to all the testimony from those that are affected, either pro or con, perceived or not, as to how the ESA is being implemented by NMFS.
And with that I will give back my time.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Congressman Smith—Congresswoman Smith.
STATEMENT OF HON. LINDA SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mrs. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for coming. You could have stayed home with that new baby. All of a sudden that baby isn't that new anymore.
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The Committee as it sits today is a committee of very diverse people from around the West. And what we find for you here from home is that there's quite a different opinion of who should control our destiny in our state.
And they have come up with some false choices that I want to hear addressed today by those testifying that if we are to work to recover salmon and to preserve our environment and the endangered species, then we automatically have to give up our other rights, like property rights.
And I think what I want to just lay as a base of the philosophy that I would like to hear spoken to, do we believe that that assumption is accurate?
And I am going to say that I don't. And I guess I set that up a little bit. I don't think we have to have the choice of recovery and protection of species or protection of our property rights.
I do believe that water is a property right. And if you deny water as a property right, held to the States, controlled by the Federal Government, then you give property rights to the Federal Government to control the moment that they control the water.
And what we're seeing around the Nation here, and that's why it's important we have this hearing here, is the Federal Government moving to control water levels which then control water rights, whether they take them or not.
Because if they change our water levels, they've got our water rights.
So, this is an important thing today that is happening.
I am very, very grateful for the Chairman of this Committee. We have several Subcommittees. We happen to be on this, Representative Pombo and myself, but we have several Subcommittees, and most folks take August off. They go home. They get some rest, to go back in September.
So, for this Committee to take their time and Representative Chenoweth and Representative Romero-Barceló, to come here, means a whole lot for our region, and I do want to thank them for coming to our state.
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I want to make a statement about your representative. Doc Hastings probably knows this issue better than anyone in Congress. And he really fought to get this hearing here. Our Committee didn't have much ability to hold hearings. We're just about to the end of the 2 year period. And so for him to advocate the way he did, you have to know, you've really got a champion for you from this district.
And I look forward to hearing the testimony.
Mr. POMBO. Congressman Nethercutt.
STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE NETHERCUTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for allowing me to participate in this panel. I am not a member of the Resources Committee in Congress. I am a member of the Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Interior agencies and the Agriculture Department, those land management agencies that affect farmers and ranchers.
So I have a particular interest in this issue because of the subcommittees on which I serve have to pay the bill for these activities that the Federal Government engages itself in relative to our natural resources.
I want to thank Congressman Doc Hastings and Congressman Pombo and the rest of the panel for being here today to chair this very important hearing and listen to the citizens of our region.
Doc and I represent more than half of the entire geographical area of the state of Washington. And the two primary interests that are affected in our respective districts are agriculture and the timber industry, or natural resource based industries.
From an economic standpoint, agriculture and timber play a tremendous interest, as part of our state's economy and our region's economy.
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So, what the Federal Government does to us in those industries has a tremendous impact and a reverberating effect on corresponding industries that rely on agriculture and timber.
My bias has been, since I was elected to this job, was to be sure that the people who work and live in the Fifth Congressional District, north in the timber areas and south in the agriculture areas, are able to continue their way of life, that they are able to continue to farm and ranch and live the lifestyle they have lived over generations.
And to the extent that the Endangered Species Act has an impact on that way of life, it has a very great impact on the way I look at the actions of the Federal Government.
The bottom line for me is to try to listen here today, and frankly I am very pleased to see so many citizens here who have a stake in the decisions that are made by the Federal Government, the NMFS, and all the other land management agencies, as it relates to the Endangered Species Act.
So I welcome you here as a nonmember of this Subcommittee or Committee, but as a very interested part of the equation of paying for those things and trying to make good judgments about how, you as taxpayers, pay for the activities that these government agencies decide are in our best interests.
Beyond the very severe impacts of the ESA on private property rights and the two industries that I mention, decisions relative to breaching dams and locking up our forests under the name of protecting species will have a terrible effect on our agriculture and timber industries and have a terrible effect on our economy.
So my hope is that we can resist that at every instance, because I think it's wrong headed, and to the extent that government agencies have a desire to do that, you'll find everyone on this panel I predict fighting against those kinds of actions.
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So, thank you for coming. Thank you, Chairman, for recognizing me, and I look forward to a good hearing.
Mr. POMBO. Congresswoman Chenoweth.
STATEMENT OF HON. HELEN CHENOWETH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to say I am very pleased to be here. I am a member of the Resources Committee and I am a member of the task force on the Endangered Species Act. And so this subject holds a great deal of interest for me.
It's great to be here in Doc Hastings's district. I see, Mr. Chairman, that we have great witnesses in the three panels, and I am looking forward, as I know we all are, to hearing from those witnesses.
And I just want to say I very much identify with the comments of my colleagues. Thank you very much.
Mr. POMBO. Just to start off, there's one member that's out here that I would specifically like to thank for being here.
Congresswoman Chenoweth in the 25 odd hearings that I have chaired on the Endangered Species Act, has been at every single one of them, whether it was in New Orleans or South Carolina or California or where it was, she showed up at every single one of them. And I appreciate her diligence in representing the people that she's elected to represent.
To start off, I would like to call up the Mayor of Pasco, Mayor Kilbury, and he has a brief statement he would like to make. Please join us.
Thank you very much for being here. I realize that you have a written statement on the specifics of the hearing. That will be included in the record. I wanted to give you an opportunity to welcome everybody to your fine city. Mayor?
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STATEMENT OF CHARLES D. KILBURY, MAYOR, CITY OF PASCO, WASHINGTON
Mr. KILBURY. Well, first I'd like to welcome everyone to my fine city. It is a fine city. We are glad to have you. It gives us an opportunity to speak on this matter.
I am Charles D. Kilbury, Mayor of the city of Pasco, and I am reporting action by the City Council of the city of Pasco.
Some few weeks ago the City Council passed a resolution in direct opposition to an action requiring breaching or lowering the pools behind the dams on the Snake or Columbia Rivers.
For any Federal agency to advocate breaching of any or several of the Federal dams, with the idea of increasing the number of anadromous fish returning to the upriver spawning grounds, when no evidence has been taken to prove that only rivers with dams have reduced runs of salmon, when the fact is, that rivers with no dams have already had their spawning runs decimated, makes little sense, and cries out for the NMFS to be investigated for their lack of scientific study of the Columbia River basin.
Why has there been no attempt made to restrict the destruction of the salmon in the ocean?
Why has there been no attempt to restrict over-catching of the salmon in their passage up the river?
Why has there been an increase in the Yakima River Chinook run even with only the supplementation of the wild run having taken place, when that run has come through four dams in the Lower Columbia?
What has been done to eliminate the massive increase in predators at the mouth of the Columbia River?
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Nor has the NMFS considered the enormous cost of removing irrigation, barge traffic and recreation from the river.
We do feel action by the NMFS will affect the city of Pasco's water rights.
At this time I call on Congress to call a halt to this bureaucratic bungling immediately.
I am presenting also a resolution passed by the City Council of the city of Pasco.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to testify.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kilbury may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
I would like to call up our first panel of witnesses. Speaker Clyde Ballard, Speaker of the House of Washington State; Speaker Lynn Lundquist, Speaker of the House, Oregon State; Representative Dave Mastin; Senator Ted Ferrioli; and Dr. James Anderson, if you would join us at the witness table.
Just so you understand how it works, you've got little lights in front of you. We try to limit the testimony, the oral testimony, to 5 minutes.
I am sure most of you are familiar with this. The lights work similar to traffic lights. Green means go, yellow means hurry up, and red means stop. That's what it means in California.
Your entire written statement will be included in the record, but if you could summarize those written statements to within the 5 minutes, I would appreciate that.
Speaker Ballard, you are recognized first. If you are prepared, you may begin, Mr. Ballard.
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STATEMENT OF CLYDE BALLARD, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE
Mr. BALLARD. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Clyde Ballard. I am Speaker of the Washington State Legislature.
And first, I would like to express my thanks to the Committee for bringing forward a public hearing to provide for oversight regarding the actions being conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service in the Pacific Northwest.
My views are those of an elected official who is directly responsible to the citizens of Washington State, the people who provide for the economics and social well-being of our communities, the people who are directly affected by NMFS' actions to implement salmon recovery measures, and influence river system governance.
I want to be direct with you in my comments. I believe that you are here today because the National Marine Fisheries Service has sought to engage in actions that exceed its rightful authority, because it has nurtured the development of a self-serving salmon recovery industry, and because it has failed to offer the region a workable pragmatic salmon recovery plan for the Columbia-Snake River Basin.
My first remarks focus on NMFS' attempts to control water management.
The NMFS has put forth a water policy for the Columbia River drainage area, a policy it refers to as zero net water loss policy.
The end effect of this policy is to eliminate future water withdrawals from the Columbia-Snake River mainstem, tributaries to the mainstem, and related groundwater sources, including the protection of existing water rights as well as review existing water withdrawals to assess impacts to salmon. Basically, all Basin water resources are affected.
This policy challenges the authority of the States to review and grant water rights from municipal, industrial and irrigation purposes and directs all future water use for one purpose and one purpose only, fish protection.
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This water policy not only attempts to abrogate state authority over existing and future water rights, but it presents an absurd resource management policy for the State with the only real objective of transferring control of water management over to NMFS, not creating more fish.
The NMFS is primarily interested in resource control and breaking the back of western and state water law. To suggest that this policy is being a driven resource by prudent managers with the sole objective to enhance salmon is disingenuous.
The state of Washington is willing to work to address the salmon recovery of the region, but the state will aggressively resist attempts by NMFS to control our water.
Unfortunately, the most effective action of NMFS to date is to enhance what is being called a salmon recovery industry, not improving salmon runs. The salmon recovery industry, an army of state, Federal and tribal bureaucrats and their consultants, have simply sought greater political and operational control over the resources and funding. Their objectives are totally self- serving. More control and funding has not created more fish in the river.
In 8 years, NMFS and the salmon recovery industry have neither produced more abundant salmon runs nor even developed a recovery plan that a majority of the region is willing to accept.
The NMFS and the salmon recovery industry cannot even quantify the number of salmon it has supposedly saved while spending literally billions of dollars. NMFS and the salmon recovery industry have advanced an almost total disenfranchisement of the river system's key economic stakeholders and the people who are directly affected by management actions.
There is never room at the decisionmaking table for the stakeholders, nor does there appear to be room for the region's elected officials.
Let me give you a personal experience. The state of Washington put a moratorium on removing any additional water from the Columbia River. That meant cities could not build houses, they could not build medical facilities, they could not have any agriculture, nothing could happen.
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And this past week Speaker Hastings and myself had the privilege of taking Speaker Gingrich, Congressman Dan Miller and Congressman Clay Shaw, along with a number of other speakers from the Western States, on a tour of the Columbia River.
And as we went up the river, I asked them to look at the vastness of this Columbia River. Remember, that agriculture takes less than 3 percent of this water supply, and that is above the Columbia—above the dam, the first dam on the river, which I just forgot the name of, to be able to service all of the ag industry.
When the state put on the moratorium, there was no scientific data, none.
In 1997 the legislature passed legislation that declared void the moratorium, and further directed the Department of Ecology committees to consult with the standing committees of the state of Washington in the future.
I met with the Director of the Department of Ecology following the session to talk about the legislation. He indicated that there was a major problem with giving any more permits because NMFS had declared the Columbia River to be overallocated.
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, without water, along with the threat to remove existing water rights, will guaranty that a large part of the state of Washington will be an economic disaster along with the stealing of property values due to threats from NMFS.
Please send a message to the agency, that we not only have the ability to make the right decisions on water, but it is our right, not that of a Federal agency.
Thank you for your commitment.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ballard may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Speaker Lundquist.
STATEMENT OF LYNN LUNDQUIST, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, OREGON STATE LEGISLATURE
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Mr. LUNDQUIST. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to let us speak to you today. I am from the central part of Oregon.
Certainly, we're a state like Washington, where natural resources literally drive our economic engine.
I want to make three points today.
First, I want to make a statement, that a flawed law cannot be administered as good public policy.
The Endangered Species Act does not provide effective mechanisms for species recovery as we have already heard. And I think there is one main reason for that. And that is it is not based on science but rather it is too much based on politics.
I just came last week from a central coast town called Coos Bay that is timber dependent and fish dependent. And there is a story that goes around town like this. What do you get when you cross a spotted owl with a coho salmon? 100 percent unemployment in Coos Bay.
And that's not a very funny story. It's reality that hits home.
Let me tell you a little about what's happened to Oregon's effort to recover the coho salmon.
As you probably know, we put forth an Oregon Plan, a very inclusive, very comprehensive kind of plan, with hundreds of measures that are already being implemented by state agencies, a lot of them prior to the plan.
We put in $32 million, a public/private partnership, the first time it had ever been done.
Where was the money from NMFS that helped in that process? I would like to ask that question.
When we put together that public/private partnership, however, it was almost for naught in many regards, because after the species was not listed, there was a court challenge, and as most of you will probably realize, our coho salmon has been listed, effective October 9th.
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What that says to me is that the state does not have the right to have its own destiny in its own hands, because of a law. If in fact that's true, something's wrong with the law.
The second point I would like to make is simply this: That agencies can make a flawed law even worse. Not all the disappointment in the Endangered Species Act is because of the Act itself.
I believe that the NMFS has created considerable frustration among legislators, state agencies and citizens.
What it has done is force Federal mandates upon our local communities and say we can't do it ourselves.
Let me give you some specific examples that I think are leading to the frustration that we find in Oregon.
No. 1. There have been a number of Memorandums of Agreement developed with the state at different times. These Memorandums of Agreement, and particularly the one that deals with the Oregon Plan, were like having a gun at your head. That's frustrating.
Point No. 2. After we already had the Oregon Plan in and it had passed the legislation, NMFS came forward with a draft proposal, I want to emphasize that, a draft proposal to the Oregon Board of Forestry that I believe was blatantly regulatory and hammer oriented.
Let me give you some examples.
Where we have fish bearing streams, they were saying in the riparian management zone, that up to 200 feet wide on each side would have to be set aside for an 80 to 200 year old stand, and that during that time no more than two entries per 50 year timeframe could be entered into those areas for timber management.
But that's not even in my opinion as absurd as this next one, and that is that on non-fish bearing streams, that are seasonal streams, OK, non-fish bearing streams that are seasonal streams, that there has to be up to 100 foot width on each side.
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Now, you visualize in Western Oregon how many streams flow in the wintertime that don't flow in the summertime, with that kind. Let me give you the economic impact.
It has been estimated that if this would have gone forward, and we simply said, have at it, we're not going along with this one, but if this were to be in place, it would reduce the value by 41 percent on our timberlands.
There was a Southern Oregon county there that had a proposed sale that was to bring in $1.5 million into their county coffers under the normal Forest Practices Act that we have in Oregon. With this plan they would have brought in $75,000.
Now, that's probably more extreme than normal. But that's the kind of economic impact it makes.
I would simply like to emphasize what the prior speaker has also said in regard to my third point, and that is it is imperative that the National Marine Fisheries Service and other Federal agencies do not infringe upon western water law and the state's sovereignty over the allocation of that resource.
I could tell you in Oregon we will fight that to the bitter end.
Mr. Chairman, and fellow Congressmen, Congresswomen, my request is simply this: We need a change in the Endangered Species Act to allow for local solutions and direct the agency or agencies to be a partner, not a stumbling block, to the process, and stay away from infringing on our state waterways.
Thank you for the opportunity.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lundquist may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Representative Mastin.
STATEMENT OF DAVE MASTIN, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE-SENATE EXECUTIVE BRANCH TASK FORCE ON SALMON RECOVERY, WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE
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Mr. MASTIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee.
I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today. My name is Dave Mastin. I am a State Representative from the 16th District in the state of Washington.
If you take the state of Connecticut and plop it into the southeast corner of the state, that's my home.
I have served in the legislature for 6 years, and in the past year I was the Chairman of the Legislative Salmon Restoration Task Force.
I am deeply committed and deeply involved with restoring salmon habitat in the state of Washington. You already heard some testimony and we have a room full of people. These people come from this area, and some of them will be testifying today.
They live here. They work here. They raise their families here. They pay taxes here. These people are not anti-salmon, and they are not anti-environment.
What I think you will hear today with all the different testimony is one value that the people in this room hold to be true. Fish are important. But people should count, too.
Many of the people in this room have already begun to do salmon habitat restoration. We have several tributaries off the Columbia Basin system that have spent millions of Federal dollars, millions of state dollars, and hundreds of thousands of private dollars, individual landowners giving up their time, giving up their land, and giving up their incomes to help restore habitat. That's the silent work that is going on right now in the state of Washington.
I took the opportunity to ask these people, how is NMFS doing? National Marine Fisheries Service is in charge of restoring salmon habitat. These people are on the front line. These are farmers across the Snake River, agricultural folks on the front line, and they have taken that mission of restoring salmon habitat. And I asked them that simple question, how is NMFS doing.
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And to a person, they have told me that NMFS has been a major impediment at restoring salmon habitat. They have been a bureaucratic roadblock at restoring salmon habitat in the tributaries off the Snake River.
I will give you two examples.
Two tributaries that in the past 5 years we had the finest watershed assessment team in the Northwest, bar none, come to this area and do river segment by river segment assessment to find out what fish needed in that area.
And then with local government, with landowners, with state and Federal agencies working together, they developed fish habitat projects. Willing landowners, willing to give up some of their land, to give up some of their time and effort, and we have the projects ready to implement.
And then the permitting begins. Of these two tributaries in the last year, there were about 60 projects. For those 60 projects you need a hydraulic permit. BPA requires a NEPA checklist. NRCS requires an environmental evaluation. And some of them need county shoreline permits, as well.
All of those permits and all of those agencies combined require about 60 pages of work for those projects.
Then we have to go to NMFS. The NMFS requirement is about 230 pages, different pages, not the same information, 230 pages. And so they take these projects that everyone else has agreed is going to help salmon, these are salmon restoration, habitat restoration projects, and NMFS takes 3 to 6 months, 3 to 6 months to tell us that in fact these salmon habitat restoration projects will not jeopardize salmon. Will not jeopardize salmon.
Some people wonder why it takes so long. And I am sure you will hear that there's questions about agency priority and agency funding.
But I think that's the wrong question. I think the right question is, why? Why do we delay restoration efforts 1 minute, let alone 6 months, so that it can go through one more step to get the support of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
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And if the reason is, because the ESA, so they're doing what the statute tells them to do, then how come they haven't been in here kicking and screaming to you folks to change the ESA so that when we step forward in the state of Washington, which I could guaranty you we are, and try to improve and will improve the restoration of the salmon habitat, when we are taking that strong step, how come they're not helping us?
They should be helping us, not only with financial support, but they should be coming to you and telling you that we need to change this ESA so we can do what's going to help salmon, and remember that people count, too.
I see I am about out of time, so I would like to conclude with two thoughts.
If the example that I have given you is more than an isolated occurrence within this agency, then this is an agency that has a lot of problems, has a lot of difficulties, and I believe it is your job respectfully to look into that sincerely and do what it takes in Congress to make sure that they don't stop us as we try to restore habitat. And that as we do restore habitat, we will do it in a way that it helps fish, but also works with people instead of against them.
One of the men that I talked to from my district wrote me a quick note, and he said landowners are receptive to tree planting and habitat enhancement projects, but we cannot afford to let these positive projects get held up in political areas or all the grassroots work will be lost due to uncertainty and lack of trust and lack of credibility.
Many of us have a lot of concerns with National Marine Fisheries Service. I have mentioned but one. Even when we are stepping up to the plate, as these people behind me want to, to restore salmon habitat, it seems to be an impediment rather than a helping hand. We urge you to take serious consideration of our concerns.
Mr. POMBO. Senator Ferrioli.
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STATEMENT OF TED FERRIOLI, OREGON STATE SENATE
Mr. FERRIOLI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, my name is State Senator Ted Ferrioli. I represent State Senate District 28 in Oregon. Senate district 28 starts about 25 miles out of the Portland metropolitan, right across the river from the Sandy River, it continues eastward to the state of Idaho, including all or parts of 11 counties, about 17,500 square miles. Population density .17 persons per square mile. I am very happy to see this large crowd appear today.
Mr. Chairman, I will try to cram 2 years of frustration into 5 minutes of testimony. You have already identified the duplication of efforts between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in developing guidelines for every aspect of natural resource management associated with riparian areas, and that of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which essentially does the same thing, affecting grazing, upland management, timber harvest, water withdrawals for irrigation, vegetation management, fishing and all other aspects of that habitat management. So I won't belabor that point.
But let me give you at least a couple of examples of how that affects people living in rural communities.
We had a fire in Grant County, it was called the Summit Fire, it was started by lightening August 13th, 1996. It burned 38,000 acres. About 300 million board feet of timber was killed.
The day after the fire was put out, that timber at $400 a thousand was worth $120 million to the Federal treasury.
We began fire recovery planning, and that planning included two complete Environmental Impact Statements, primarily because we had the listing of bull trout, and the salmon issues to consider during the planning processes.
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It took until July 12th, 1998 for a Record of Decision finally to be issued, and that called for the salvage and restoration, rehabilitation of approximately 6600 acres out of the 38,000 that burned. And the proposal was for harvesting of about 50 million board feet of timber.
Let's just do the math. The fire cost $25,400,000 to put out. Planning for the project cost $1.2 million for the original Environmental Impact Statement, and about $50,000 for the Supplemental Impact Statement, which included first informal conferences with NMFS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and finally formal conference also with both agencies, in the development of a water quality management plan for each of the listed species, with both the different agencies.
Finally the project has been awarded and sold, the timber sales have produced approximately $2 million of revenue for the Federal treasury. When you do the math, my friends, the math simply is nonsensical.
But those delays and expenses caused by this duplication of effort between the agencies on the Summit Fire might be the least costly aspect of dual administration of the Endangered Species Act.
Undoubtedly you have heard of the Oregon Plan for the restoration of salmon, and now the supplemental restoration of species. Our plan, like Washington's plan, goes far beyond what the Endangered Species Act, which is avoidance of the take.
Our plan is designed to restore aquatic habitat and to restore salmon and steelhead by involving forestland owners, irrigators, cattle producers, dairymen, farmers and municipal watershed managers in a cooperative effort.
In that process we entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Their draft proposal for a complete rewriting of the Oregon Forest Practices Act includes some proposals that I think are patently ridiculous, so much so that I have to read one of them to you. I hope you will indulge me. The issue is on culverts. The section is titled, Hydraulic Conditions Required for Adult Fish Passage culvert design is detailed:
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''Where culvert lengths exceed 150 feet, a bridge installation should be strongly considered. Generally, culverts smaller than six feet in diameter are not adequate for fish passage and should not be used. Culverts less than 10 feet in diameter require lighting within the culvert barrel, provided by a vertical riser above the road surface or by artificial lighting every 75 feet.''
In addition, the proposal contains admonitions against wet weather in Oregon. In wet weather conditions, typically two inches of precipitation in 24 hours, especially during the period of October 1st to April 30th. Hauling or skidding should not resume for 48 hours after precipitation ends or until road surfaces and ditches are not flowing with water.
Members of the Committee, Oregon is famed for many things, one of them is prodigious rainfall. We have places in Western Oregon where we log 200 inches of rainfall a year.
And to prohibit any management operations there when rain exceeds two inches is patently ridiculous and shows a particular disconnect from the real Oregon climatological condition.
An analysis was done of the NMFS proposal by the Small Woodlands Association and the Oregon Forest Industries Council, and my colleague from the Oregon House is absolutely correct, 41 percent of our total forested land base would be rendered unusable or unmanageable because of NMFS' proposals, and that converts into 3.3 million acres of forest land out of the timber base, and that converts to a total lost value of approximately $25.4 billion in foregone economic opportunities for the State of Oregon.
This $25 billion comes directly out of the pockets of our small woodland owners, who have submitted maps to show how NMFS proposals would affect their properties, and in some cases it's up to 75 percent of their land base would be involved in riparian management areas and therefore rendered impossible to manage for timber production.
I simply submit to you that this agency is out of control.
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An attempt to consolidate the agency's management under H.R. 4335 will help bring some sensibility and sense of proportion to the management of natural resources in all of the State of Oregon and all of the United States, and I urge you to continue your inquiry along these lines.
One thing that you will not hear, and this is particularly for Congressman Nethercutt, you will not hear NMFS come to your Committee and ask for appropriations for management of salmon and the services to provide to Oregon and Washington. They are asking us to go lobby for that money.
So I urge you to pass H.R. 4335. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ferrioli may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Dr. Anderson.
STATEMENT OF JAMES D. ANDERSON, PH.D., ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF FISHERIES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Mr. ANDERSON. Mr. Pombo, thank you for this opportunity to talk in front of your hearing. This is a great opportunity again to try to compress 10 years of research into 5 minutes. I have failed in other attempts.
What I really wanted to discuss is NMFS flow and water policies, and I want to discuss that in terms of what it's done for how science is used.
Simply put, what NMFS has done, is try to justify benefits in a qualitative sense, without putting numbers on the benefits.
And I think that what this does is produce an unrealistic expectation for some of the actions.
It's critical that we put numbers on things so we know the cost and the benefits. And I want to use the flow as an example of how we have been misled inadvertently in many cases.
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A decade ago, when the dams were put in, or several decades ago, it was felt that because the fish decreased, if we just increased the flows back to the pre-dam levels, that the fish would come back.
That simply is not true. The research that we now have shows that instead of having the thousand percent increase that would be needed to return the runs, we get about a 1 percent increase by increasing the flows.
So there is—the idea of a strong flow relationship simply don't exist; a strong relationship between survival and throw. There was not, this type of information has not been used in developing the flow objectives and the flow targets.
It needs to be really considered, and the flow targets need to be assessed for really their inability to improve fish survival.
In terms of this, this was for the spring Chinook.
The fall Chinook, where there has been a relationship observed between flow and survival down to the first dam, this is a complex matter, which is not necessarily related to the flow.
Temperature changes with flow, it also depends on when the fish move through the system, and some of the newest work we have done shows a relationship between fish size and the survival of fish down through the system.
If it is fish size which is the operative variable, then increasing flow which could decrease the temperature and move the fish sooner through the system could actually have a negative impact on the fish.
The point being, we really don't know how flow is affecting the fall Chinook, and we find no relationship in the river passage between spring Chinook and flow.
And these issues and these numbers need to be brought forward so that people have realistic expectations for the impacts of flow.
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My second point is on the water withdrawals, or the moratorium on having new water withdrawals. These are blanket moratorium. If you remove water anyplace in the system, it is assumed to have the same impact on fish.
And this simply isn't true. Up in the tributaries, water can have a significant impact on their survival.
You get down into the mainstem, and we have no evidence that water withdrawals have a significant or measurable impact on fish or on their recovery. And there again, these withdrawals and the justifications for them were put in a qualitative sense that we can imagine they're good for fish, so we should implement these regulations.
My point being, that that leads to unrealistic expectations for what we can gain from these actions. And I think that whatever management goes on at the ESA, we need to put the numbers onto the fish so people are really grounded in the success of these different actions.
And that concludes my comments. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Anderson may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. I thank the panel for your testimony.
Dr. Anderson, you've—the research that you talk about, is this research that you have done yourself in terms of flow, or that you've supervised?
Dr. ANDERSON. Most of the research that I am discussing right here has been conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and peer reviewed and analyzed by fisheries biologists throughout the region. One of which is me.
Mr. POMBO. You helped to peer review it?
Dr. ANDERSON. I've analyzed the data, and part of what's called the plan for analyzing and testing the hypotheses, where we are going with a fine tooth comb through each and every hypothesis that we have on the fish.
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I am one of the members of that panel, and very much involved in these analyses, yes.
Mr. POMBO. But you talk about the flow impacts and the moratorium on diverting additional water as if they have little effect on the recovery of the species.
Dr. ANDERSON. That's right. That's what the science is showing us right now.
Mr. POMBO. Then why is National Marine Fisheries taking the actions that they have?
Dr. ANDERSON. There are at least two cultures at NMFS. There is a management culture and a science culture.
And I think there are another reasons why NMFS has taken its particular actions.
Mr. POMBO. Political reasons?
Dr. ANDERSON. Some political reasons. And I think that they need to readdress these and stand behind the science more strongly.
I think that that would help in grounding people's expectations.
Mr. POMBO. Do you think, and I realize that you are a scientist, but do you think that the political decisions that have to be made, and that's those of us sitting up here are the ones that have to make those political decisions, would be easier if it was based upon good science?
Dr. ANDERSON. Oh, of course.
Mr. POMBO. One of the frustrations I have with the implementation of this Act is that we have people who come in and testify that what the Federal Government is doing just doesn't make sense.
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And then we have the scientists who come in and testify and question the scientific decisions that are being made.
And it puts us in a political conflict.
It would seem much easier to be able to make a decision and to go to all of these people and to say, here is the science, back up the decision, and if it's good science, I think they can look at it and say, well, all right, we might not like it, but it makes sense, it leads to the recovery of the species, and we will go along with it.
The problem comes when they look at it and say, this just doesn't make sense, why are you doing this to us?
And that's the conflict that we have heard all over the country with this particular Act. That gives me a real problem.
Speaker Ballard, you mentioned in your testimony resource control. That you felt that a lot of the actions that were being taken had little to do with science or the recovery, but had more to do with wanting to control the resource.
Can you expand on that?
Mr. BALLARD. Well, we have been working hard in the state of Washington to be able to do something productive.
And what we have found is there is an industry who includes the ones I mentioned that I believe simply have nothing to do with the salmon recovery, but more have to do with establishing control, and with a political agenda.
I wish there was some way I could say that they had done something productive. Their production has been in spending large amounts of money of the government, in spending and controlling large numbers of citizens who virtually are being shut out of their own property, and I think it is simply something that in the end will result in not only the failure to improve any salmon recovery but will also literally decimate people's property rights and communities throughout this whole region.
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Mr. POMBO. I will recognize Congresswoman Chenoweth.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I wanted to address my questions to Dr. Anderson.
You know, first let me say, Mr. Chairman, we have been on a lot of these hearings, and we have heard hundreds of people give testimony to us.
But I think that this, the panel that we have in front of us, has been one of the most instructive and startling pieces of testimony that we have heard. Thank you so very much. Very, very good.
Dr. Anderson, I wanted to ask you, have you ever heard of Jim Bugal, an author of the book The Great Salmon Hoax, an Eye Witness Account of the Collapse of Science and Law and the Triumph of Politics in Salmon Recovery?
Dr. ANDERSON. Yes. I know James quite well.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Do you? I would recommend that everybody read this, most especially the Federal agencies. Shame on them.
You know, Mr. Bugal, by the way, is a major in physics, and he's an environmental lawyer, and I am not real fond of environmental lawyers. But I really like this book.
But, you know, he points out the fact that the overwhelming bias of the fisheries agencies are against the dams, and yet to my knowledge, and I am asking you, have they ever produced defining documents establishing any of the other causes for what they perceive to be a decline in the fisheries, such as what are the threats of the major explosions of the terns and the sea lions and the squaw fish and the walleye and the young steelhead and the mackerel and the northern sea lions and California sea lions and so forth, have there ever really been any defining documents that really address this?
Dr. ANDERSON. In the PATH process, where we are trying to pull apart all the pieces, we have gone through the first stage of looking at some of the basic things.
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What we have found was there's a huge amount of mortality in these fish that we don't have a good explanation for where it's come from. It seems to have—to have occurred about the time the dams went in.
But if you look closely at the data, you find that there were high fish runs when the Snake River dams were being put in. A lot of us believe that the climate is a very important factor, and it certainly is. We're now, in this analysis process, beginning to look at these other factors. The terns, the sea lions, the impacts of hatcheries, also the impacts of the hydro systems, and putting all of these things together in what we call a multiple hypothesis.
The trouble we have in doing this is that all of these things kind of happened at the same time, so we are having a hard time giving—pulling the pieces apart. The old statement comes up with when every scientist, we need more data to be able to give you a definite answer, is true in this case.
And so it is going to continue to be a political issue until we can resolve some of these things.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. POMBO. Congresswoman Smith.
Mrs. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and gentleman, you represent your states very well. Very articulate.
And I know some of the things you've done in both states to restore salmon runs. And I would trust you more than any Federal agency in just what you have done.
I would like to address a question to Dr. Anderson. I am going to ask you to answer it pretty direct.
Are poor ocean conditions the major factor currently affecting salmon recovery?
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Dr. ANDERSON. I think they are one of the major factors. And I don't think we know all of the major factors.
Just to put things in context, we're in a period that is poor fish conditions and dry weather conditions that's one of the longest periods in probably the last 500 years. So we have unusual conditions right now.
It just so happens that these flipped into the state about the time the dams went in. It could be that that's a major cause.
But we can't really give a definite answer.
Mrs. SMITH. Give me about the time the dams went in, so you say it is a fairly prolonged change.
Dr. ANDERSON. In 1977, the ocean changed. The last dam was put in in 1976. The hatcheries increased, we controlled the flows with the new storage reservoirs.
Everything happened at that time. But ocean is clearly a factor because stocks are going down all over the West Coast.
But there is a ray of hope in that, that it looks like, and there's a lot of close scrutiny of this right now, that some of these conditions may be flipping right now, and that's demonstrated by the decrease in the returns in Alaska and some small increases in runs on the West Coast.
So I think just a lot of the issues might be, will resolve themselves if the ocean does really turn around and the runs come back on their own.
Mrs. SMITH. I would like to followup a little bit on your participation in the flow augmentation program and your review.
Do you believe that the program is producing meaningful results, will it contribute significantly toward fish protection or recovery, and I guess go on to just tell me, do you think it should be continued at all, and would you modify the program if you think it should be continued?
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Dr. ANDERSON. The analysis we have done on the flow and the impacts on survival indicate that it has very little impact on the fish.
So that's what the science is telling me, so that's what I would have to go with.
I think that there's better ways to spend our limited resources than putting water through the system in the spring.
In particular, with the transportation program where there are so few fish that are actually moving down through the system.
Most of the fish right now are going down the system in barges.
Mrs. SMITH. Thank you. And in summary, if you could, and I know you have way much—way too much information to really do this, but if you could be God for a day, and don't take this as sacrilege, what would you do? What would you do today, if you had all the money, all the time, you could just do it without bureaucracy?
Dr. ANDERSON. I would evaluate which programs are working, and I would then spend time trying to educate better the public on what works and what doesn't.
Mrs. SMITH. And what do you think works now, if you just think, I mean, give us that benefit.
Dr. ANDERSON. Transportation program works fairly well.
Mrs. SMITH. Barging?
Dr. ANDERSON. Barging. And it is partly responsible for the stocks not going extinct during this bad period. I also think there have been some great improvements at the dams.
And those would be two of the main things.
What I get out of most of the things we have done is it appears like a lot of it is out of our control right now.
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We have made some incremental changes and we will probably continue to do that. I don't see any magic bullet that's going to save the fish.
Mrs. SMITH. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you, gentlemen.
Mr. POMBO. Congressman Romero-Barceló?
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I also want to congratulate the panel. I think the testimony here today has been extraordinary, and I certainly have learned a lot.
I am here to learn. I am not here to tell you anything. But I would like to hear a little bit about the plans that Washington State and Oregon have developed to restore the salmon habitat.
I mean, what I would like to address your answers to, what is—what are the obstacles to implementing these plans and can they be identified, and if so, how do you suggest that they can be overcome so that those plans can be put into practice?
Mr. LUNDQUIST. I will start with Oregon's situation.
First of all, let me say that in response to some of the comments here about science, we have what can be called a multidisciplinary scientific team as one of the core of our Oregon Plan, as one of the core elements.
And again I think that is one of the things that will help us restore the salmon.
The doctor down here I think is saying, we don't really know, and so why go out and spend billions when we don't really know.
So point No. 1, that's what's happened in Oregon.
Second, it was very comprehensive. It really boils down to improving the quantity and quality of water. That's really what it's all boiled down to.
The impediment that we have in Oregon, since we had it approved, we put the money forth, with the legislature and the private industry, and then the courts came along and said, no, this doesn't meet the ESA standards.
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And so that right now is our major impediment.
I will tell you in Oregon, we are going ahead anyway. We will probably do some revising of the plan in the next session. But we are going to go ahead.
And so the impediment is not with the landowners. The impediment is from the Federal regulations that apparently do not allow this to function.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Is that the Federal Court or the State Court?
Mr. LUNDQUIST. Federal Court.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Federal Court. And the NMFS has approved the plan?
Mr. LUNDQUIST. Yes. The National Marine Fisheries Service did not list the Coho on the central Oregon coast, and the northern coast, and then after that happened, then that's when the courts came in. There are some groups obviously that filed a court case against us.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you.
Mr. MASTIN. The legislation we passed last year received 100 percent support in the legislature. The governor signed it without vetoing any section. And the Governor in our state is known for vetoing sections. So that's significant itself.
I am not trying to be humorous. That's true.
Probably the biggest impediment that we face, two, basically.
No. 1, our approach is based on science, and it's based on the specific river-based science, site-specific science. And then it's based on working with landowners instead of working against them. Being a partner, collaborating with them.
We have stepped up to the plate. We have spent over—about a hundred million, with some Federal dollars, we have appropriated through our state budgets on this plan to work with the landowners to improve the habitat.
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These are the challenges we are facing right now.
If we start to move into a regulatory enforcement legalistic mode, which is what I've been hearing is happening not only at the Federal level but actually within our state administration, then we will undo all the work that we have begun to do to restore the habitat.
So I think the regulatory bureaucratic enforcement mode is the biggest impediment we have.
Point No. 2. Just take the example of a buffer zone. In the Touchet River, right outside my home town of Walla Walla, they have over 26 miles, over 26 miles of landowners who are willing to put in buffer zones of a hundred foot. A hundred feet. Twenty six miles.
There's been rumors that NMFS, or others, are going to require a 200 foot buffer.
If we go to a 200 foot buffer requirement, you will have less than a quarter of a mile of buffer zones on the Touchet River.
And I submit to you that whether certain scientists in certain rooms say you have to do 200 foot, in reality, if you want to improve the habitat on the Touchet River, go with the hundred foot buffer, because you will get 26 miles of it, and for every buffer you put, the landowner will also let you put in large woody debris and will do meandering and root walk, they will let you do these other things that will help the habitat as well.
So I say the biggest impediment is people who don't want to work with landowners, who don't want to listen to the people in this room, and who are more interested in a bureaucratic approach than actually solving the problem.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. In other words, you work only from the scientific point of view but also from the political point of view, working with everyone that is concerned.
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Mr. MASTIN. And I won't call it political. I would call it common sense.
The principle is this: People like to be asked, not told. And people will work with you if you respect their concerns and their interests.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. That's what I call political.
Mr. MASTIN. You collapsed all of that in Puerto Rico.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Some other people look at politics in the negative, because some politicians are negative.
The difference between petty politics and politics, policy.
Mr. MASTIN. With your indulgence, Mr. Chairman, I just thought of one other point that is very important.
We ask that you folks, as Members of Congress, listen to what we did. We ask you to respect what the state legislature did last year. No dissenting votes, from the most conservative to the most liberal. Every single member voted on what we did, and the Governor signed it.
And we ask you, when you look at appropriating dollars to the state of Washington, please respect what we did.
I think to some degree we knew what we were doing, and we would appreciate, if you are sending us money, to send it in a way that respects what we did and doesn't conflict with that and pull down the effort that we have started in Washington State.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mr. FERRIOLI. Mr. Chairman, Chairman Pombo, Representative Romero-Barceló, we have a similar story to tell in Oregon, and similar support for our effort.
We appropriated $30 million directly, and $120 million are coming from voluntary enhancements.
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The key effort is cooperation. Landowners, timber operators, cattle ranchers, farmers, irrigators, folks that depend on the land, need certainty, and they need reasonable rules.
The issues that we have come up against with National Marine Fisheries Service is they have no sense of propriety. They take a regulatory approach to everything that they do.
And there's a clear choice on the table here between the regulatory approach, which would be just to virtually stand over people with the full weight of the Federal authority, or a cooperative approach, where you simply ask people to do a reasonable management regime based on certainty and based on reasonableness to improve aquatic habitat.
The word's cooperation, and so the choice is clear.
The Oregon Plan, and I think to the same extent the Washington plan, to recover the species far exceeds what could be required under the Endangered Species Act, and it is based on cooperation, as opposed to the mere avoidance of take, which is the regulatory approach, being pushed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service.
So we have come as a society to a choice. Either we are going to involve every person that lives in our state and that works with the land in recovering this species, or we are going to try and regulate every person that lives in this state as to everything that they do in society to manage their land and produce the food and the fiber and the goods that we all depend on.
We have chosen the course that is based on cooperation and involvement.
And unfortunately the courts decided on a technical issue that we can't consider cooperative efforts as being effective under the Endangered Species Act.
That's the flaw here. It wasn't that Washington's plan or Oregon's plan wasn't effective or wouldn't work or wouldn't be efficacious on this issue. It was that under the constrictions of the Endangered Species Act, you can't consider cooperation in the listing decision.
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It shows you how badly flawed the Endangered Species Act is.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you, Speaker Ferrioli.
Mr. POMBO. Congressman Hastings.
Mr. HASTINGS. First of all, I want to congratulate you legislators, not only from Oregon and Washington, but also from Idaho and I think Montana and other Western States that are taking the bull by the horns on this issue and are trying to come up with local issues.
Because I certainly subscribe to the notion that when the issue is done at the end of the day, if it ever does get resolved, it will be better resolved and understood because of the input that you have had and decisionmaking that you have had at the local level.
Part of the reason for this hearing is to try to ascertain how NMFS has been administering this Act in the Northwest.
Both of your states have described how you have gone through this process.
My question, Dave, I suppose you would be the one from Washington since you took the lead on this, and I will ask you, and then Dave, if you are the one from Washington, or Lynn, it doesn't make any difference to me.
My question is this: As you started this process, did you attempt to include right from the beginning NMFS in this process, and if not, why not, and if so, did they participate on an active basis to try to help you through some of the hurdles that you would have. Dave?
Mr. MASTIN. Congressman Hastings, several of us met with Mr. Stelle, Will Stelle in Seattle, who's in charge of NMFS up in the Seattle area. And we also had hearings across the state. And NMFS was always willing to come and testify before our task force.
I think that the approach we took was when we started looking out there and seeing, HCPs and getting certainty and what does it take and what rock do you want, I mean, how much do we have to do and what do we have to do, and all of the maze, and no answers, and I am hearing from all of our state agencies, they are not getting a response from NMFS, NMFS won't tell them what they need to do or won't give them a clue, I am hearing this, and other legislators are hearing from this task force.
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So we just did something real simple. We said, let's set aside all of the politics, let's set aside all of that stuff, and let's pretend we are God for a day, and let's figure out how can we create a system that is viable and will restore habitat.
And that is a system that is based on science and which the landowners agree to be participants. And if you do those two things, you will restore habitat. And that's what we did in the legislation.
So in a sense, we avoided all of that because it seemed like a big mess that we weren't going to get resolved. While those of us in the state of Washington are committed to reasonable and sufficient environmental and salmon habitat restoration, that is what we took to move on.
Mr. HASTINGS. One last statement in that regard. With the example of the two streams, the unfortunate part is you have the 6 month delay even though I assume in this case those two streams you are talking about, they were along with the process all the way.
But even if they are along the process, you had a problem of the 6 months delay for them to OK.
Did I hear you right?
Mr. MASTIN. That's absolutely correct. So what we have, as many of you are aware, there is a window of opportunity to get into the streams to do restoration work. And that ends September 1st.
And so each day and each month that we lose, and in this case we lost 3 months on one stream and 6 months on the other stream, each day means that that's another project we are not going to get done this year, and that just backs up the projects down the road.
So that's a major concern.
The other thing is even with the September 1st deadline, what we saw, Fish and Wildlife, every day would come out and see if fish were returning yet. And they actually got to work until September 13 because no fish—they were set to come back about September 1st, but Fish and Wildlife actually went out and made sure there were no fish and allowed the landowners to keep working in the stream to improve habitat.
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That's the kind of relationship we'd like to have with NMFS, one that's cooperative and working together.
But the problems on the most part, we'd like money from the Congress so that we can go forward with our restoration efforts that we think's going to work.
Mr. HASTINGS. Go ahead, Lynn.
Mr. LUNDQUIST. Well, the process in Oregon actually was going on before the session for approximately 18 months before we even got into the session.
The Governor took the lead on this. Actually was working with NMFS and with a lot of the natural resource community, Farm Bureau, cattlemen and so forth.
So, in direct answer to your question, yes, there has been a dialogue going on there.
However, the dialogue was not with the legislature through that process. And when the legislature did get involved, NMFS I would say did participate.
However, I would characterize it as the fact that how could we meet their standards? It wasn't a matter of what was good for the fish. Even though they would say that is part of the process.
But really it seems more like, how do we meet the standards so we don't get listed. We thought we were going to get listed. And eventually, now we have. That was the situation.
Also it seemed like when you went to step A, then there was step B. And I suppose you could say part of it is it is a new endeavor, at least for the state of Oregon. Very comprehensive. If I were to bring that, it is probably about that thick, the Oregon Plan.
But once you got to one point, then you had to go to the next point.
And what I said before, the Memorandum of Agreement, we thought we were there. And then we had to have this gun to our head, Memorandum of Agreement process.
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So that's the kind of history I think that Oregon has had with implementing the plan.
Mr. FERRIOLI. Mr. Chair, Representative Hastings, Dave Mastin mentioned, go get a rock.
That's the experience we had. Our speaker mentioned the feeling of have a gun to our head.
I tell you it was a very extortionary relationship. We would be told that the commitment was questioned by the Federal agency, the commitment of the people of Oregon was called into question by this agency. We don't trust you. We don't believe that you will do what you say you will do. Well, we're not sure that this organization or this plan or this aspect of the plan will be sufficient. What else can you do?
And that was a continuous relationship. Here's an example. After we agreed to collaborate and we knew National Marine Fisheries Service had a real problems of what they were perceiving in the Oregon Forest Practices Act, I thought that was because of their misunderstanding of the requirements of the Act, we knew they wanted to open a dialogue on the changes that they expected us to look at at the state legislative level.
What we got was a press conference. And what we got was the release of the document after it had that had been written.
There was no collaborative process. There was no iteration of values. There was no give and take on how we might improve the effects of the Oregon Forest Practices Act.
So the bottom line for us is that we were in an opportunity to do something cooperatively and collaboratively.
Somebody pointed out in the legislative session that collaborators were shot during World War II, and that is exactly why.
The definition of collaboration in Oregon was capitulation to the National Marine Fisheries Service. We didn't want to go there, and we still don't want to go there.
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Mr. BALLARD. The way we have been treated by the National Marine Fisheries in general is one of threats, and if you don't do what we're going to tell you, no matter whether it has any basis, no matter if it will steal people's rights, if you don't do it, we will make you suffer at a greater level than what you are going to suffer.
I would submit to you if the employees that are making these decisions and the heads of these agencies were treated the same way they treat us for a period of 1 year, we would find a dramatic change.
It should not be happening in the United States, for people to do things the way they're doing. They are literally treating us as though we are their prisoners, and that's wrong.
Mr. LUNDQUIST. Congressman Hastings, one thing I did not point out in our relationship, and that is what I think you are here to find out about NMFS, was I believe there's a significant disconnect between the people that we worked with at maybe at the upper level, and with a lot of the staff in NMFS.
And if you would read the judge's decision, you will see that pointed out.
And I think that's very, very significant.
When you have an organization that I am going to say that even the upper echelon were probably more receptive, at least they were available, and were having I think a lot of staff undercutting it.
If you will read the judge's decision, you will see that. And that is just an untenable position.
Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. POMBO. Congressman Nethercutt?
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you all, gentlemen, for your testimony today.
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I think you have illustrated what those of us at this panel have come to be frustrated with, and that is Federal judges making decisions under the Endangered Species Act that Federal agencies tell us and tell you that they are trying to implement.
There's an ambiguity in the ESA that is interpreted by one or more Federal judges that leads to terrible frustration.
So the ESA cries out for reform.
But from a political standpoint, my sense is it's resisted time and time again, and demagogued to the point where it becomes a very political issue at the Federal level where we have to deal with trying to change those laws.
So I sense clearly what your frustration is.
I look at H.R. 4335 to transfer the functions of the National Marine Fisheries Service and Secretary of Commerce to the Secretary of Interior, and I am not very pardoned by that, given the persuasion that we have to deal with at the Department of Interior and the Secretary of the Interior.
So maybe anything's worth trying, but, boy, we deal in spades with those kinds of frustrations in dealing with all these land management agencies, comprised I am sure of good people and good intentions, but, boy, maybe that's the fat into the fire in some respects.
But having said that, I want to address the issue of solutions, and cost.
Senator Ferrioli, you mentioned the cost issue and this unfunded mandate mentality.
Do you have specific recommendations about how we can address the issue of unfunded mandates and cost for implementation of EAs and NMFS requirements in a way other than to just eliminate some Federal agencies, which many of us would prefer, but maybe you can address that, sir.
Mr. FERRIOLI. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Nethercutt, I think the key here is to be cognizant of the fact that the states, given the challenge for managing for the recovery of species, have developed a program to do that that involves every agency in the state government and significant commitment of resources at the state level.
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The National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other Federal agencies needs to get out of the way and let those states accomplish those goals.
We don't really have a problem with setting the goal at the Federal level. What we have a problem with is the infusion of Federal regulations at the local level and the mistrust of state activities and state efforts to accomplish the goal.
We don't have a problem with where the bar is set, but once the bar is set, leave it alone, and then let the state government and the citizens of the state and the landowners of the state go about meeting the requirements.
We will do it, and we will do it in a much more cost effective way and a much more reasonable way than anything that the Federal Government can bring to the problem.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. But that might impinge on the Federal employment of the Federal agencies.
Mr. BALLARD. My request would be to look at what the states have done with cooperation from virtually every part of the state of Washington and Oregon.
And as was pointed out, when you get unanimous votes.
What is not helpful, is for the Federal Government to send money to a state that bypasses the legislature and the intent of the legislature, and then gets put off into more programs that have absolutely no way to enhance the salmon.
So, we have good plans. And what we'd like to do is work in cooperation with you so that if you are going to send money, I must be honest with you, my preference would be to keep your money and to keep your rules and regulations.
But, having said that, the legislatures historically have been overlooked. We are the ones that have to deal—These are our constituents. We go home, they know us by our first names, they know our home phone numbers, and we have to deal with them. And it's our responsibility, and we gladly accept that.
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But work with us, when you send resources, so that we can work with the people then to do what's been pointed out, is a very successful way to do it.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Many of us would prefer not to have the money being sent in the first place back to Washington. We'd rather have people here use it and have the states make decisions about what's in the best interests of their region.
I see my red light is on. I would just make a quick comment.
Representative Mastin, you are from the district in which I serve, and you are recognized as a leader in this whole issue.
So, to the extent that there are any questions about the commitment to preserve fish habitat and have recovery efforts and respect the rights and property interests of the industries that you serve and I serve and everyone at this panel serves, that's agriculture and timber, we congratulate you and every member of this panel for your commitment to those local control goals and decisions and respect for the industries that drive our part of the country. That's why we like to be here.
So I thank you all for your testimony today. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. I am going to release this panel. I would like to thank you for your testimony. I can tell you that it was quite refreshing, the honesty in which you answered the questions. A lot of times when you have elected officials who have to deal with these Federal agencies on a day-to-day basis, they kind of try to sugar coat all of their answers.
And I appreciate your honesty in answering the questions.
I will tell you that there will be additional questions that will be submitted to you in writing. I know I have some specific questions that I would like to ask Dr. Anderson about his perspective on some of the things that are going on.
If you could answer those in a timely basis for the Committee hearing, we will leave the official record open to give you time to answer those.
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But I know that other members will have additional questions they would like to ask of you, and I would like to thank you for your time and for your testimony. Thank you for being here.
I would like to call up the second panel. Mr. William Stelle, Jr., Mr. Jeff Curtis, Dr. Darryll Olsen, Mr. John K. Givens, and Mr. Bob Hale. If you would join us at the witness table, please.
I would like to welcome the witnesses here today. I think you heard the explanation about how the lights work. I won't do that one again.
Mr. Stelle, if you are prepared, you can begin. You will have to use that microphone there.
And just to remind you, all of you, you are going to have to speak right into the mikes, because they won't pick it up otherwise. So get it as close to you as you can.
Mr. Stelle?
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM STELLE, JR., REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Mr. STELLE. Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today. I have a written testimony which I want to submit to the Committee. And I will summarize my comments before you.
Before I get into the substance of my testimony, I want to genuinely express my appreciation for this hearing today. I think it's an excellent opportunity for us to get together here in the Tri-Cities area and talk about this important subject.
People care about it. It is complicated. There's a lot of information. And I think a dialogue and a good, full throated discussion about these issues is useful to continue on in the salmon recovery effort here in the Pacific Northwest.
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I think this hearing is useful, and I thank you for an opportunity to participate in it.
Let me summarize my comments by making a series of what I hope are fairly precise points, and then I encourage questions. I look forward to them.
First and foremost, the salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest are at serious risk of extinction, and that is the starting point for our discussions today, and for all of the efforts here on salmon recovery. They are at risk in the Snake Basin, in the Upper Columbia, in the Lower Columbia, in Puget Sound, in coastal and in the drainages of coastal Oregon, and California. We have a very serious problem, first and foremost.
Second basic point is that the causes of this problem are many and extensive. And it's important to understand that. This is not an upstream issue only. It's not a downstream issue only. We didn't get here in a day. We have come here to where we are today from over a long period of time, and we will not reverse the trends in these populations unless we have perseverance, patience, and resolve. This will not be simply a flash in the pan solution.
Third, and, again, very importantly, the Pacific Northwest are absolutely and fundamentally committed to the restoration of these salmon runs. The extinction of salmon in the Pacific Northwest is not an option. This is not an Endangered Species Act issue per se. It's an issue about what we in the Pacific Northwest are all about.
The idea of our region, barren of salmon in the coming decades, is completely unacceptable to everyone. And we have a deep and abiding commitment to the restoration of these runs.
Salmon recovery is not fundamentally a political issue. It is not a partisan football. It is a simple matter of priorities. And the priorities of the people of the Northwest, expressed over and over from every point of view, is that we want a successful salmon restoration effort here in the region.
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Fourth. The issue, the challenge most fundamentally, is an issue of habitat. Restoring salmon is the same thing as protecting our clean water, is the same thing as restoring the health and vitality of our stream and river systems. Healthy salmon runs, healthy salmon streams, good, clean water are all one in the same effort.
Let me describe to you some of the basic principles that the National Marine Fisheries Service brings to the issue of salmon recovery here in this region.
First and foremost, we have a commitment to pursue the best science available. Unequaled. It is an unequivocal commitment. Our science is open. Our science is transparent. Our science is continually submitted to peer reviews, and our decisions are based upon it. Point No. 1.
Point No. 2. It is a commitment to a comprehensive approach to salmon restoration. As earlier witnesses have testified and observed correctly, there is no silver bullet, there is no one single source of the problem, and a solution to be effective must be comprehensive. It is not just a question of the dams, though the dams are important. It is not just a question of water, though water is important. It is not just a question of fishing, though fishing is important. And it's not just a question of hatcheries, though hatcheries are important.
Any successful solution for salmon restoration over the long term in the Pacific Northwest must be comprehensive and must address all stages of risks to salmon throughout their wonderful life cycle.
In the spawning and rear tributaries, in the mainstem, in the estuaries, and in the ocean.
The third point. We are absolutely committed to fostering partnerships in salmon restoration. Partnerships with the states, partnerships with the counties, partnerships with private entities, wherever and whenever we can.
Some examples that you have heard again already is, one, with the Oregon Plan. The speaker and Senator very eloquently described it to you. From our perspective, we worked very long and very hard for a couple of years, shoulder and shoulder with the State of Oregon to construct an Oregon Salmon Plan.
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We believe it is the way to go. We support it. We made decisions based upon it. And we will defend those decisions, and we will defend the continued implementation of that plan.
Closer to home, we spent several years working very hard in good faith with the state, with the Tribes, and with the Mid-Columbia utility districts to develop a long-term strategy that they fostered for the operation and improvement of fish survivals and productivities at their projects here in the Mid-Columbia region. Again, a vital partnership.
Salmon solutions are not going to be Federal solutions alone. They will not be state solutions alone. They will not be private solutions alone. If we are going to be successful, and we must be successful, we must do so in partnerships in good constructive collaborations. And we support those.
Finally, we are committed also to, in our salmon restoration work, to honor Federal obligations to Native Americans and treaty Tribes here in the Columbia Basin and throughout the Northwest.
The restoration of the salmon is not only vital to the people of the Northwest in general, and important under the Endangered Species Act, but it is also essential to honor our centuries of commitment to our Native American Tribes here in the Pacific Northwest, to enable them to exercise their treaty preserve rights, to fish and hunt in from usual and accustomed fishing places.
We believe that the endangered species efforts and those treaty efforts are compatible, and we seek to pursue them both.
What are some of the major challenges in the salmon restoration effort?
Let me first of all cite what is not a major challenge. People care about salmon, and that is the bedrock of success upon which this effort is going to be based.
Some of those challenges are, first and foremost, scientific uncertainty.
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I would love, and I can't tell you how much I would love, to be able to point to clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence on some of the important issues we face here in this region.
The fact of life is, is that there is not crystal clear science on any one particular factor. The ability to isolate one factor as the silver bullet is very limited. The ability to eliminate the noise in the system, so to speak, from a scientific perspective is, is limited, and we therefore don't have absolutely clear-cut scientific certainties. We must acknowledge that, and we must design strategies that build decisions based upon on the best scientific judgment available to us, and we do so.
Second, there are bottlenecks in the system. This is a hard job. Speaking largely from an NMFS perspective, it is hard. There are hundreds and hundreds of activities that one has to review. There are meetings and meetings, countless meetings that you are invited to at every level of the agency, and you only have a limited number of people. So you cannot be everywhere at once. And it is simply hard, a big, important challenge to our staff to try to cover all the bases that we must.
I think we are meeting that challenge in a responsible way. We have geared up to meet it. And our capabilities now are well suited, as we move into additional restoration efforts here largely, largely in the coastal areas.
The third major challenge——
Mr. POMBO. I am going to have to ask you to wrap it up.
Mr. STELLE. Yes. The third major challenge is what I consider the blame game, and that is the tendency for entities or individuals to try to pass the buck somewhere else.
You know this well. Everybody knows this well. It's a fact of life. But there is a tendency to point the fingers elsewhere, to say, no, it's not the dams, or, no, it's not fishing, or, no, it's not the habitat, or, no, it's not water.
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Those assertions are all wrong. It's a little bit of everything, and all of the sectors and all of us will have to take responsibility in improving salmon survivals and in contributing to the long-term restoration effort.
The blame game will not succeed in where we must succeed.
Finally, I think building a sustainable ethic on the ground that protects our streams is vital to a healthy stream system, to clean water, to good productive land, and to an economy is part of the long-term solution.
Now, let me comment finally on the legislation. We oppose enactment of H.R. 4335. The administration opposes this bill.
First and foremost, 25 years ago with enactment of the original Endangered Species Act, Congress and then President Nixon made a judgment that the consolidated management of putting this in one single Federal agency made sense. It made sense then, and it continues to make sense. Over that 25 year period the National Marine Fisheries Service has built up decades of experience, expertise, and world class science in the execution of these responsibles.
Shifting these responsibilities to the Fish and Wildlife Service would take years, it would take years for the dust to settle on that kind of change.
I can't think of a worse time than to do that in the middle of the effort here in the Pacific Northwest we are in. And it would constitute a major disruption to salmon recovery efforts that we don't need.
What are the problems that this legislation is intended to avoid?
First, there are suggestions that there are inefficiencies in having joint management of the endangered species program between the Fish and Wildlife and NMFS.
It would be my contention that in fact we have a joint collaborative effort in the implementation of the program and a record that we are proud of here in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide. We do things together. We do not duplicate, and we make sure that our policies and strategies line up. If there are efficiencies to be garnered from this legislation, they are minor.
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Second, the second is that the real remedy for this legislation that NMFS is too tough and that maybe if we shift responsibilities elsewhere, it won't be so tough.
These problems are not the problems of the National Marine Fisheries Service. They are salmon problems. The science won't change and the solutions won't change by simply changing the labels and the hats that people wear.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, again, I want to express my appreciation to be here, and I look forward to answering questions of the panel.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Stelle may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Mr. Curtis.
STATEMENT OF JEFF CURTIS, WESTERN CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, TROUT UNLIMITED, PORTLAND, OREGON
Mr. CURTIS. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify. Trout Unlimited is an organization of over 100,000 members. We have about 7,000 members in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
It is somewhat of a coincidence that here in Pasco you have two former counsel of the Subcommittee on Fisheries Wildlife Conservation and the Environment on the same panel, both Will and I served at different times as counsel to that subcommittee.
And during the time I served as counsel I know I often wondered and I think Will probably did, too, about the division of responsibilities between the two agencies.
I mean, some of it really doesn't make sense. Why, for example, would the National Marine Fisheries Service have jurisdiction over all pinnipeds but walrus, is an interesting question. So in a global sense, looking at the division of responsibilities between the agencies makes some sense, and perhaps the Committee should consider that at some point in the future.
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But like Will, I say, not now. We are in a crisis situation. This year, less than 10,000 spring Chinook made it to Idaho. Less than probably a third of those were wild fish. And they are going to 42 separate sub-basins. We are in an extinction spiral. That's down from an average of 15,000 over the last 10 years, and untold thousands prior to when the dams went in.
At this time, moving anadromous salmonid recovery responsibilities to an agency not previously involved in these issues is a recipe for mass confusion. The chance that the upcoming decisions would have a random quality to them would be greatly enhanced.
And I don't think we should get basically different decisions out of the two agencies. Frankly, I was at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a legislative person when the snail darter situation came up, and that agency was not known then and is not known now for backing down on these issues.
Rather than tinkering with agency roles, we have endorsed the development of a regional process along the lines of the three sovereigns process. We believe that a process that brings the major government agencies in the Basin together, state, tribal and Federal, that is open to participation by other parties, could move the region closer to a consensus on the salmon and energy issues.
We are not so naive to think it would bring complete consensus, but I think it would flush out the science and economics better and get us in the region closer to a common understanding of what the problems are.
But in the end, Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, it will not be process but rather dramatic action that is needed to restore salmon. Current measures are clearly not working.
Several weeks ago, at our national meeting, our National Resource Board made up of grassroots members throughout the Nation endorsed proposals to retire the dams on the lower Snake River.
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We recognize this is a dramatic proposal. But after 20 years of failed experiments to engineer salmon recovery, we believe like the independent Science Advisory Board, that the time has come to look at returning portions of the river to conditions more closely approximating the conditions in which the salmon evolved.
I recognize that many question whether such dramatic actions are worth it to the region. Obviously, to those who believe that salmon are an icon, it is worth it, but to those who look at economics more traditionally, I believe it is worth it, as well.
We have two assets at risk in the Northwest. One is salmon, the other is our low cost energy.
In an era of energy deregulation, the question must be asked why the rest of the Nation should subsidize cheap power in the Northwest. More importantly, why should New Yorkers pay more to heat and cool their homes than folks from Seattle or Pasco? Why should Californians pay more for energy for their businesses than Oregonians?
The answer is that we in the Northwest have a power system that provides public benefits as well, investments in renewal energy assistance for the poor, and most importantly salmon restoration.
If the system does not provide for those benefits, if the power system we are defending for our own advantage is killing a natural resource we are charged with protecting, our position in defending the region's low-cost power is weakened.
It is apparent that the drawdown and the dam breaching scenarios will have both significant negative and positive effects on the economy.
We believe the negative effects should be mitigated, but it is clear that these economic impacts are far less than we could face if we lost the benefits of low-cost power that we have enjoyed since the 1930's.
We believe, as in the past, when Native Americans relied on salmon in the Columbia for both sustenance and economics, that salmon and economics are still tied together.
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And we believe that if we do something, we do the right thing, and make tough decisions to restore salmon, we can have a future with both a good economy and strong salmon runs.
But if we make decisions based on short-term economic interests, we could lose both.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. And I will be happy to answer any questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Curtis may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Dr. Olsen.
STATEMENT OF DARRYLL OLSEN, PH.D., THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST PROJECT, KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON
Dr. OLSEN. Good morning, Chairman Pombo, members of the Committee.
My name is Darryll Olsen. I am a resource economist with the Pacific Northwest Project, which is a resource economics consulting firm located here in Tri-Cities, Washington. I have about 15 years experience working directly on Pacific Northwest water, fish and power issues.
I would like to thank the House Resources Committee for having the foresight and the courage to question how the National Marine Fisheries Service is implementing the National Marine Species Act within the Columbia-Snake River Basins.
In particular, the Resources Committee should review carefully the actions being invoked by NMFS to take control from the states over water management in the Pacific Northwest and discern whether these actions actually advance the best interests of the fish resources and the social and economic well-being of the Pacific Northwest citizens.
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My comments to you today are principally from the perspective as the principal investigator for the White Paper Review, the Columbia-Snake River Flow Targets/Augmentation Program. Copies of the executive summary are attached to the testimony and I believe full reports have been provided to you.
The Review Study focuses on both policy and technical features of the NMFS flow targets/enhancement program.
Dealing with policy issues NMFS has put forward the no net loss water policy. This is a policy of confrontation. If accepted by the states, this policy would prohibit any additional water withdrawals for new municipal, industry or irrigation purposes. Including the perfection of existing state granted water permits. The states would cease to have control over water management decisions.
The Review Study also focuses on a number of technical issues.
Concerning hydrology, the NMFS flow targets ignore the physical hydrology of the Columbia-Snake River Basin system.
Based on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hydro data and studies, the NMFS flow targets cannot be met in all months during low and average water years, with or without the net effects of irrigation withdrawals.
The net irrigation depletions are not the primary reason why the NMFS flow targets cannot be met. The problem rests with the technical basis for the flow targets themselves. The targets are well beyond the Basin's hydrologic capabilities.
Regarding biological impacts, Dr. Anderson has covered several points, and I will simply summarize by saying that our observations indicate that attempts to use flow augmentation to improve spring migrant survival, which is the bulk of the flow augmentation program, will provide no measurable fish benefits. And in the case of fall Chinook, the benefits are uncertain and convoluted at best.
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Concerning economic impacts, based on the Bonneville Power Administration, the flow augmentation program consists of about a $50 to $70 million per year program. These costs would increase substantially if irrigation sector impacts were to begin.
The review also focused on the question of what are NMFS' objectives. The Review Study made clear recommendations to NMFS regarding changes to the flow target augmentation program that optimized flow regime for biological benefits and economic costs. Let me say that again. To optimize the flow regime for biological benefits and economic costs.
But today NMFS has shown no indication whatsoever toward restructuring the flow chart augmentation program. In fact, the way that NMFS is managing the program right now, they are putting forth a scientific double standard.
Given this response, it is simply not possible to explain NMFS' actions based upon the model of the prudent resource manager seeking to enhance effectively fish benefits while administering public funds and attempting to limit social and economic impasse.
Moreover, by failing to restructure the flow augmentation program, NMFS is clearly misallocating large volumes of water to the west.
The flow regime cannot pass the classic criteria for water allocation, which is the demonstration of beneficial use.
The agency has embraced the policy of water misallocation, and that policy hinders other more beneficial approaches to resource management. Other approaches described for an optimization of fish enhancements with economic costs and could seek out collaborative partnerships for new water resource projects and multiple benefits of the region.
Thank you for the privilege of offering this testimony.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Olsen may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Givens.
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STATEMENT OF JOHN GIVENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF KENNEWICK, KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON
Mr. GIVENS. Good afternoon, Chairman Pombo, and members of the Committee.
Can everyone hear me?
I appreciate the opportunity to testify here today. My name is John Givens. I represent the Port of Kennewick, which is one of 76 port districts in Washington authorized in public service by the state legislature with a mission of fostering economic development.
We care about people. We also care about fish, too, because our mission is very important as we carry it out in being responsible environmental stewards of the resources we manage.
Let me take a second to talk about the Endangered Species Act.
I have been in the port industry now for about 15 years. Thirteen years as a commissioner in the Port of Clarkston, in Congressman Nethercutt's district, and 2 years as the Executive Director of the Port of Kennewick, in Congressman Hastings' district.
I think the Act was written with the purest of intent to be a good piece of legislation that could be reasonably interpreted and easily managed.
But during the past several years I think it's grown into a 900 pound gorilla with an attitude. It's very difficult to manage, and oftentimes implemented on requirements that lack common sense. And I think it's time that it be revisited by Congress. That Act needs to be reauthorized with a serious overhaul.
Let me share with you a good example of a potential recovery plan alternative currently being explored that, if carried out, would in my opinion be contrary to what most of the people in the Northwest feel would be a common sense solution to the problem.
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The Columbia-Snake River system is one of our country's most valuable resources. That vital multiple use resource provides critical economic, recreational, and safety benefits to millions of people. It stretches for 465 miles of a navigation corridor through a series of about 30 ports opening international trade markets to more than 40 states. Forty three percent of all the wheat shipped from this country travels through that remarkable system. Yearly cargo volumes exceed 50 million tons and provide revenues exceeding $16 billion.
Employment just in ports alone are estimated to exceed 50,000, and I think about 1600 of your own Port of Lewiston, Congresswoman Chenoweth.
The federally authorized dams have the capacity to produce 75 percent of the Northwest energy needs using renewable, plentiful and non-polluting hydropower.
About 50 percent of the 7.3 million acres of the producing farm land and ranch land in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington are irrigated with water supplied from that system. Yearly sales from those farms and ranches exceed $10 billion.
During 1996 and 1997 that system, the dams on that system, were credited with saving more than $4.8 billion in property damage from two major flood events. I think that's difficult to mitigate.
And I think people care about fish, but fish also care about people.
In spite of those unsurpassed benefits, serious consideration is being given to breaching several of those dams and destroying the integrity of that federally authorized system because of mandates required under the ESA listing requirements. Yet the ESA has no accounting responsibility for the potential aftermath that decision might make if those dams are torn down, and, God, I hope Congress doesn't allow that to happen.
In 1992 I served as a commissioner of the Port of Clarkston, and at that time the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after consultation with NMFS under the ESA, elected to stage a 30 day test drawing water down to a near natural river level on the Lower Granite pool of the Snake River.
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The purpose of the test was to measure infrastructure integrity under drawdown conditions.
The economic interests of the area were not involved under the test planning, except shippers were told to make alternative arrangements for barging their transportation needs during the test period.
The result of that 30 day activity related serious distress, lost business revenue was estimated in the millions of dollars. Substantial physical damage occurred including sloughing embankments, heaving and separated highways, twisted commercial and recreation docks, and inoperative water intakes. No cargo moved from our port for more than a month, and one local marina operator ended up filing bankruptcy as a result of the unrecoverable damage and lost business of his—loss of business revenue.
Thousands of resident fish were killed after being trapped in ponds which dried up when the river receded. The river corridor through Lewiston and Clarkston almost immediately became a stinking mud flat as habitat decayed.
And while some mitigation was later made available for documented physical loss to private property, the pot was too small and the reimbursement was very difficult to obtain. An overwhelming majority of the people who experienced that drawdown never want to go through an experience like that again, and I don't think the people in this area want to do it for the first time.
The red light is up. I will quit. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Givens may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Hale.
STATEMENT OF BOB HALE, HALE FARMS, HERMISTON, OREGON
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Mr. HALE. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Bob Hale. And I am an irrigator. I have owned and operated farms in the Hermiston, Oregon area my entire life.
Water is the lifeblood of my community, and it is the lifeblood of my business.
I am also a partner in Inland Land. Inland was formed by three family farms to complete the development of an existing farm with existing state water rights.
Inland appreciates the opportunity to address you because our farm development has been stopped in its tracks by NMFS and its unreasonable, unscientific and unrealistic biological opinion of our project.
My testimony will focus on Inland's experience with NMFS' implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
When we began our project, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Service expressed concerns that increased pumping from the existing farms pump station would harm listed fish by attracting them into the mouth of Willow Creek from the Columbia.
In response, Inland agreed to build a new pump station on the mainstem.
On May 2nd, 1996, Inland filed a permit application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for this new pump station. This application triggered consultation with NMFS under ESA.
In addition, we have obtained zoning approval, a state permit for construction, a Clean Water Act certification, and water right permit extensions from the State of Oregon.
However, we still cannot begin work on the project.
Why? The NMFS 1997 biological opinion.
The Corps of Engineers determined in July 1996 that our new pump station would not adversely affect any of the listed salmon.
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In spite of this, NMFS concluded in May 1997 that issuance of an Inland permit would be likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed salmon.
The ESA requires the action agency and the NMFS to use the best available science. In my opinion, NMFS failed to do so.
Why did NMFS reach this conclusion? NMFS reached its jeopardy conclusion entirely based on the cumulative impact of Inland's water withdrawals, when combined with all irrigation withdrawals in the Basin. NMFS decided that no more water should be allowed to be diverted from the river until target flows are met.
There are two fundamental problems with the NMFS analysis.
First, NMFS target flows are unrealistic.
Second, NMFS' analysis of the impact of irrigation withdrawals is flawed.
Both of these problems arise from NMFS' opinions about river hydrology, not biology. It is baffling to me that NMFS, with no apparent expertise on the river hydrology, could trump the opinion of the Corps who truly is the Federal expert on river flows and modeling.
NMFS' use of the Bureau's interim draft report on the cumulative impacts is even more flawed.
Based upon our discussions with Bureau staff, we believe NMFS knowingly misused and misinterpreted the data to reach the result it wanted to reach politically.
The Bureau study counted the full amount of water use authorized under all state water rights. Inland's water that wasn't even being used was counted in this environmental baseline. They even counted non-hydraulically connected deep wells as contributing to the alleged flow depletions of the Columbia.
As a result, with Inland, NMFS adopted an unprecedented zero net impact policy. NMFS believes this policy can only be satisfied if Inland does not divert water during periods when target flows are not being met or replaces any water Inland does divert with additional upstream water rights.
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Inland cannot develop its project not knowing from year to year whether it will be able to irrigate the land. Inland cannot afford to purchase another farm upstream and shut it down.
You can imagine our frustration, then, when NMFS announced in June 1998 that it had entered into a Habitat Conservation Plan with two public utilities in the Mid-Columbia.
Why will NMFS reach an HCP agreement with public utilities, a no jeopardy opinion for the Federal hydro system, and a no jeopardy opinion for the sport and commercial fish harvests, allowing them to directly kill fish, while they will not allow a farmer to move an irrigation diversion point that will have no measurable impact on the flows and fish survival.
Inland believes that the biological opinion was issued for political purposes to pacify environmental organizations, not because of scientific justification.
As NMFS interprets the biological opinion, Inland's water rights are essentially worthless. NMFS is taking existing water rights from landowners in order to create theoretical benefits for fish that cannot be measured in reality.
Is NMFS implementing the ESA consistent with the law Congress passed? In my opinion, no.
Is NMFS implementing the ESA cost effectively? In my opinion, no.
In our 4 year effort to permit this farm, with the assistance of four regional law firms, three wildlife habitat consulting firms, two salmon recovery consulting firms, two engineering firms, and a Project Manager, we have spent nearly one million dollars and we still cannot proceed. A fisheries biologist for the Corps' Portland office said it best, when he interrupted me during a technical presentation I was making and said, excuse me, Bob, this isn't about science and biology, this is about politics.
Thank you.
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[The prepared statement of Mr. Hale may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
I would like to recognize Congresswoman Smith for her questions at this time.
Mrs. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I passed him a note saying that I was going to have to leave close to one o'clock for another public event in Yakima. So I appreciate you allowing me to ask questions first.
I would like to begin with just commenting to Mr. Hale. There was a bill dealing with takings, if a Federal action took your property, made you unable to use it, they should pay for it. And it sounds to me like you effectively had a taking, if you do have a taking, if you are totally prohibited from using your property.
But I would like to start with Mr. Stelle, just some quick questions.
Do you support or oppose the initiative of state water rights? Do you believe the state should have water rights?
Mr. STELLE. Yes.
Mrs. SMITH. OK. So would you believe your action and your authority could override those water rights by determining water levels or such?
Where the issue involves the operation, for instance, of Federal dams, Federal facilities, then we do have the authority with those Federal operators to modify those operations to improve flows for salmon.
So therefore you do abrogate the state water rights by changing the flow and making the water rights of no value?
Mr. STELLE. I am not sure, Ma'am, whether I would consider that an operation of state water rights. It is an operation of a Federal facility.
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Mrs. SMITH. Mr. Stelle, do you support or oppose—Well, let's state this a little different, we're having—We both have been in government too long it sounds like.
Do you believe that NMFS has a legislative authority to abrogate state water rights in the Pacific Northwest?
Mr. STELLE. No.
Mrs. SMITH. You do not. You do not believe what you are doing is abrogating water rights?
Mr. STELLE. No.
Mrs. SMITH. I have read quite a bit of the testimony, and you have been reluctant to consider the recommendations put forth by the Review Study. With testimony that suggests you have been kind of strident in ignoring the technical problems raised within the review.
The researchers who conducted the review appear by my review to be prominent figures in conducting this type of research.
Do you just believe that their findings should be ignored because they are inaccurate or incompetent, or what? Because they appear to be totally ignored. Can you address that?
Mr. STELLE. Yes, Representative Smith. Are you referring to Dr. Olsen, et al's, report? I am not sure.
Mrs. SMITH. That is one of them, yes.
Mr. STELLE. As for the recommendations of Dr. Olsen's report, they have in fact been reviewed by our scientists.
I think in keeping with that, we have referred those ideas and those recommendations to an inter-governmental group that we have established with the states, four states and the Indian tribe and the Federal operators, who determine flow operations for the Federal system.
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And thus far that group has declined to adopt or recommend the adoption of those recommendations.
Mrs. SMITH. Did the agency in reviewing them send them with comment as to whether they were right? Because you do comment on the recommendations and you do send them in a way that is weighted by your agency.
You have not been silent in your opinion. I have read quite a bit about what you do believe.
It appears you as an agency are ignoring this except for shuffling them off, and you are saying you don't believe that.
What would be right about some of the review? What would you agree would be right in your perspective? I mean, I am sure in the review there are some things you agree with and some you don't. What's wrong and which things should be ignored and which things should be gone forward with in the review?
Mr. STELLE. To the question, have we formally commented on or responded to the Olsen report. The answer I believe is no. Do you know whether——
Dr. OLSEN. Capital N-O, no.
Mrs. SMITH. When did you actually get that?
Mr. STELLE. I don't know.
Dr. OLSEN. You received it in February.
Mrs. SMITH. Is that because you are too busy or he is incompetent?
I am very serious. I get reports from people that don't have the ability, the background to give me a report. It's not weighted as much as someone that gives me a report that is qualified.
Is Dr. Olsen's report not a qualified report to spend time to review after 6 months, 7 months?
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Mr. STELLE. Ma'am, our scientists and technicians have reviewed the report. They have also reviewed those recommendations with the state and tribal managers, through which we make decisions on and recommendations on the operation of the Federal projects.
Mrs. SMITH. Just in conclusion, I guess I want to ask one question. I have been looking over qualifications. What is your background in science or resource economies?
Mr. STELLE. I'm an attorney. I am trained as a lawyer.
Mrs. SMITH. I am sorry, Mr. Stelle. That was really probably a lot more lawyers than just you. But thank you for your answer.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Mr. Romero-Barceló.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. No.
Mr. POMBO. Ms. Chenoweth.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Stelle, I think we heard some startling testimony from two very distinguished and highly regarded speakers of the House, and equally distinguished member of the Oregon Senate and the House in Washington.
We heard the speakers and both of those gentlemen testify that the treatment that they have received at the hands of your agency in putting together a plan and trying to work with your agency and in the restoration of salmon habitat was very sad. It was disrespectful. And it appeared that their recommendations were not regarded.
The buck has to stop somewhere, Mr. Stelle. Does it stop with you, or Katie McGintie, or the Vice-President? Where does the buck stop?
Mr. STELLE. To the first part of your question, Representative Chenoweth, as I mentioned, we worked very hard with the State of Oregon, both the executive branch and the legislative branch, to help make the Oregon Plan a reality.
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I am actually proud of the effort we put into it. It was a good faith effort. It was based on a mutual commitment that it was the right way to go. And I believe it has opened an important doorway for state and local restoration efforts here in the Pacific Northwest.
I absolutely regard the effort of the legislature and the Governor with the utmost respect. It is and continues to be a genuine and substantial effort. We support it. We approved it. We have defended it before Federal Court. We disagreed with the ruling of the court that found that it was inadequate.
We believe it is in fact adequate under the terms of the Endangered Species Act. And we have persuaded the Department of Justice to appeal that ruling. We are defending the Oregon Plan and we fully support it.
To your second question, the responsibility for the administration of the Endangered Species Act has been delegated from the Secretary of Commerce to me as the regional administrator in the north region, and I execute those responsibilities.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Mr. Stelle. I think that more than just the defense of the Oregon Plan, I think these members of both the House and the Senate were talking about the treatment of the agency, too. And I appreciate your owning up to it.
I do want to say that you said the idea of our region being barren of salmon is completely unacceptable. And I will look forward to hearing from you about results and hearing from the members of the legislature about results in there being a better working relationship.
But I think also what they are trying to say and what I and other members of this region who serve in the House are trying to say, that, yes, we admit that the fish are cultural icons. We admit that.
But the idea of our region's being barren of irrigated fields and orchards and recreation and hydropower base is completely unacceptable, too.
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And I also want to say that I look forward to hearing—I look forward to the day when I can hear from you and other agency personnel and leaders, I look forward to more substantive results rather than saying that meetings like this are good for dialogue and good for collaborative results. Dialogue, we have got to move beyond.
And, Mr. Stelle, yes, you are an attorney, but you are a very bright man, and you have put forth your agenda very, very well. But it is not a satisfactory agenda to the future of this area.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Nethercutt.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I found this panel's testimony really quite revealing.
There seems to be an assumption here, Mr. Stelle, with all due respect to you, and to you, Mr. Curtis, that only the Federal Government and its scientists and its employees have the endangered species' best interests at heart.
I want to follow on Representative Chenoweth's comments about National Marine Fisheries Service testimony here, with respect to the treatment of the states of Washington and Oregon.
There seems to be in government today, and perhaps illustrated clearly by your agency, a belief that the Federal Government is always right, that its employees and its scientists are only the ones who have any wisdom. The treatment of Dr. Olsen's report seems to prove that in some respect. With regard to state's rights, whether it's the habitat conservation desires of the state, or the best judgments of the states of Oregon and Washington, those seem to be a subject of suspicion and question by your agency.
And at what cost? I mean, the cost is tremendous.
Mr. Hale, my goodness sakes, I don't know how you can do it. That's a horror story, but it's one of many that people like me and others on this panel hear of regularly from people—normal, ordinary, good citizens—in our districts.
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So it's very difficult it seems to me for you to sit here, again respectfully, sir, and try to defend and make the statements that I wrote down, your comments that you are meeting your responsibilities in—meeting your obligations in a responsible way.
You know, bankrupting Mr. Hale or costing him a million dollars and causing, and ignoring in many respects, the good work of the scientists and the people of the states of Washington and Oregon, and ignoring Dr. Olsen's report, who has put a lot of effort and good scientific background into that, seems to me to be the height of arrogance, and that is what is really bothering me.
I will allow you to respond.
Mr. Curtis, you talk about failed experiments on our river system, and drawdowns and other ways to try to restore salmon and fish recovery.
My goodness, sir, and now you advocate breaching of the dams and saying that essentially it doesn't matter that the citizens of the Pacific Northwest are going to have to pay more for power.
That's a very real consequence. It's not some theory that we're talking about here. That's a very real consequence. Breaching the dams are going to cause tremendous dislocation, not only to the integrity of our river systems, the recreational use, the power generation costs for sure, but the environmental quality would be deteriorated.
So, it's easy to come in and testify blithely about and theoretically about how we all ought to be fair and pay more, how we should worry a lot about salmon, that everybody has to pay their share, and the Federal Government's always right.
Sir, that's wrong. And you are going to find, in the real world of people who are here in this room that we speak to those real concerns. I know it's difficult to be in government, but it shouldn't be difficult to use common sense, and look at the cost consequences of Federal actions and the policies that are implemented by your agencies.
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So I have given my speech. I will be happy to have you respond.
But I am very serious about this. I think that's a very real problem of government now. And this talk about breaching the dams is just inflammatory, and I get real emotional about it, as many others do, too.
So a quick comment. I am sorry to take all the time.
Mr. STELLE. Congressman, let me just respond briefly. I left a misimpression. I think that frankly in a number—to your question of do we believe that the Federal scientists or the Federal employees are the sole repository of truth and knowledge, the answer is absolutely no. We don't believe that.
Here in the Columbia Basin, obviously there's a lot of dispute about what works and what doesn't work. And we with the National Marine Fisheries Service essentially brought in the National Academy of Sciences and through the national academy set up an independent science advisory board, specifically to get independent, good transparent scientific advice on some of the issues that are so difficult here in the Columbia Basin.
So, too, in the Oregon effort, we absolutely support the convening of the multidisciplinary science team by the State of Oregon. It's the right thing to do and we support it, and we take what they do very seriously.
To the issue of working with the states, I can only say it's absolutely my hope that we continue to build a good, solid, effective, constructive relationship in the implementation of the Oregon Plan, and as the state of Washington and the counties work hard on their efforts. It's a good effort. We are 100 percent behind it. And frankly, I hope we try our very best to work day to day.
Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. Just two comments. One, I think it's unfortunate we don't have some of the state biologists who participated in the PATH process here today.
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I have the greatest respect for the state biologists and the tribal biologists, as well as Federal people working on this. Howard Schaller, Rick Williams, if somebody like that were here, I think we could get some different approaches to some of the scientific questions that have been raised.
The second question, though, with regard to suggestions and recommendations with regard to dam breaching, which I realize is a highly inflammatory issue out here.
Let me just say that that is the reason that we continue to support a process to get closer to a regional consensus, so that we can have a process where we can look at these tough scientific questions and the tough economic questions and come to a better understanding of what's going on. And we support that.
If in the end the region comes to the conclusion, looking at the best scientific data available, and the real economics that it's not the way to go, then I am sure the Congress, who makes the ultimate decisions on this and we recognize that, is not going to do it.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. I guarantee it.
Mr. CURTIS. Congressman Nethercutt, when these dams were put in, they were very difficult decisions to do. People looked at winners and losers. Towns were moved. And hatcheries were put in. They were very difficult decisions.
I don't second guess the people who made those decisions to put those dams in.
I think we're facing a similar decision process now. And I think we should face those tough decisions the same way.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Congressman Hastings.
Mr. HASTINGS. You know, it's interesting to listen to the first panel and this panel.
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And I want to address my questions to Mr. Stelle. Because we heard, at least I heard, one member up here, very specifically that the relationship between the state legislature, at least two of them here, Oregon and Washington, and NMFS was not very good. I mean, I think that came across loud and clear.
That being the case, then your perception of the things working is probably not very good. And you have to deal with what reality is.
So, I guess that's something that you need to work on.
I think George, by colleague, George Nethercutt said it very well, this is very serious. And there is a notion that one size doesn't fit all. The Federal mandate isn't exactly—I just want to make that observation.
Because the stark testimony difference between the respective speakers and legislatures from where you sit, just don't jibe.
You can say those were different settings and it didn't make sense, but they didn't make sense today.
Now, having said that, Linda Smith asked you about state water rights, and you didn't elaborate, you just said that she asked you directly, should states have water rights, and you said yes.
Now, I understood you to say that the Federal Government has higher authority over state water law vis-a-vis Federal facilities.
Did I hear you correct?
Mr. STELLE. Representative, what I meant to say was that in the operation of the Federal dams on the Columbia system, those operations are the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation on the advice of the National Marine Fisheries Service. And they make those decisions on how to operate those dams, in the winter, spring, summer and the fall.
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And my understanding is they have solid, firm responsibility to do so. And that exercising that responsibility doesn't abridge state water rights one way or the other. That is the point I was making. But they do so.
Mr. HASTINGS. Well, it seems like it does. There are people here that will probably attest that they are affected. I think that Mr. Hale here would suggest that there is a cause and effect. And he's on the same panel that you are on.
But now, having said that, though, having given the qualification that you just gave me, that the operation of the Federal facilities, how far upstream does that affect? Does that affect all tributaries, then, from a flow standpoint.
Mr. STELLE. No, sir, it doesn't. It operates, I am not sure I can give you the technical answer on that, but basically——
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Stelle, I am not the attorney, you are.
Mr. STELLE. The Federal projects, the decisions of the Corps and the Bureau how to operate those mainstem projects are really whatever water is coming in from Canada and flows into the system, flows into those pools.
Now, there is some Federal involvement through a treaty with Canada on the operation of the big Canadian projects, to try to coordinate——
Mr. HASTINGS. Let me try to be specific. There's a report out, and maybe you can clarify this, Lake Chelan, up in Central Washington here, NMFS suggested that they were going to reduce the water in Lake Chelan to augment the flow in the Columbia River.
You categorically deny that that's not going to happen by NMFS?
Mr. STELLE. I know absolutely nothing about that. I've heard that talk about what's going on in Lake Chelan.
To the best of my knowledge, none of my staff have ever talked to me about any intentions on Lake Chelan. I have no knowledge about any kind of drawdowns of Lake Chelan. That is not true from my perspective.
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Mr. HASTINGS. Great. I want to ask Dr. Olsen a question here, talking about flow, though, because we were talking about flows here and you indicated in your testimony some regard about flows and there's a disconnect or some point as to how NMFS is implementing this.
I would just like you to elaborate on the flows based on what my conversation with Mr. Stelle has been right here, vis-a-vis water rights.
Dr. OLSEN. There's actually several responses to that.
In my testimony I brought up the double standard issue. And what we're seeing now is public statements from NMFS officials saying, we have some correlations.
Now, between flow and survival, 3 years worth of data, for flow and survival with fall Chinook. They ignore other convoluting factors, they ignore other significance variables and say, aha, this is it, this justifies the flow augmentation, we obviously need another million acre-feet or something.
They are public statements. I can provide you with those, if you would like those.
Mr. HASTINGS. Please do. I won't speak for the Chairman, but please do. I think the Committee would like to have those statements.
Dr. OLSEN. In the same breath, NMFS turns around and in basically the supplemental buy off which came out in March, and in other quarters, personal conversations with management with NMFS, they come back and say, that's right, we don't have any flow survivals, statistical relationships for spring migrants for 5 years worth of data.
It's higher quality data, more data than what they have for fall Chinook. But they just ignore that, say, we don't care.
So on one hand the standard is, aha, there is statistical correlation, that's important, so that justifies their flow augmentation, but we will totally ignore other data, better quality data that doesn't justify statistically the relationship.
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There is a double standard being put forward for the science.
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Stelle, I might want to have a dialogue here.
Mr. STELLE. Representative, I would be happy to share with the Committee and with Dr. Olsen, I think he knows the reviews that our science center does of the flow survival relationships. We do it every year to determine what the evidence appears to be on whether or not there is one, and if so, to what degree, what is the strength of that relationship.
We will be conducting another technical review of the data this fall for the 1997 runs. And I would be happy to share those reports with the Committee. Dr. Olsen I think knows them. And they get distributed broadly throughout the region.
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Stelle, one last thing——
Mr. POMBO. Dr. Olsen would like to respond.
Mr. HASTINGS. Dr. Olsen, thank you.
Dr. OLSEN. Just a comment back on that. Yeah, we're well aware of the data. It's in our report, we use the raw data as well as the summaries, we are well aware of that data.
But I think more importantly about the issue, about how you are approaching this in open science, back in November I was working on a contract for Bonneville Power Administration, where they asked us to review the cost and benefits of various salmon methodologies of various regions, various things, drawdown, flow augmentation, spill, other types of things.
We presented an alternative to be reviewed by the scientific community, actually part of what is essentially I guess loosely called the three sovereigns process. We presented an alternative and asked for its review using the NMFS data, University of Washington data, and the response directly from Mr. Stelle was a letter to the acting CEO of Bonneville Power Administration saying, you don't even have the right to introduce a low flow scenario for being reviewed through the process.
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I will be glad to provide you copies of the letter.
Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you. Mr. Stelle, western water law is very, very complex, and I am certainly not by no means an expert on that.
But I have to tell you, what you said is not satisfactory to me, and what I would like you to do is to present at least to me, and I hope the Committee would accept it also, a response as to what is your interpretation of state water rights are, how that interacts with your agency, so that we can understand where you are coming from and how all of this works together.
Because I heard yes, and then I heard no, except. And I just heard some things that are troubling to me.
I think maybe for the benefit of this member and maybe for the benefit of this Committee, let's hear precisely. And you said in your testimony you want to be as precise as possible. Let's hear precisely exactly how this reacts with you. I would appreciate that.
The next question I wanted to ask you, this is one thing I learned in my years in Congress, when I make a request for response from a panel in writing later on, I've learned to ask when I should be expected to get that. All right?
And so I will ask you, Mr. Stelle, when could you get me that response?
Mr. STELLE. How about October 1st, Congressman?
Mr. HASTINGS. October 1st. If that's not a weekend, but in other words, what you are saying, within 30 days.
Mr. STELLE. Yes.
Mr. HASTINGS. And that should not be a weekend, if my calculation works, that should be on a Friday. I think we can handle that. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Romero-Barceló.
Mr. Romero-Barceló. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask Mr. Stelle something.
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Have you ever considered, have you found any other country in the world where salmon have also disappeared and they have restored them? Do you have any knowledge of any other country where that has happened?
Mr. STELLE. That's a great question. I have heard some sort of episodic talk about New Zealand and salmon restoration efforts about New Zealand.
I myself am not an expert on them, but I hear there is some very interesting stuff going on in salmon.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. I happen to know about some, and I am going to tell you, and I think sometimes we tend to isolate ourselves and forget about that other people might have solved the problems. They might not be the same problems.
But when I was growing up in Puerto Rico, I considered Switzerland, to take a look at the small dairy farmers, where they were so successful. And what I mean by small, 6 or 12 cows, and they were successful. They had reasonable income from that.
And while I was there, one of the high officials of the Department of Agriculture started talking about the fishing and the plentiful salmon in Switzerland. And he said, well, salmon used to be very, very, very plentiful, so plentiful that they used to pass laws that gave food to their employees as part of the salaries or whatever, to give them salmon more than once a day and for no more than 5 days a week.
Anyway, he said that because of the pollution in the lakes and the rivers, the salmon just about disappeared.
And now when I was there, the salmon was back.
What they did, it was long ago, I was not looking into that subject matter, so I didn't pay much attention, but I think we should be checking to find out if that story was correct, and if it did happen in Switzerland, what did they do?
I mean, who knows? They might have some answer that we don't, or they might have some solutions that might be helpful for us.
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I will throw that out for consideration for you and for others. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you, Mr. Barceló.
Mr. Stelle, I allowed you to extend your oral testimony because I felt it was important for you to have the opportunity to get your side of this out. I thought it was important for the Committee to understand what your position was. And also I felt it was important for the members of the community that are here today to have the opportunity to hear what you had to say.
One of the things that you said in your statement I think probably exemplifies a great part of the problem that we have had with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act, and that's whether it's through NMFS or whether it's through Fish and Wildlife, because the culture is very similar within the Federal agencies.
Dr. Anderson, you said that extinction is not an option, that people of the Pacific Northwest want the salmon runs to be restored, they want the salmon to be here.
And you went on to say that it is also part of clean water and having clean and non-polluted water here. And then you go on to give a very distinct inference that if anyone disagrees with what you are doing, then they are in essence in favor of extinction and dirty water.
And that's a big part of our problem that we have. Because in my experience with the Endangered Species Act, and unfortunately I have had a great deal, I can tell you that the local people care a lot more about the salmon than you do or I do. The local people care more about clean water than anybody in the entire District of Columbia. And that what we have seen is a disconnect between what the Federal agencies are saying this is what you have to do and what the solutions that are being generated locally are.
And I don't think you can deny when you have the Speaker of the House of Washington, the Speaker of the House of Oregon, distinguished colleagues that they serve with, coming in and saying that they don't have a good relationship with the Federal agencies, that they felt that it was extortion, they felt that they were being put upon by a Federal agency, I don't think that you can realistically come in here and testify and say that you've got a great relationship. Because there's a disconnect there.
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And if we are ever going to have an Endangered Species Act that works, it has to be done with the support of the locals. And we're not getting that. And that's whether it's here in the Pacific Northwest or California or anywhere else we have gone.
I just don't see that happening right now. I would like to ask you about the difference between what's happened here and what happened with the Atlantic salmon. We had a similar types of agreements between the regions of the country, National Marine Fisheries Service on agreeing to go ahead with the management plan. With the management plan being thrown out in Oregon, how are you going to proceed with the Atlantic salmon at this point?
Mr. STELLE. Mr. Chairman, that's a good question. Let me first of all clarify.
The Oregon Plan stands on its own. And as Speaker Lundquist testified earlier, the State of Oregon continues to move forward with it.
We absolutely believe that's the right thing to do. We have worked with them in the development of that plan. And we believe it should be the road map for recovery for coastal salmonids in Oregon.
The issue was, the specific issue was whether or not our decision not to list coastal salmon runs in Oregon and rely instead upon the Oregon Plan was appropriate under the Endangered Species Act.
We made that decision. We support the Oregon Plan. And we defended that decision in court. We were sued by a coalition of environmentalists I think in southwest Oregon. The District Court ruled that we inappropriately relied upon the voluntary measures in the Oregon Plan.
We do not believe that the Endangered Species Act prohibits voluntary measures. We believe that our reliance on those efforts was lawful, that the Endangered Species Act provides that flexibility, and we are appealing that suit.
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Meanwhile, the State of Oregon has made a commitment to continue on with its plan.
The implication is, the question then is, well, what about the Maine Plan? In the state of Maine, again, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the state of Maine entered into an agreement to implement an Atlantic salmon plan for their potentially listed salmon runs in I think seven rivers in Maine.
First of all, let me note that the geographic scale is very, very different. These were seven drainages in southern Maine, versus essentially the entire Oregon coast.
The nature of the problem facing Atlantic salmon is different, and therefore the automatics of a one-to-one correlation do not work, because the situations are different.
In that situation, we deferred the listing in reliance on the Oregon Plan, we intended to defend that plan, too, and as of yet that continues to hold.
There is a possibility, as usual, that folks may file a lawsuit to challenge that decision. I don't believe that's happened yet, and I hope it doesn't, because I don't think it's very productive.
Mr. POMBO. So you don't at this time even tend to list the Atlantic salmon?
Mr. STELLE. No, sir.
Mr. POMBO. Just to conclude my questioning, in your statement you say that over the past 20 years you've developed a world class expertise on evaluation of impacts of differing human activities on the salmon life cycle, and you go on to list dam operations and fish passage, fishing activities, fish husbandry and on and on and on, and their impact on salmon.
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We had testimony at a previous hearing, and at that hearing it was testified that there is approximately a billion dollars a year, and this was about 2 years ago, so I am guessing that the figure has gone up, about a billion dollars a year that is being spent by public and private sector on the recovery of the salmon.
Mr. Curtis testified that we are continuing to decrease numbers on the return of the salmon. I believe, as he said, we have gone from 15 in recent years down to 10,000 return, over a billion dollars a year, 20 years of experience in studying these.
At what point do you think we're going to see some results?
Mr. STELLE. That is a great question. If I had my druthers, tomorrow. But as I think most of the scientific consensus here in the region will report, this thing isn't going to turn around because of any one particular thing that we do, because it's all too complicated.
I think as Dr. Anderson testified, the ocean is a huge issue. And we need to get a better scientific understanding of the relationship of ocean conditions and estuarine conditions and the productivity of salmon populations, salmon survivals.
We have in fact submitted a multifaceted research program starting this year, and I will be happy to submit it to the Committee, that is trying to get into that black box and develop a better understanding of the ocean's conditions through the estuary. If the oceans turn around, sir, I am optimistic.
Mr. POMBO. I guess my point is, I respect the work that has been done by the biologists, by the scientists on this. I don't necessarily respect the work that is being done in the regulations, because I think that many times the regulations that come out are political and have little or no basis on the science.
And I think that that is a huge mistake that we are making in the implementation of this. It is at times extremely frustrating to sit as Chairman on a hearing like this, but the effort is being made to educate the Committee on the real problems that real people are having.
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At the same time I think it gives all of you a window into how frustrating it is to go back to Washington, DC and represent you at times.
I would like to thank this panel very much for your testimony.
As in the previous panel, there will be additional questions that will be asked. I ask you to respond to those in a timely fashion so that we can include them in the hearing record.
Thank you very much. We are going to take a 10-minute break, and I mean 10 minutes. So if any of you plan on leaving the room, we are going to start in 10 minutes. So please respect that.
[Recess.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you very much. I would like to welcome our third panel. We have Mr. Jim Baker, Northwest Salmon Campaign Coordinator of the Sierra Club; we have Mr. Fred Ziari, Chairman of the Eastern Oregon Irrigation Association; Mr. Richard Erickson, the secretary manager of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District; and Mr. Rob Phillips, Director of the Northwest Sport Fishing Industry Association. Welcome to our panel.
Mr. Baker, if you are prepared, I am sure that you understand the lights, if you could try to conclude your testimony in 5 minutes. Your entire written statement will be included in the record. But if you could try to conclude your oral testimony in 5 minutes, the Committee would appreciate it. If you are ready, you may begin.
STATEMENT OF JIM BAKER, NORTHWEST SALMON CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR, SIERRA CLUB, PULLMAN, WASHINGTON
Mr. BAKER. It's in my best interests to complete my testimony in 5 minutes, because we have already gone past the lunch hour. I have already run out of blood sugar.
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Good afternoon. Thank you for this opportunity to testify on H.R. 4335.
For the record, my name is Jim Baker, and I serve as Northwest Salmon Campaign coordinator for the Sierra Club.
The Committee does have my written statement with my completed disclosure forms.
Let me briefly summarize my remarks for my verbal testimony before the Committee.
Although the National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS, listed wild Sockeye in the Snake River Basin under the Endangered Species Act in December, 1991, tragically throughout this decade the numbers of spawning adult salmon and steelhead have continued to decline toward extinction, despite these listings.
More often, the NMFS nearly 7 years after the first listing has not adopted a recovery plan for Snake River Basin salmon and steelhead. If the agency meets its self-imposed and court ordered deadline, the NMFS will decide late in 1999 the key question of how to lift the deadly toll taken on four Federal dams on the Lower Snake River. Nor has the agency provided these listed salmon or steelhead runs with adequate or effective interim protection under the ESA.
NMFS has dismally failed to implement its current biological opinion which began under court order in 1995.
The agency did not adopt a spread the risk strategy between barged and in-river migration of juvenile salmon, did not provide adequate spill for safe passage of young fish past the eight dams, did not bring the elevation of John Day reservoir on the lower Columbia River to minimum operating elevation, did not release adequate volumes of water from upstream storage reservoirs, and did not meet targets for flow augmentation.
The salmon desperately need all of these minimal protections, and the Sierra Club intends to hold all of the Federal agencies' collective feet to the fire for delivery of these measures in the courts, in the Congress, and in the Clinton Administration.
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While I do not see due diligence or proper performance on the part of NMFS, the agency is just one of several Federal agencies which has built this record of poor performance on Columbia Basin salmon recovery under the ESA.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has pursued an expensive and wasteful agenda of gold plating its dams with new equipment and technologies of at best dubious value to fish.
The Bureau of Reclamation has not provided additional water volumes for flow augmentation in the Snake River, and indeed until recently, had not even consulted with the NMFS as required in the ESA.
For most of this decade the Bonneville Power Administration has blamed fish and wildlife costs for its financial straits when the actual causes are BPA's crushing debt load from WPPSS bonds and wholesale electricity deregulation in 1992.
So what we have here is a failure by numerous Federal agencies, in other words, a general failure of the Clinton Administration to save salmon and steelhead in the Columbia Basin.
Turning now to H.R. 4335, I must tell you, Mr. Chairman, that the Sierra Club opposes this bill because it is not responsive to the root problem, the failure of the Clinton Administration to protect and restore Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act.
This administration's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is unlikely to perform any better than this administration's national marine fisheries service. Moreover, the transfer of ESA functions between the two agencies would inevitably cause even further delay in taking necessary actions to save these magnificent fish. It would particularly delay the 1999 decision on the Lower Snake River dams.
So to adapt Shakespeare a bit, I come not to praise NMFS, nor to bury it.
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What should the Congress do to put Columbia Basin salmon recovery back on a successful track?
No. 1. Appropriate full funding for needed studies into the biology, engineering, economic impacts and mitigations of proposed salmon recovery actions. Similarly, the Congress should refuse funding for wasteful gold plating technological fixes such as juvenile fish transportation which offer little or no benefit to salmon and steelhead.
Two. Support and promote preparation of a single unified salmon recovery plan among the three sovereign governments within the Columbia Basin. Federal Government, the four states, and the 13 American Indian tribes. All three sovereign governments have legal authorities and obligations for Columbia Basin recovery to all three must participate together in the planning and implementation of the recovery program.
No. 3. Keep the Clinton Administration to its promised 1999 decision on the Lower Snake River dams. In this particular case, delay makes for huge waste. Multi hundred million dollar waste.
And fourth, follow the independent biology, such as the independent scientific advisory board.
The best available science is telling us that the salmon need river ecosystem restoration, not more techno-fixes.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify today. And I welcome your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Baker may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Mr. Ziari.
STATEMENT OF FRED ZIARI, CHAIRMAN, EASTERN OREGON IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION, HERMISTON, OREGON
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Mr. ZIARI. Good afternoon. My name is Fred Ziari. I am the chairman of the Eastern Oregon Irrigation Association. We are located in Hermiston, Oregon, which is about 20 miles south of here.
Our members are, represent local farmers, ports and water users in Eastern Oregon.
I should mention before I start that if you want to know who killed the Oregon Plan, and consequently delayed fish recovery, the man to my right, the Sierra Club, did that, and Trout Unlimited, the ones that filed the lawsuit that killed that good voluntary program that was supposed to save salmon.
Our members have a long history of working in a cooperative manner with Congress, state, Tribes and Federal agencies in implementing and enhancing fish runs in Eastern Oregon.
Over the past 15 years our farmers working cooperatively with the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla and the related agencies have successfully implemented the Umatilla Basin Project which has brought the salmon back to our river and has become a model of successful salmon recovery in the Northwest.
In other words, we have been and we are committed in salmon recovery for long time. We irrigate some 200,000 acres of irrigated land in Eastern Oregon. Almost all of our products are processed locally and values are added. Annually over 80 percent of our products are valued between $8 to $900 million annually, exported out of our region, and most overseas market through one of the most efficient and economical Columbia River barge transportation system.
Over 8,000 people in our sparsely populated area are employed in agriculture and other food related industries.
We do all of these with the use of only three-tenths of 1 percent of Columbia River water. And that's about all of the water the state of Oregon uses in the whole state, three-tenths of 1 percent.
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Let me make one thing very clear. Columbia River system, which is the second largest river in the country, is not an over-appropriated river as some may want you to believe. The total of only 7 percent of the Columbia River water is utilized for agricultural, municipal and industrial use in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia combined. Only 7 percent. Ninety three percent of all the water is untouched and is used for fish and hydro.
Our farmers are a vital part of providing food for our citizens at home and hungry world abroad. And we are very proud of these achievements. As the world population are expected to reach over 10 million people in the coming decades, our ability to produce high quality and affordable food supplies become even more vital.
All of these achievements are now in jeopardy through unrealistic dam removals over our dead bodies and excessive flow augmentation proposals by our Federal agencies. We watch with bewilderment how NMFS and an army of Federal agencies have totally abandoned cooperative spirit of working with local officials and the resource users.
When they are presented with the resolution to a problem by resource users, they instead decided to implement a mean spirited policy to inflict pain and suffering to water users and landowners, which you have seen one, Mr. Hale.
The zero net water policy, which they have implemented, totally stops all of the irrigation. It has no meaningful analysis has been done, no consultation with the local agencies, and it's not prudent and reasonable alternative. And it violates our state laws.
This no net water loss policy not only stopped all irrigation, it also impacts all of our cities. A good example, the city of Umatilla, which I am engineer for, has a total of 3300 people, and following a statewide search for a suitable site, the State of Oregon now is constructing the newest state prison in Umatilla, which will house 1500 prisoners, and employ 500 staff, doubling the town's population.
To serve this facility, the state holds a state approved water rights for a mere 23 cfs, cubic feet per second, out of over 200,000 cfs, but this permit, they cannot meet NMFS flow policy, and the city is wondering, now what? And how will they meet the needs of their citizens?
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There are other cities around Eastern Oregon that face the same situation.
Maybe we should stop the criminal and send them all to Mr. Stelle's neighborhood.
My time is up. I have the recommendation for Congressional action, and I hope you will consider that.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ziari may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Mr. Erickson.
STATEMENT OF RICHARD ERICKSON, SECRETARY/MANAGER, EAST COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT, OTHELLO, WASHINGTON
Mr. ERICKSON. Good afternoon. My name is Dick Erickson. I am the present manager of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District. I would like to thank the members of the Committee for the opportunity to provide information about the effects of NMFS flow augmentation policies. The Columbia Basin Project was constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to provide approximately 622,000 acres of farmland by diverting at Grand Coulee Dam approximately 3 percent of the river's flow.
The project is authorized by Congress to ultimately irrigate 1,095,000 acres.
The NMFS mandated flow policy caused the Bureau of Reclamation in July 1993 to impose an administrative moratorium on new Columbia Basin Project water service. That moratorium immediately resulted in the shelving of all planning for further development for the Columbia Basin project.
That action hit late in the EIS study process to enlarge the existing canal to 87,000 acres. This delay or cancellation of further development appears to many who are unfamiliar to be simply an opportunity foregone.
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It is more complicated than that. Between one-third and one-half of the 87,000 acres are irrigated by deep wells. All those wells were permitted by the state of Washington in the late 1960's and early 1970's at a density estimated to give that aquifer a 30 year economic life.
Thirty years have now nearly passed and many of those wells are not sustainable long-term.
The NMFS inspired Bureau moratorium has also taken authorized water supplies amounting to about 85,000 acre-feet per year from the already developed first half of the project. Because of the moratorium the Bureau has rescinded previously authorized contractual authorities for the districts to irrigate about 13,000 more first half acres, translating to about 39,000 acre-feet per year.
Also reneged on was the authority to provide up to 60,000 acre-feet per year of project water to area industries and communities for municipal and industrial use. The project's M & I ability is now capped at the amount then already in use which is about 14,000 acre-feet per year, locking up the balance of 46,000 acre feet.
This NMFS driven, Bureau enforced moratorium, exacerbated by the scarcity of groundwater, has brought much of the Columbia Basin Project area to the threshold of a no-growth scenario.
To better understand that situation please consider the attached letter from the Port of Moses Lake which I will now summarize.
Much of Moses Lake's industries are food processing companies that convert Columbia Basin raw agricultural products to value added consumer food products for domestic and export markets.
In recent years, other types of industries have also located in the Moses Lake area which manufacture non-ag products such as electronics materials, automotive components, industrial chemicals and metal products. And this diversification is important to our economy and the area's working people to, among other things, help smooth out the inherent cyclical nature of the ag section.
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These industries have located around Moses Lake for a variety of reasons, but an economic supply of electricity and a dependable water supply are common needs of nearly all these manufacturers. Both of these fundamentals are now being threatened by the NMFS flow policies.
The Moses Lake area's electricity is supplied by Grant County PUD and is generated at Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams on the Columbia.
NMFS flow policies enforced by FERC are you know at the point where the Grant PUD is having to spill something like 60 percent of the Columbia's flows. This results in the need to purchase replacement power at higher cost. Grant's rates will need to increase and there is concern they may eventually exceed the region's market rate.
Most of Moses Lake's industries' economic feasibility is very sensitive to power costs. Most of these industries also need water for the manufacturing processes and also for fresh water to blend with processed waste water so they can be treated by land application. The proportion of this processed water and either canal water or groundwater for blending is critical for both waste water treatment requirements and for crop nutrient requirements.
The use of groundwater in the Moses Lake area has been maximized. Complicating this is the fact that Moses Lake area groundwater is naturally high in sodium and other salts, making it more difficult to use for some manufacturing processes and for blending water for wastewater treatment. A number of Moses Lake area food processors are using Columbia Basin Project canal water for blending water and process water. These project industrial municipal supplies should be our supply for the future. However, that is not presently possible on any meaningful scale, because of the Bureau's scale has caused the Bureau of Reclamation to impose a moratorium on any new Columbia Basin Project water services, including M & I.
The letter concludes by saying, please give careful consideration to Moses Lake's energy and water needs as you look into these NMFS flow policies.
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This letter is signed by Port of Moses Lake Commissioner Larry D. Peterson.
On behalf of the East Quincy and South Columbia Basin Irrigation Districts, I ask this Committee to use its considerable authority toward reducing the NMFS flow targets to levels supported by valid hydrology and valid biology and to end the Bureau's moratorium.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Erickson may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Phillips, last but not least.
STATEMENT OF ROB PHILLIPS, DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST SPORT FISHING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, OREGON CITY, OREGON
Mr. PHILLIPS. Like those preceding me, I also wish to thank the Committee for this opportunity today to comment on H.R. 4335 specifically, and in general, upon the execution of the Endangered Species Act.
My name is Rob Phillips, and unlike those preceding me, I am not a doctor or a scientist, I own a little advertising agency up in Yakima, Washington, and most of you might wonder what's this guy doing here. Well, much of our business is derived from sport fishing. We have accounts that advertise to support fishermen, sell equipment, and because of the decline in the salmon and steelhead in the last 10 years, our business has seen much of that effect, as well, and gone downhill.
My concern over this has led me to serve on the board of the Northwest Sport Fishing Industry Association, and that's who I am representing today.
Our association consists of hundreds of businesses and thousands of family wage jobs dedicated to our rivers, lakes and streams, full of fish.
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Many of our businesses have been deeply impacted by the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Fishing closures and extensive regulations which are barriers to participation have severely impacted sport fishing opportunities for salmon and steelhead. Quite a few of our members have actually had to close their businesses in the last several years.
Most of us recognize, however, that the Endangered Species Act is merely the messenger and not the message. Our watersheds are in trouble, and the salmon are the indicator species. Admittedly, the current manner in which the ESA is executed is very heavy handed in dealing with sport fisheries. Sport fishing is often the favorite short-term target.
The problem is these burdensome short-term measures are meaningless without substantial long-term measures. This is where the current implementation of the ESA falls short in our opinion.
There are scarce to no examples of enforcement action for the very real multi-generation take of salmon, steelhead and trout which occurs in many different areas.
We feel that NMFS can and should play a stronger role in defining take and in enforcing serious violations, while helping to define and implement restoration actions for the remainder of the problems.
Recovery will never be accomplished on the backs of the fishermen. Decades of fishing constraints have not brought about recovery. Massive smolt and adult mortalities caused by the Columbia/Snake River hydro operations are causing constraints on fisheries from Northern California to the Gulf of Alaska.
Operations of the Columbia River hydro system must be dealt with in the same scrutiny and severity as sportfishing. NMFS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of Engineers and BPA must all coordinate together to reduce the impacts which are strangling healthy fisheries throughout the region.
H.R. 4335 does get to the heart of an important issue, however. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must be better partners if the precious fresh water resources of the region are to recover to fishable levels, reassuring the health of our watersheds.
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There are no laws prohibiting better cooperation between the agencies. Indeed, the dire plight of the resources demands better communication and cooperation throughout the Federal family.
In Mr. Stelle's defense, we feel NMFS did the right thing by working with Governor Kitzhaber and the State of Oregon to build a state supported and executed cover recovery plan.
In summary, from our perspective, the timing of the bill is inappropriate. Salmon and steelhead don't need new laws and don't need agency changes. What they need first, is enforcement of existing laws, regulations and authorities.
Federal agencies need to have a better cooperation. Other improvements would include earlier work with the states before the situation is so severe. The longer we delay tackling the problem the more drastic and costly the measures for recovery become.
Earlier participation by NMFS, or whatever Federal agency it might be, would facilitate a partner role with the states, rather than an enforcement role. Step in earlier.
Northwest Sportfishing Association appreciates any intent in which the bill may have been written which strives to enhance the ability of the ESA to recover salmon and steelhead in our region.
The Northwest Sportfishing Industry recognizes that the improvements in our watersheds and operations of the hydro system which benefit the weakest stocks will only further enhance the healthy populations available for harvest.
We applaud any effort that allows us to plan for secure jobs and futures, and even to rebuild the 10,000 jobs lost during the salmon and steelhead decline. Thank you for the opportunity.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Phillips may be found at end of hearing.]
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Mr. POMBO. Thank you. Ms. Chenoweth?
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I wanted to ask Mr. Baker in followup to a question that the Chairman had asked earlier about the Atlantic salmon, where does the Sierra Club stand on listing the Atlantic salmon? And I am sure you are aware of the notice in the Code of Federal Regulations, suddenly it was mysteriously withdrawn.
Where does the Sierra Club stand?
Mr. BAKER. I must confess, I am not familiar with the case. My colleague on the East Coast deals with that issue for the Sierra Club.
I will be happy to get in touch with him——
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Would you?
Mr. BAKER [continuing] and I will apprise the Committee of what our position is and what we are striving to accomplish.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you. And following up on Mr. Hastings's technique, when do you think we could expect that?
Mr. BAKER. Oh, if you are willing to accept the same 30 days, I can assure you we will get you a response by October 1st. If you would like it in a shorter term, I would be willing to talk to you about that, to check.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. October 1st is fine. And I was reminded, I think it's a Thursday.
You endorsed the three sovereigns concept. And that troubles me. The three sovereigns concept involves the state and Federal and tribal governing authorities.
Mr. BAKER. Correct. Governments, not just governing authorities, but governments.
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Mrs. CHENOWETH. And you indicate in your testimony you thought that there's a legal basis for that already in the law for the Tribes, for instance, to be one of the governing authorities in the management of the water in the Columbia system.
Where is that legal authority?
Mr. BAKER. I didn't say management of water. I said that the Tribes have legal authority and obligation for salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin.
The courts in three consecutive decades, three consecutive judges, have ruled that the Tribes do have a right to salmon in the Columbia Basin under their 1855 Treaty. That litigation has gone all the way to the Supreme Court.
I would view that as an accepted fact that the Tribes do have an authority over salmon recovery, and we should honor that.
In fact, we will probably be unable to proceed with a single unified recovery plan until we honor all of the legal authorities, all of the sovereign governments in the Columbia Basin. That would also include the states and the Federal Government.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Baker, I am familiar with those cases, too, and I can't totally disagree with them.
But as we study the objectives of the three sovereigns, it goes beyond just the Tribes having the right to the fish. It actually goes to river governance.
And I think you will have to admit that, too, won't you?
Mr. BAKER. Obviously, when so many scientists have told us that the bulk, not the exclusive, but the bulk of mortalities to fish inflicted in the Columbia Basin, upper Columbia Basin, come at these dams, there is no alternative, if we're trying to build a single unified recovery plan, but to address that impact from the dams.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Let me ask you, you are familiar with the pit tag results, aren't you?
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Mr. BAKER. Yes, I am.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Then you are probably aware that our pit tag results show that 719,850 adults salmonids passed over the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam, and that's more than a hundred thousand more than the 60 year average for that particular dam.
Yet at The Dalles Dam, there was only 425,716 fish that passed that dam in that same year, 1997, and that's below it's 41 year average.
And one of the largest impacts between those two dams is about 800 or so gillnets. It appears that the gillnets have contributed to significant losses.
I also want to say, Mr. Curtis testified that there was only 10,000 salmonids that got into Idaho last year, and I do want for the record to note that there was 159,385 adult salmonids that ascended the fish ladders at Ice Harbor Dam in 1997. So I think those figures are important.
And I do want to say that you did give us a list of actions that should be taken, but I do think that together we need to deal with the problems that I've just mentioned, and that is the gillnetting. I think some day we're going to have to deal with whether that is an appropriate method for one single entity in this nation to deal with an endangered species.
Thank you, sir.
Mr. BAKER. Mr. Chairman, would you like me to respond?
Mr. POMBO. Yes. Go ahead.
Mr. BAKER. On the pit tag data, the scientists in the PATH group, which Dr. Anderson talked about on the first panel, have reviewed those pit tag data. They are unanimous in conclusion, that we must have an adult survival rate of smolts delivered to the estuary of the Columbia River, plus have a survival rate of at least 2 percent if we are to avoid extinction.
We must have a rate of survival above 4 percent in order to, preferably 6 or 7 percent, if we are going to rebuild the runs to harvestable levels and meet our obligations, not only under the Endangered Species Act but those treaties, in addition the treaty with Canada.
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The pit tag data now is completely in from the 1995 class of smolts, and it indicates that the survival rate was less than one-half of 1 percent. That's a program that is simply not going to produce the results we need to make sure that these fish do not go extinct.
With regard to, forgive me, there were a lot of things that you discussed there, Representative Chenoweth, with regard to the three sovereigns program and the Indian fishing rights, I would remind you that the Bolt decision requires the Tribes to participate in regulation of the fishery in the Columbia River, and while we agree with you that there need to be changes in harvest, a long list of experts over the last two decades, experts including those from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Northwest Power Planning Council, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority, and even the Bonneville Power Administration, have estimated that the dams on the Snake River and the Lower Columbia are responsible for at least 80 percent of the human inflicted mortalities to these fish.
That's not to say that we should not address impacts from harvest. But it is to say that if we are going to restore these fish, we're going to have to put at least 80 percent of our effort into relieving this total taken by these dams.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Romero-Barceló.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Baker, in your testimony you suggest there should be a river system restoration, the full scope, and for the rest of your testimony I also gather that that river ecosystem restoration would include the elimination of the Lower Snake River dams.
Mr. BAKER. The Sierra Club does support breaching the dams, removing the earthen portion of those dams and leaving the concrete structures in place.
We take this position very reluctantly. We recognize the kind of impacts that Congressman Nethercutt talked about earlier with the second panel.
But the scientists are telling us, they've told us in a number of blue ribbon studies now, that only if we have a healthy river are we going to have healthy salmon runs.
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Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. When were those dams built, and how many are there?
Mr. BAKER. On the Lower Snake River, there are four Federal dams, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite is located about five miles from where I live in Pullman, Washington, as the crow flies. The head of those four reservoirs is in Lewiston, Idaho, in Representative Chenoweth's district.
Each of the dams was built consecutively upstream, beginning in 1961, and completed in 1975 with the impoundment at Lower Granite. Since that time salmon runs in the Snake River Basin have all trended downward.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. From the time they were built?
Mr. BAKER. As each of those dams was built, the trend line has been downward and increasingly downward as each of those dams was brought on line.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Forgive my ignorance, but if those dams that have been there, there are other dams in other places where there are also salmon, in the other rivers, in the system, in the states of Oregon and Washington.
Well, as you have heard in testimony today, there are rivers within the Northwest that have declining salmon runs that have no dams.
I have never even tried to suggest that there aren't other causes of mortality to fish runs. And if you look at those rivers in the Northwest which have declining salmon runs but no dams, you will find another tale, another story of how human kind has had such an impact on the fish that they are declining.
Typically in the Northwest, as you heard from Mr. Curtis and Mr. Stelle, the fish are spawning and rearing habitat.
But the scientists are also clear that if we make a river that does not have good, healthy migratory habitat, such as by putting a dam in a river that has no safe passage for juvenile fish, you will bring that run to extinction, just as surely as silting up or otherwise destroying spawning and rearing habitat.
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I might add, sir, if you would allow me, responding to Mr. Nethercutt's concerns about impacts, we worry about them, too. I personally worry about them. I live just up from Lower Granite Dam. My wife's and my financial fortunes are tied to the local economy, just as so many of the people in the audience here today are.
I can assure you I don't take this position lightly. It's come after an exhaustive review of the independent science. And I would observe that we as a society have shown a remarkable ability to find any number of very cost effective ways to run our economy, to get products to markets, to produce electricity that is affordable and serves as an engine for our economy.
We have found a number of ways to conduct irrigation in an efficient way as Mr. Sierra just testified.
What the scientists are telling us, that we are going to have to use that ingenuity, find some other ways than we are currently using to run this economy, because the fish need this river.
I don't like that probably any more than some of the folks in the audience who are heckling me right now. It's a biological fact.
We're going to have to find some way to make these rivers healthy again, or we are going to be without the salmon.
I am here to assure you, Mr. Nethercutt, and members of the panel, that the Sierra Club has always had as its policy that whatever those economic impacts may be, we will support, we will advocate, we will fight for the best possible mitigation of those impacts and to try our utmost to make sure that every economic layer who is impacted by actions taken for salmon recovery is to the best of our ability kept whole.
Mr. Romero-Barceló. If the economic livelihood of people that live nearby, have their businesses nearby, agricultural farms nearby, do they need that system, those dam systems for their economic survival, which is your choice between the two?
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Mr. BAKER. I believe we don't have to make that choice.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. In the meantime. If they are stopped now, if they no longer can have access now, I understand that's the situation——
Mr. BAKER. Representative, as I said earlier, the Federal waterway in the Lower Snake River was completed in 1975. There was a thriving agricultural economy in my part of Washington State long before the completion of those dams, and the initiation of that waterway.
Since it has been completed, yes, the barge companies now enjoy a near monopoly on shipping from the lower Snake valley on a 50 mile area on either side of the river.
But it wasn't always so. We managed to build a very strong agricultural economy by shipping crops to market on rail and truck, and we can convert back to doing so again. I am not saying that's easy. But it can be accomplished. And if we go about mitigating these kind of closures, like the closure of the Federal waterway, we can perhaps in the 21st century enjoy a win-win solution, healthy salmon runs that are responsive to our treaty obligations and an economy in the local area that continues to thrive.
That's what I am seeking, and I hope that's what the Congress would be seeking, as well.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you very much. I have run out of time.
Mr. BAKER. I thank you, sir.
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Nethercutt?
Mr. NETHERCUTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Baker, I can't resist following up, sir, on your comments.
I would like to explore in this brief time how much sacrifice you and your organization are willing to accept.
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Assume that agriculture in the Columbia Basin disappears. Would that be acceptable, if the dams are breached? Assume that consequence occurs. Would that be acceptable to you and your group?
Mr. BAKER. Well, that's a hypothetical, and——
Mr. NETHERCUTT. I am asking you to assume that, sir. Would that be acceptable?
Mr. BAKER. I am not in a position to really play these kinds of hypothetical games, sir, with all due respect.
I would challenge you, if you want to put that hypothetical situation to me, to find an economist who really sincerely believes that that's the alternative we're facing.
Mr. NETHERCUTT. What if I found a lot of farmers who believed that? Would that be sufficient to you, or does it have to be scientists who make the judgments about real life problems?
The Sierra Club has a policy of zero net water loss. The Sierra Club has a no harvest policy in our forest.
And I think the facts are, with a zero harvest policy in our public lands, you are going to see the disappearance of the timber industry, which in my judgment, from some people that I've talked within, the group you represent, that's just fine.
I don't think you've heard anybody on any panel today say we find it acceptable that salmon disappears. Everybody on these panels are saying, we want to respect the salmon recovery efforts, but we also want to be reasonable about it, and understand the consequences of the action.
But what I am hearing, sir, is that if the dams are breached, and I am going to resist that with every fiber I have while I am in Congress, you can assume that there will be a dramatic increase in power cost and the replacement of a clean power resource with a less environmentally acceptable resource, whether it's fossil fuels or nuclear. There's going to be a tremendous disruption to the use of the river system, the transportation that it is used for multiuse transportation, not just agriculture. There will be a tremendous impact on our roads, a tremendous impact on recreation, and all with a huge dollar cost.
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I think you can also assume that the Congress has to approve and appropriate funds to breach dams, which can run in the multi hundreds of millions.
Now, the taxpayers are going to have to pay for all of that.
I am not convinced that taxpayers are willing to sacrifice the economies of the Inland Northwest for your standard of acceptability for environmental protection or species protection. I just don't think that's going to happen. And it shouldn't.
Talk about breaching the dams. I find a reluctance on your part to breach the gillnetting. I don't hear you saying that.
I hear you say, well, we need to work through all of that.
And I don't disagree with that either. But there seems to be a selective principle under which the Sierra Club operates.
So, I think we have a rough road ahead of us. We have to look at the middle ground we heard from those witnesses saying that we have to work hard to do both, we can't sacrifice the farm and timber economies for the salmon, but we're going to try, and the states are going to try to find a balance.
We shouldn't have this bureaucracy in place that restricts so much of common sense in the way public policy is decided.
I want to say, too, to Dick Erickson, thanks. I went and looked at Rodeo Lake yesterday, and talked to people about the groundwater conservation area, and efforts to be environmentally responsible.
It's these kinds of people who are in opposition I think to what are extreme feelings and policies that you and your group advocate, for a single purpose rather than looking at the economic consequences of the policies you espouse.
So I am happy to have your response. I am sorry to take so long to lecture, or at least make my expressions known. But this is a very serious issue. I think there has to be some reason in the policies that the Sierra Club adopts in order to have more credibility with a lot of people who care deeply about both the economy and species protection.
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If you have any comments.
Mr. BAKER. Well, we do not see a solution to the salmon crisis in the Columbia Basin which would lay waste to farms in this watershed. We never have, we never will.
We always looked at every proposed action to save salmon to make sure that it has high biological benefit according to independent scientists, and that it is responsive to the needs of society's expressed in the political system.
We have always recognized that nothing will go forward in the way of modifying these dams unless Congress approves it.
And I take your challenge very seriously, Congressman.
As the studies continue to, in the various Federal and state agencies, we are learning, that the value of the dams, as you've just stated it, is perhaps a bit overstated. The dams do not produce more than 5 percent of regional generation. The Northwest Power Planning Council has analyzed what the impacts would be of losing that generation, as well as breaching the dams and providing mitigation.
Their analysis shows that BPA will continue to be a strong, viable public utility, if you will.
We are looking at studies which indicate we can convert back to rail and truck.
We would support the kind of infrastructure that needs to be made. We wouldn't just support them. We would advocate them, we would fight for them.
These dams, contrary to some of the testimony I heard today, provide no flood control. If you would care to bring in a witness from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, you will learn these four dams are in front of the river projects, they are not capable of providing flood control.
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If anything, if I might be allowed to finish my statement, if anything, breaching these projects would probably provide more flood control to the cities of Lewiston and Clarkston. That's an engineering fact. Whether people like to accept it or not.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. I am going to recognize Mr. Hastings, but I would like to say one thing in the audience, that it's against the rules of the House to allow responses from the audience, to allow reaction from the audience. I've tried to be very lenient with that today. But I would like to encourage the audience to please try to restrict your comments during the testimony.
It makes it difficult for those of us sitting up here if things get a little bit out of control. So I would just appreciate it if you would kind of keep it down.
Mr. Hastings?
Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Baker, I think I will ask you some questions, too.
Mr. BAKER. I am starting to feel like a bartender at a Southern Baptist convention.
Mr. HASTINGS. I am not going to pursue that one.
Mr. BAKER. I don't think I want to go any farther there either, Congressman.
Mr. HASTINGS. I will just say, I know the last comment you made regarding flood control you make in reference to the Snake River dams.
But I am old enough to have remembered the flood of 1949 which came down the Columbia River. It was a pretty devastating flood.
Now we have dams, about as many dams, in fact there are that many dams that were in-place, put in place since then, and we have had no terrific floods, and yet we have had high water years.
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I guess I would just question the scientific data that you refer to. But that may be an honest disagreement.
You in your testimony, in answers to questions, referred a lot to scientists, so I am going to make the assumption that you believe that whatever decisions are made should be made on good and valid, scientific data. Is that a very good assumption on my part?
Mr. BAKER. That is a very fair assumption and a very accurate one.
Mr. HASTINGS. Have you read Dr. Howard's White Paper Review with recommendations——
Mr. BAKER. Dr. Howard?
Mr. HASTINGS. Dr. Howard Olsen. I am sorry.
Mr. BAKER. Yes, I have.
Mr. HASTINGS. Would you care to comment on their conclusion in that study regarding the flow targets? Because you are critical of NMFS regarding their flow targets.
The White Paper, as I understand it, says that the flow targets can be reached. Would you care to comment on that?
Mr. BAKER. Yes. I will comment. I will point out first of all, I am not a biologist, and the Sierra Club has no staff biologist. We have tried to review the entire scientific record.
I must tell you that there are a number of scientists in the Federal Government, the state governments, at the Tribes, and on independent bodies, that do not agree with the conclusions in that White Paper.
Dr. Anderson this morning said that his paper had been peer reviewed. Well, that's true. But it has not undergone independent peer review.
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And in the salmon biology that has been cut and quartered so frequently because of the very high stakes involved, that is the kind of review we would want to see.
When we talked to independent biologists, they believed that the flow targets are needed by the salmon. They will not provide for a restoration of the runs, but they will give the salmon important protections in the interim.
On the question of hydrology, I was a seated participant at the salmon summit which Senator Mark Hatfield convened in the winter of 1990-1991, in order to try to get ahead of the curve on the potential listings for salmon in the Columbia Basin.
At the salmon summit we heard and viewed studies about hydrology which indicate that it is indeed difficult at best to meet these targets.
That's one of the reasons why we have, the Sierra Club, and other fish advocates, have always tried to impress upon Members of Congress and other decisionmakers that we have a relationship on the hydrology where if we're going to have salmon runs, we have got to pull the reservoir down somewhere. You can either pull down the storage reservoir and get new augmentation, or you can breech dams on the lower Snake, and get far better benefit.
Mr. HASTINGS. That begs the question, then. How much is enough? How much flow is enough?
Where does the Sierra Club reach a conclusion that we will have maximized the flow? At what level is that? How many cubic feet per minute? Give me something——
Mr. BAKER. What I am suggesting, Congressman, with the dams in place, operating as they currently are, we will be unable with certainty to provide all of the flow augmentation that the fish need.
Mr. HASTINGS. Does that include the Columbia stem, as well as the Snake?
Mr. BAKER. Yes, sir.
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Mr. HASTINGS. Let me just make this observation that Mr. Erickson made, then, in that regard.
The Columbia Basin Project, over 500,000 acres, is irrigated by a net less than 3 percent of the water behind Grand Coulee Dam.
Everybody has acknowledged that when Grand Coulee Dam was built, it was built without fish ladders, so all the runs are gone there. Those were gone a long time before. So we are only using 3 percent of the water behind Grand Coulee Dam.
Now, that Lake Roosevelt goes all the way into Canada. I think it is a hundred and some miles there. So there is a lot of water back there clearly.
Now, below Grand Coulee Dam you have, what, five rivers, the Cokononda, the Nettaw, the Entiot, the Wenatchee and the Yakima, that augment the flows into the Columbia River system.
And you are saying that because the irrigation districts and the irrigated agriculture takes 3 percent of the water behind Grand Coulee Dam, and all the flows of those five rivers that I am saying, is not enough?
Mr. BAKER. I neglected in responding to Representative Nethercutt——
Mr. HASTINGS. But answer——
Mr. BAKER. We have not embraced a zero net policy.
Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you for responding to that. I am asking you, I am asking you a direct question. Is what I just outlined, is that not enough?
Mr. BAKER. The biologists tell us that that would probably not be enough, undoubtedly would not be enough to restore salmon runs.
It would provide, however, important interim protection.
Mr. HASTINGS. Let me understand this, then. Lake Roosevelt, I don't know how many cubic acres or feet that that holds, but presumably if what you are saying, that breaching dams on the Snake River will augment runs, then I think it is logical to follow what you are saying, that if one were to breach dams on the Columbia, you would come up with the same net result in your opinion, which would be more runs.
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Now, I really have a hard time accepting that, when all of that water behind Grand Coulee Dam keeps a constant flow in the Columbia River and it is augmented by these other rivers.
Am I missing something in my understanding?
Mr. BAKER. Yes. I have been previously testifying about the Sierra Club's position on the Lower Snake River dams. We have also listened to the independent biologists, specifically the independent scientific group, which has told us we need to lower, not breach, but lower the reservoir level at John Day pool on the Lower Columbia, in order to, among other——
Mr. HASTINGS. Of course that's downstream from the Snake, so you are still talking about the Snake River.
Mr. BAKER. I am sorry?
Mr. HASTINGS. You are still talking about the Snake River.
Mr. BAKER. It is also intended to be responsive to the need to meet the kind of water velocities, flow, water temperatures and a healthy river that the salmon need in the upper Columbia.
As I understand the hydrology from the salmon summit given to me by competent hydrologists from the salmon summit on——
Mr. HASTINGS. One hydrologist?
Mr. BAKER. No, sir. A number of hydrologists.
If you want to reduce the flow augmentation from Grand Coulee and other projects in the upper Columbia, you must lower reservoir in the lower part of the river that the salmon are going through.
That's the only other solution to the problem of providing the fish with the healthy flows and ecosystem that they need.
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Mr. HASTINGS. Let me just conclude my remarks by asking you, I say this very seriously, I'd like to know, I think everybody here and certainly this Committee wants to know how much is enough. What is adequate? How many cubic feet, you pick it, cubic feet per second at any point, maybe four or five points on the Columbia River. Because otherwise you are just saying we need more water. We need more water. But what is adequate? What is adequate? And that has not to me ever been answered.
In fact I asked you directly, and I am not saying you are skirting the issue but you certainly haven't answered me directly. Maybe you know what the answer is or maybe you have to research that. But if that's the case, I would like to you respond to me.
I don't care where you want to pick it. Do you want to pick the flow of Wanapum Dam, you tell me what is adequate at that point, and then you can go on down stream, if you want to go to the Snake River, do it at Ice Harbor Dam, if you want to do it at John Day, at The Dalles, that's already on the record, if you want to do it at Bonneville, I don't care where, but if you would give me a position in writing on what is adequate as far as flow at those particular points on the river system, I would appreciate it.
Could you do that for me?
Mr. BAKER. Sure. And I assume the same October 1 deadline——
Mr. HASTINGS. Since you anticipated my next question, I will accept that gratefully. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. I hate to do this, but Mr. Baker——
Mr. BAKER. Boy, do I wish I had that lunch now.
Mr. POMBO. Just so I can understand the Sierra Club's vision on this, is that we would breach the four dams on the lower Snake.
Mr. BAKER. Yes.
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Mr. POMBO. We would return the agriculture of the area to pre-dam conditions, operate in a way that they did before that? I am just trying to understand your testimony previously.
Mr. BAKER. No, sir. I didn't say that.
Mr. POMBO. You said we had a vibrant agriculture before the dams and we could return to the way we were doing things at that time.
Mr. BAKER. Well, since the building of Ice Harbor Dam, the reason I stopped you was not out of disrespect, I want to assure you, the reason I stopped you is that since the building of Ice Harbor Dam in the early 60's, there have been installed some 13 pumps for taking irrigation water out of that pool and cultivating a number of thousands of acres of cropland, which was not there previously.
From testimony I've heard from Mr. Ziari, among others, it is feasible to extend those pumps and intakes so that we can continue to, with the irrigation ag along that pool.
Mr. POMBO. So you would allow irrigation to continue?
Mr. BAKER. Absolutely. It's a water right.
Mr. POMBO. It is the barges would be the part that would not continue?
Mr. BAKER. That appears from the economic studies I have seen to be the major impact upon agriculture in the lower Snake valley. And if the dams are bypassed, that is one of the results, that the Federal waterway would close, yes, sir.
Mr. POMBO. You also said, and you can correct me if I am wrong, you have also said that you would support trucking or railroads and the infrastructure necessary in order to accomplish that.
Am I correct in assuming that?
Mr. BAKER. Yes, sir. We would support those investments.
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Mr. POMBO. That is somewhat inconsistent with my experience in California in terms of the positions that the Sierra Club has taken in terms of trucking and establishing that kind of infrastructure.
There's been a lot of opposition, building the roads and freeways and stuff necessary to accomplish that in that particular state.
But just so I can understand, up here you guys would support that?
Mr. BAKER. Well, I am going to have to answer that question, Mr. Chairman, two ways.
First of all, I am not familiar with the particular roads and railroads that you are referring to in California. If you would provide me with some of the proposed infrastructure investments that you feel the Sierra Club was opposed to, I would be more than happy to take that up with my California colleagues and respond to you, why we took a position——
Mr. POMBO. No. I know where they are opposed. They filed lawsuits and stuff. I can very easily go to the lawsuit and determine why they were opposed.
Mr. BAKER. Uh-huh.
Mr. POMBO. But what I am interested in is if I am going to tell these folks you can't use barges anymore, you've got to use trucks, and diesel is not inexpensive, and it's also known for some impact on air quality, if I am going to tell you you can't use barges any more, these guys are using trucks, I don't want you to come back in 5 years and say, well, we were kidding about trucks, you can't use those either.
I just want to make sure that we understand each other.
Mr. BAKER. Sure. And that leads to——
Mr. POMBO. You support freeways, you support all of the infrastructure necessary to truck their products to a port to export their product?
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Mr. BAKER. That leads me to the second part of my responsibilities. I don't know what particular highways might be proposed. I do not know what particular new roadbeds——
Mr. POMBO. I can promise you there will be hundreds of miles of six lane freeways that will be necessary in order for us to replace the current transportation system.
I wish we had a barge system where I am from that we could effectively move our products to port. Unfortunately, we don't.
But as a result California is criss-crossed with major freeways.
Mr. BAKER. The County Commissions where I live, looking at this, didn't propose any six lane highways. It was upgrades of the current highways, to four lanes, and in another cases, simply an upgrade of the pavement on a number of county roads.
That proposal, I would see no opposition from the Sierra Club.
As I said earlier, we would probably be fighting for those kind of proposals.
Mr. POMBO. I don't want to look back in the previous testimony, but I forget how many million ton of product we were talking about.
I can assure you that repaving county roads is not going to move millions of tons.
Mr. BAKER. I am simply reporting to you what the County Commissioners where I live tell me is needed. About $32 million worth of road improvements.
Mr. POMBO. Let me go to a different topic. That goes to power generation. You can correct me if I am wrong. You said that there were other forms of power generation that the Sierra Club would support.
Mr. BAKER. Yes, sir.
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Mr. POMBO. Can you let me in on what those are?
Mr. BAKER. First and foremost, this region takes great pride in the strides we have made forward in capturing the resource of energy conservation. That was——
Mr. POMBO. Excuse me. I didn't say energy conservation. I said power generation. Let me know which forms of power generation the Sierra Club now supports.
Mr. BAKER. If I might be permitted to complete my answer about energy conservation. This region in the Northwest Power Planning Act declared conservation a generating resource for the purposes of planning and providing energy supply.
Mr. POMBO. Well, as far as a cowboy from California is concerned, can you tell me what forms of power generation the Sierra Club supports?
Mr. BAKER. Yes, sir. We support energy conservation, which is estimated to offer a resource much larger than the average output of these dams.
We have also supported and continue to support clean—the development of clean renewables, another cornerstone of the Northwest Power Planning Act. There is a huge resource in this region in wind and solar power, and we support its acquisition, bringing it on line.
Mr. POMBO. I represent the area that probably has the largest wind generation facility in the world, and have been part of that industry from day one. I am probably more familiar with wind energy generation than any Member of Congress, past, present, or probably future. Because I have great hopes that some day a great portion of our energy could be produced by wind.
But I can tell you the technology is not there at this time.
The ability to supplement existing systems is there with wind energy. But for it to be a source of generation, for people to depend upon, it's just not there yet.
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It's interesting that when we began the wind energy generation project in San Joaquin County and Alameda County in California, the environmental groups were in support of that.
But they are now no longer in support of that because it has destroyed the view in the hills of having all the windmills up there, and they filed a number of lawsuits to try to take them out.
So, you know, you are damned if you do and you are damned if you don't.
And this is a huge concern to me, when you start talking about, we could do away with the dams, and energy production could be replaced by some mythical thing out there in the future, and the transportation infrastructure can be replaced by some mythical thing out there in the future, where the reality is the money is not there to build all your freeways to move this stuff, the technology does not exist to have wind or solar energy replace all of the stuff, the future of what we could get out of the dams.
So it is not as cut and dried as the way you would like to put it.
Finally, I would like to ask you specifically about the Oregon Plan. And it's my understanding that Sierra Club was party to the lawsuit that resulted in that plan being rejected.
Mr. BAKER. Yes, sir.
Mr. POMBO. It's difficult for me to understand why, when you have a state and Federal Government get together on an environmental issue like saving the salmon and all of the bloodshed and everything that comes with that, how difficult that is to get the state and local government to agree with the Federal Government on any.
It appears at least from my vantage point that the vast majority of the citizens in Oregon agreed to this plan.
I know I've been contacted by a number who felt that the plan went way too far and that Oregon was giving up way too much.
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But it is difficult for me to understand why, if you have this kind of collaboration that's put together with the state and Federal Government agreeing that this is the best thing for salmon, we would have the Sierra Club file a lawsuit to stop them from doing that.
Mr. BAKER. Actually, we filed a lawsuit, Mr. Chairman, in order to make certain that the fish were listed under the Endangered Species Act. We did not file a lawsuit to disrupt the Oregon Plan.
Mr. POMBO. But the purpose of the Oregon Plan was to prevent it from being listed on the Endangered Species Act. You wanted to list it under the Endangered Species Act.
So it appears that your effort was to undermined what they were trying to do.
Mr. BAKER. You first characterized the Oregon Plan as a bona fide good faith effort to stave salmon and steelhead.
To the extent that that was what the plan intended to do, we supported it.
To the extent that it was intended to substitute or defer or otherwise prevent a listing of coho, which they deserve under law, we were opposed to the Oregon Plan, and filed our lawsuit.
We were not in any way trying to dispute the Federal, state partnership in the plan. We were trying to make sure that fish got the protection under the law that they deserved.
Mr. POMBO. Well, apparently there were a lot of people that disagreed with you on that position. Which brings me to my final point, and then I will stop.
The Sierra Club have, if you go back to the original Endangered Species Act and read the original Endangered Species Act, read the testimony that occurred before Congress at the time, it's really pretty difficult to find any major problems with the original Act.
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But we end up here today with all of these problems. And I think that if you study case history on this, a lot of it has been through lawsuits. And it's been judges, courts in different parts of the country who have taken what was the original Endangered Species Act and interpreted it in different ways. And we have ended up with a law that I believe today is impossible to implement.
That's why we ended up with so many conflicts when this reaches real people.
Do you think it's time that the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations sit down and look at the law and say, these are the problems we have with it, let's try to make some changes, let's reauthorize this Act, but these are the problems we have, and we know we're not going to get everything we want, but let's try to make some change in this so we don't have the kind of conflicts that we currently have?
I would venture to say that there are very few issues that you could come to this community and have over 400 people show up on for a Congressional hearing. Obviously there is a major conflict. We have major problems.
Is it time for you guys to sit down and realistically say, these are the problems with the Act and let's go?
Mr. BAKER. Mr. Chairman, us guys have done that. We have sat down——
Mr. POMBO. Well, I am going to interrupt you here. I've been the Chairman of the Endangered Species Task force, the principal author of the revisions, the principal in the Republican Party over the past 4 years, and you haven't sat down with me.
Mr. BAKER. I can't explain why that might not have happened, other than you may not have asked us to come to your door.
Mr. POMBO. I have asked on numerous occasions.
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Mr. BAKER. I can assure you that we have carefully reviewed the endangered species for reauthorization, we have proposed a number of changes which we believe would be responsive not only to making for better assurances that species will not decline, much less go extinct, and will be responsive to making it possible for the Act to be implemented in a way that's responsive to the concerns of people in society.
We have to my knowledge brought our documents to Capitol Hill. I cannot explain to you why we may not have come by to talk to you. But if you are inviting us, if you are opening your door——
Mr. POMBO. My door is open. It has always been open. I have invited you in on a number of occasions. Even after I was named the eco-thud of the year.
I realize that this—I appreciate you coming and testifying and sharing with us your opinions. I would greatly appreciate you and the rest of the panel answering any further questions that we have.
This issue is obviously quite emotional. This issue is obviously a source of great conflict in the country today.
I don't think that you can put all the scientists and biologists and politicians in the world in one room, and it doesn't make any difference, because as long as real people are being hurt by it, we have got a problem. And unless we fix that problem, we're not going anywhere.
And I thank all of you very much for being here, for your testimony.
As we continue to work through this, as Congress continues to try to make an Endangered Species Act that works for wildlife and for people, the testimony we receive today will be a great help to all of us.
And thank you very much. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:45 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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[Additional material submitted for the record follows.]
STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT F. (BOB) SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OREGON
Thank you, Mr. Chaimman, for holding this hearing. The National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a very important issue for not only my district, but for the entire Pacific Northwest. This region's effort to recover salmon species protected under the ESA is unparalleled and the cost of this effort on the lives of our people and the economy of our region is immeasurable. I think that it is safe to say that almost every person and industry in this region have felt, or will soon feel, the effects of the decisions of NMFS. If not from the consequences of the listing of the coastal Oregon coho, then through the long-temm recommendation for operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) due from NMFS next year. Consequently, this hearing is not only very important, but also very timely.
As you will hear from many of the witnesses present, NMFS has failed to implement the ESA in a manner consistent with its mandates. NMFS does not implement the ESA in a timely manner. Instead, decisions are delayed well beyond statutory deadlines. It does not base its policies on sound science or even reality. It fails to provide applicants with prudent and reasonable alternatives that are technologically and economically feasible. In addition, it has yet to identify the overall goal of the region's efforts, spending hundreds of millions of the region's dollars every year on measures that they cannot say with any certainty will benefit the protected salmon. The list goes on and on. The overall effect has been a haphazard effort based upon speculation, rather than science.
This cannot continue. NMFS's irresponsible implementation of the ESA has had a detrimental effect on our economy. The Columbia River and its system of 30 multi-purpose Federal dams are the backbone of our regional economy. Since 1937, when the first dam was built, the system has grown to provide the region with a low-cost and stable supply of electricity, navigation through a series of locks from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho, irrigation for agriculture, flood control capabilities and recreational opportunities. As a result, the Pacific Northwest has enjoyed a strong economy built up around the FCRPS.
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The measures required by NMFS under the ESA have diminished the value of the FCRPS to the region, particularly with regard to hydroelectric power production. Now, certain policies and measures being implemented or discussed threaten to diminish the system's value even more.
No Net Loss Policy on Water Withdrawals. NMFS is implementing a new policy on water withdrawals in the Columbia River and its tributaries that is called ''No Net Loss.'' NMFS has said that no new water withdrawals, including withdrawals under existing but undeveloped water rights, will be allowed until the flow targets it set in its 1995 Biological Opinion are met. As you will hear from my good friend and constituent, Mr. Bob Hale of Inland Land Company, this policy is not based on sound scientific evidence or even reality. There is no conclusive evidence that more water in the river will actually benefit the salmon. Even more troubling and reflective of NMFS's tendency to base costly policies on bad science is that there is no evidence that the river's flow was ever at the level required by NMFS in its '95 Biological Opinion. Recent studies have shown that those flow targets cannot be met even if all irrigation withdrawals in the Columbia basin were stopped.
Nevertheless, this unrealistic policy is being used as a basis for denying existing water rights no matter how small the impact of the proposed withdrawal to the overall flow of the river or to the health of threatened or endangered salmon. Just as troubling is the fact that NMFS is implementing this policy without regard for state water rights. This utter disregard for state rights to water, the viability of our regional economy, and existing scientific evidence is unconscionable.
If this policy continues to be implemented, family farms like Inland Land Company will be forced to reduce production or to go out of business. As more and more water withdrawals are denied, valuable agricultural land will not be used and industries dependent upon agriculture, abundant water and low-cost electricity will locate elsewhere.
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Breaching Dams. As the time for the new recommendation for operating the FCRPS nears, more and more conservation groups are calling for breaching the Lower Snake River dams and the John Day dam on the main stem of the Columbia River. Some say that this is the only way to recover threatened and endangered salmon. Again, this is an irresponsible statement. It completely ignores the impact on salmon of overfishing, adverse natural trends and other activities. In addition, no objective scientific analysis has yet to determine, conclusively, that removal of the dams will save the salmon runs. Yet, the economic, social and environmental costs will be enormous. At a minimum, the region will lose all barge transportation to Lewiston, Idaho, a good portion of its low-cost electricity supply and the stability of its transmission system. All of which will have to be replaced at a huge environmental and economic cost to the region.
The bottom line from my perspective is that the region's economy cannot continue to bear the uncertainty and risk resulting from irresponsible environmental policies and statements. In addition, it will not bear the devastation that will occur if the dams are breached.
The Federal Government, whether through NMFS or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, must, at a minimum, make the following changes:
• It must adopt fiscally responsible policies that are supported by good science. The region cannot continue to pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year on measures that NMFS thinks may benefit protected salmon.
• It must work closely with those people and interests impacted by their decisions to find reasonable solutions. No policy is a good policy if it does not reflect the concerns of those directly impacted.
• It must also be held accountable for its decisions and actions. The region cannot continue to finance costly measures that do not accomplish its intended goals. Finally, it must develop recommendations for future FCRPS operations and water use that can be implemented within the current configuration of the system and that are consistent with state water rights.
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Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing today.
STATEMENT OF SPEAKER LYNN LUNDQUIST, OREGON HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Chairman Young and members of the Committee, I am Lynn Lundquist from Powell Butte, Oregon and serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives. I appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today on an issue that has had a significant impact on the local communities that comprise this region. There is no question that the Federal Endangered Species Act has, and unless changed, will continue to adversely impact the Northwest region's economy, environment and sense of community.
I will keep my comments brief and to the point. I hope I am able to give you an illustration ofthe concern in the region by passing along three points this morning.
Point one: a bad law can not be administered as a good policy.
The Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) does not provide effective mechanisms for species recovery and fails to encourage states' participation in the recovery of threatened and endangered species. The comments and frustrations that will be expressed during this hearing are due partially to the fact that the ESA has not proven to be an effective mechanism in encouraging the recovery of species.
To further demonstrate my point, I would encourage you to consider what has happened to Oregon's efforts to recover the Oregon Coastal coho salmon. Facing a potential listing, Oregon developed a plan to address Oregon Coastal coho salmon recovery. The plan is referred to as the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds or ''Oregon Plan.'' The Oregon Plan outlines hundreds of measures state agencies are currently undertaking to recover the species. The Oregon Legislature authorized over $30 million to be used for implementing the provisions of the plan. In addition to the $30 million, contributions in the form of habitat improvements on private lands have been estimated to be well beyond $100 million. Let me again stress that this is on private land where private citizens and companies are conducting the work. The Oregon Plan includes a variety of actions that would not be achieved by a listing under the ESA.
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When the NMFS made a decision not to list one of the evolutionary significant units of the Oregon Coastal coho salmon, the decision was immediately challenged in court. In a significant blow to the Oregon Plan, and further proof that the ESA needs to be changed, the court concluded that the ESA does not allow for the consideration of the biological effects of future or voluntary conservation measures, thus the decision to not list should be reevaluated. This conclusion resulted in the NMFS listing the species effective October 9, 1998.
The fact is Oregon has a plan, the money and an unprecedented commitment from industry and landowners to save Oregon's salmon and streams while the Federal Government literally has no tools to achieve species recovery. The Federal Government's track record is dismal when it comes to developing a timely recovery plan, let alone implementing measures that result in increased numbers of salmon. Reform of the ESA is needed to bring about a new approach to the way the states and Federal Government can work together to achieve species recovery.
Point two: agencies can make a bad law even worse.
Although I have highlighted some of the concerns with the ESA itself, not all of the disappointment has been solely as a result of the law. Obviously, agencies have discretion in how the law is to be administered. The NMFS has created considerable frustration among legislators, state agencies and citizens, especially those citizens who have to comply with the directives or uncertainty created by NMFS. A primary concern with the NMFS is their apparent mistrust of the motives of local communities to develop local solutions to the issues surrounding species recovery. The forcing of Federal mandates upon the communities will be less than successful in recovering species.
In Oregon we have a variety of examples in which the actions of NMFS has not furthered the species recovery but has instead created resentment with the agency. Examples include the development of a variety of Memorandum of Agreements (MOA) that involve the NMFS in areas including forest practices, water withdrawal, agricultural activities and even gravel removal. In addition, the agency has told state legislators to help secure funding for salmon recovery yet has failed to request any Federal assistance to support Oregon Coastal salmon recovery efforts.
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A way to judge the effectiveness of the NMFS is to look at what it has accomplished. With respect to salmon recovery in the Columbia Basin, the NMFS has not yet developed an acceptable plan, provided a definable objective or created a process that has resulted in progress towards the recovery of species. Something needs to change if we are to be successful in our objective.
Point three: it is imperative NMFS and other Federal agencies do not infringe upon Western water law and the states' sovereignty over the allocation of the resource.
I believe you will hear examples how the NMFS has impacted and will continue to impact the allocation of water in the West. To be blunt, this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. NMFS has indicated its desire to consult with state water resource agencies on all water withdrawals in regions where fish are listed under the ESA. This strategy appears to be more a tactical maneuver to influence or prevent the withdrawal of water.
It is important to note the actions and requirements by NMFS create an additional burden on state agencies as well. If NMFS wishes to consult with state water agencies on all water withdrawals in areas impacted by the ESA, who is responsible for the increased expenses associated with the state having to respond to NMFS' concern? My experience has been that NMFS is happy to tell you what to do yet they don't want to help pay for it.
In summary, my request is simple, change the ESA law to allow for local solutions to species recovery, direct the agency or agencies to be a partner in the process and stay away from infringing on states' authority over water rights. I would again like to thank Chairman Young and the members of the Committee for the opportunity to share with you my thoughts on the issues regarding the NMFS and the ESA.
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STATEMENT OF HON. TED FERRIOLI, OREGON STATE SENATOR
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in favor of H.R. 4335 that would consolidate administration of the Endangered Species Act under authority of the Secretary of the Interior.
Mr. Chairman, as you well know, the two Federal agencies that administer the Endangered Species Act are U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is responsible for managing listed or protected avian and terrestrial species and native aquatic species. National Marine Fisheries Service is responsible for managing listed and protected marine mammals, aquatic species and anadramous (fresh-to-salt water migratory) fish.
Because some aquatic species and marine mammals are migratory and some aquatic species are non-migratory but share the same spawning and rearing habitat, there is an overlap of administrative and management authority between these agencies. For instance, USF&WS is responsible for managing Bull Trout which spawns and rears in very cold, clear water normally associated with uplands and headwaters.
In managing for Bull Trout, USF&WS has developed guidelines affecting virtually every aspect of natural resource management associated with riparian areas and uplands, including grazing, timber harvesting, water withdrawals for irrigation, vegetation management, recreational fishing and other aspects that affect habitat.
In addition to these guidelines, a formal reconciliation with USF&WS—called Conferencing—is required for virtually all management actions proposed on or near Bull Trout habitat whether on Federal or non-Federal lands.
Mr. Chairman, listed species of salmon and steelhead trout spawn and rear in some of the same habitat as Bull Trout. Salmon and steelhead are anadramous, or fresh-to-saltwater migrating fish. As such, they fall under the authority of NMFS.
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NMFS has developed its own steelhead guidelines for proposed management actions on or near riparian areas—guidelines which are similar, but not identical to USF&WS guidelines for Bull Trout. Conferencing with NMFS for listed anadramous species is also required.
Mr. Chairman, on the same reach of a headwaters stream, land and resource managers must develop a set of prescriptions to meet the requirements for Bull Trout, including Conferencing with USF&WS, and a similar but not identical set of prescriptions to meet requirements for steelhead or Salmon, including Conferencing with NMFS.
This obvious duplication of efforts is costly and unnecessary, not only to landowners and taxpayers, but also to those who rely on timely and efficient Federal decisionmaking. Let me provide an example: The Summit fire was caused by lightning on August 13, 1996. During 24 days, the fire burned across 37,961 acres of mixed conifer forestlands, damaging riparian areas and leaving a mosaic of fire-killed timber estimated at approximately 300 million board feet.
Because of the extreme complexity of planning for management actions on Federal lands, especially where reside threatened or endangered species—Malheur National Forest Planning Staff wrote, then rewrote the Summit Fire Recovery Project, eventually preparing two Environmental Impact Statements. On July 12, 1998, a Record of Decision was issued calling for salvage and rehabilitation of approximately 6,600 acres producing about 50 million board feet of timber.
Major requirements of the fire recovery project draft EIS included development of a Water Resources Management Plan, Consultation with USF&WS for Bull Trout, and Consultation with National Marine Fisheries Service for steelhead.
Mr. Chairman, although prescriptions for Bull Trout management on riparian areas in the project area were designed to protect cold, clean water and spawning and rearing habitat for all aquatic species, the complexity and cost of the Summit Fire Recovery Project was considerably accelerated by the development of yet another complete set of management prescriptions for steelhead under direction of NMFS, also designed to protect cold, clean water and spawning and rearing habitat for aquatic species.
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Along with other planning delays, and the continuing threat of litigation by radical environmentalists, the Summit Fire Recovery Project, which should have taken no more than six months from planning to implementation, required more than 23 months to complete. The cost of suppression for the Summit Fire was $25,400,000. Planning for this project cost approximately $1.2 million for the original DEIS and additional $356,432 for the Supplemental DEIS.
During the months between the fire and the eventual approval of the recovery project, insects and blue stain fungus infested the stands and severe checking reduced the value of salvageable timber. If conducted in August 1997, the project could have produced $6.9 million for the Federal treasury according to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (page 2-21). Today, the project will produce less than one sixth of that amount, or $1.1 million according to the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement issued July 12, 1998 (page S-6).
Members of the Committee, the delay and expense caused by mere duplication of effort as we saw in the Summit Fire Recovery Project may be the least costly aspect of dual administration of the Endangered Species Act.
Mr. Chairman, you may have heard of the Oregon Plan for the recovery of Salmon and steelhead. It is a state-driven plan for the recovery of Coastal Coho salmon and many species of steelhead.
The purpose of The Oregon Plan is not merely to avoid the ''take'' of listed species,—the only requirement on landowners under the Endangered Species Act—but actually to recover aquatic species by involving forestland owners, irrigators, cattle producers, dairymen, farmers and municipal watershed managers in a cooperative effort to improve water quality and aquatic habitat.
Early in the process of developing the Oregon Plan leading to a Memorandum of Agreement to facilitate a ''no-list'' decision for Coastal Coho salmon, NMFS expressed its intense dislike of the Oregon Forest Practices Act, indicating a strong desire to rewrite the Act and demanding changes in virtually every aspect of forestland management.
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Eventually, NMFS submitted a proposal to the Oregon Board of Forestry titled A Draft Proposal Concerning Oregon Forest Practices. The proposal was developed by NMFS staff without input from those familiar with Oregon forest practices. Some of the proposed changes are, in a word, preposterous. For instance, in the section titled ''Hydraulic Conditions Required for Adult Fish Passage'' culvert design is detailed:
''Where culvert lengths exceed 150 feet, a bridge installation should be strongly considered. Generally, culverts smaller than six feet in diameter are not adequate for fish passage and should not be used. Culverts less than 10 feet in diameter require lighting within the culvert barrel, provided by a vertical riser (above the road surface), or by artificial lighting at least every 75 feet (Draft Proposal on Oregon Forest Practices, February 17, 1988—Appendix VI, page VI-3).
The document also proposes to increase the buffer width for fish-bearing streams, in some cases to 300 feet on each side. Elsewhere, NMFS advocates the prohibition of forest management activities . ..
''. . . in wet weather conditions (typically two inches of precipitation in 24 hours) especially during the winter period (October 1-April 30). Hauling or skidding should not resume for 48 hours after precipitation ends or until road surfaces and ditches are not flowing with water.'' (Draft Proposal on Oregon Forest Practices, February 17, 1988—Section V, 2 A page 47-48).
Mr. Chairman, Western Oregon is famed for many things, among them is its prodigious rainfall—measured at more than 200 inches per year in some coastal areas. A shutdown of operations in coastal areas for rain, or throughout the state during the period from October 1 to April 30 is particularly disconnected from the reality of Oregon climatological conditions.
Analyis of NMFS February 17, 1998 Draft Proposal Concerning Oregon Forest Practices prepared by Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Oregon Forest Industries Council concludes that NMFS proposals will cost Oregon forestland owners an estimated $25.4 billion in lost economic value and render forestry operations impossible or unfeasible on 41 percent or 3.3 million acres of private forestland. (''Summary of Macro Economic Impact of NMFS Forest Practice Proposal,'' Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Oregon Forest Industries Council, April 1998).
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Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, this is an unconsionable intrusion by a Federal agency into the management authority of the state of Oregon and an even more egregious intrusion against the interests of private landowners.
I urge you to bring to heel what is clearly an agency out of control and to remove administrative authority under the Endangered Species Act from the Department of Commerce and National Marine Fisheries Service.
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, even though our experience with the Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in administration of the Endangered Species Act leaves much to be desired, administration of the Act by the Department of Commerce acting through NMFS is a disaster. We therefore strongly urge passage of H.R. 4335.
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, again, I thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony and stand ready to answer your questions.
STATEMENT OF JAMES J. ANDERSON, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF FISHERIES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
I wish to thank the House Resource Committee for the opportunity to appear at this hearing. I am an Associate Professor in the School of Fisheries at the University of Washington and have been involved with Columbia research for over a decade. My group and I have developed models for fish passage through the hydrosystem and for harvest management. I am currently a member of PATH, which is a group of scientists tasked with quantitatively evaluating proposed fish recovery strategies including increased smolt transportation and breaching the lower Snake River dams. In these studies I have worked extensively with National Marine Fisheries Service scientists and managers.
My specific comments concern the NMFS flow targets as an Endangered Species Act management tool. I also note my thoughts and observations on how science has been used in ESA salmon management. Simply put NMFS has justified many actions in terms of their qualitative benefits. Because of the increasing complexity of ESA management, the benefits of actions must be put in terms of the numbers of fish and the costs of the actions.
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The Two Cultures At NMFS
NMFS has two cultures, a scientific culture responsible for basic and applied research on fish and their ecosystem and a management culture responsible for regulating commercial fisheries and recently for implementing the ESA for salmon. Most of my experience has been with the NMFS scientists and I have high regard for their integrity, dedication and abilities to conduct scientific research in the charged atmosphere of endangered species issues. NMFS scientists have decades of experience with salmon and their continued involvement is essential to insure that endangered species are recovered. NMFS managers have an even more demanding task. Balancing the social and economic factors affected by the ESA is a difficult job because of the political constraints and limitations of the science that often is unable to provide clear explanations and conclusions. I believe that for effective management the two cultures must be integrated and work together.
Management Lags Science
The relationship of NMFS science and management is critical to the success and failure of the ESA implementation. A well-known observation in fisheries is that management lags science, sometimes by a decade. Management is not unaware of the recent scientific results, but in the fast moving political arena it is often difficult to resolve the scientific uncertainties to the point that they can be incorporated into management. Consequentially managers typically favor past ideas in making decisions. This is not a surprise considering that management must balance public perceptions as well as the scientific information, and in this regard, the public often takes views derived from their desire for a particular outcome. They often select or reject a scientific result according to whether or not it supports their belief. Managers of ESA resources can not take this approach.
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Acceptance of scientific principles is a slow process so it is natural to focus on old beliefs in making decisions. But it is essential for that managers educate the public on the relevance of recent scientific work. NMFS has not always done this. In any case, fisheries managers must not ignore the new research, nor fail to resolve the conflicting claims. It is in this regard that ESA salmon managers need to use the available science and especially for the interim decisions involved with the daily allocation of water resources.
Flow Targets
I will focus on the flow policy of NMFS. A decade ago many fish biologists believed that the Snake River salmon decline was mainly the result of increased fish travel time through the hydrosystem. It was thought that by increasing flow to mimic the predam flows the fish would return to the predam levels. Improved survival studies and model results indicate that a strong increase in fish returns from flow increases is not possible. The current estimate of the impact of flow on spring chinook is a hundred times less than was previously believed. The flow augmentation program may produce a 1 percent increase in runs, far less than the 1000 percent needed to recover the spring chinook from its present level.
In developing the Biological Opinion for dam operations in 1995, and again for the mid Columbia stocks in 1998, NMFS did not incorporate the quantitative estimates that challenge the efficacy of flow as a fish recovery action. NMFS, in both instances, called for flow targets during the smolt migration and based the justification on circumstantial and largely outdated evidence. Nowhere in the analyses were quantitative estimates provided. It appears that the underlying NMFS belief was that, although a flow survival relationship can not be demonstrated, it is likely that one exists and therefore it is worth increasing flows to obtain an unspecified benefit in survival.
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The recent analysis conducted by PATH has found no evidence that increased flows will significantly increase spring chinook returns, neither directly through improved hydrosystem passage nor indirectly through an unspecified relationship between river flow and post hydrosystem survival. For the subyearling fall chinook migrants the studies do show a relationship between survival and a number of river properties including, temperature, flow, water turbidity and the timing of the migration. My recent analysis of the fall chinook data suggests a relationship between fall chinook smolt survival and fish size. Furthermore, if the operative factor is fish size, then flow augmentation, which may cool the water and initiate early migration, could reduce fish size and decrease survival. The important point here is that, although flow correlates with survival in some years, a correlation is not evidence that increases in flow within a year will improve survival. Flow could be beneficial or detrimental; we simply do not know its affect at this time.
Under these results, no flow survival in spring chinook and uncertainty for fall chinook, NMFS made a policy decision to strongly manage flow, irrespective of proof that it benefits fish. In addition, the flow targets are hydraulically impossible to achieve in below average water years. Furthermore, NMFS has been inflexible in reevaluating the flow targets in light of the new information and it has not aggressively pursued a resolution of the scientific claims on the impacts of flow.
Water Withdrawal Policy
To support the flow targets NMFS imposed a moratorium on new water withdrawals in the Columbia and Snake River basins. Where and when water is withdrawn is clearly important to the level of impact it has on fish. A water withdrawal above spawning grounds may impact egg survival but the same withdrawal in the mainstem will have virtually no impact on smolt survival. The NMFS policy does not distinguish these differences. It is inflexible to the individual needs of water users and the varying impact of water on fish. This failure to quantify individual actions will not work in the long term where demands for salmon restoration increasingly confront the demands for water. Since the demands for both will only increase it is essential to quantitatively assess the impacts of withdrawals on a case by case basis using the best available models and data.
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Putting Numbers On Actions
For two decades now regional fish recovery actions have been justified on the grounds that they appear to benefit to fish. There has been few quantitative assessments of the actions, few peer reviews of the claims, and little flexibility in allocating resources. Although the region, through groups such as PATH, is now attempting to put numbers and probabilities on the impact of actions, only a limited number of issues are being addressed. Issues, such as the evaluation of the flow targets and water withdrawal moratoriums, are not being addressed.
I believe that the atmosphere of distrust and adversity in managing threatened and endangered salmon is to some degree, because managers have failed to quantify results and challenge unsupportable claims on the benefits or detriments of actions. Instead of addressing issues in terms of the numerical cost and benefits and ranking actions by their effectiveness NMFS has used inflexible targets and moratoriums. These qualitative and largely intuitive approaches to management encourages fish advocates to misuse the scientific information and push for unrealistic demands and it forces water users into resolving issues through the courts and governmental intervention.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM STELLE, JR., REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NORTHWEST REGION
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Your letter of invitation suggests I focus my testimony on the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), whether NMFS' ESA program overlaps or is consistent with the Fish and Wildlife Service's ESA program, and whether our implementation of the ESA is cost-effective. Finally, you asked for my views on H.R. 4335, which proposes to transfer the Department of Commerce's responsibilities for conserving threatened and endangered marine and anadromous species to the Department of the Interior. In my testimony, I will address these issues from a regional perspective, since our salmon program in the Northwest is a significant part of NMFS' ESA program. I will also raise several additional national concerns relevant to the proposed transfer of responsibilities.
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Since these hearings are being held in the Pacific Northwest, we have focused our comments on NMFS' efforts to protect and recover imperilled salmon throughout this region. Clearly, Pacific salmon listings have affected almost every watershed on the West Coast and the interior Columbia Basin. Without a doubt, these listings have a more far-reaching impact than previous ESA listings. Salmon listings, proposals to list, and associated actions affect almost every ecoregion of the West Coast north of Los Angeles. These salmon listings affect one of the most precious and precarious resources of the West: water. The salmon's life cycle is complex and its migration vast. Hundreds of human activities have destroyed salmon habitat and brought salmon populations to the brink of extinction: timber harvest, farming, mining, irrigation and water development, road-building, urbanization, damming, dredging, hydropower operations, fishing, fish culture . . . the list is quite long.
As you know, the ESA imposes a number of duties on the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior. Whenever Federal agencies take actions that affect listed salmonids, they must consult with NMFS or the Fish and Wildlife Service, whose job it is to advise whether the Federal action will jeopardize the continued existence of the listed species. This determination is a complex and difficult one when it comes to salmon because the interacting effects of so many human activities threaten salmon's very existence.
In the Northwest Region, NMFS has established a large program to help Federal agencies meet this consultation requirement. NMFS has reviewed Federal actions as geographically broad as the Northwest Forest Plan and as local as a scientific permit for a very localized Forest Service activity. Since 1991, with the first salmon listings in Idaho, NMFS has completed review of several thousand activities. NMFS has taken steps to make the consultation process more efficient. For example, we encourage Federal agencies to conduct ''programmatic'' consultations. That is, we ask them to consult with us on broad programs and policies. In this sort of consultation, we can jointly develop general principles and procedures to apply to individual actions. When individual actions are consistent with those principles and procedures, we can move very quickly through them. This approach was recently upheld by the Federal district court in Western Washington in reviewing NMFS' consultations on Northwest Forest Plan actions. We entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate consultation on operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System that required the operating agencies to submit only one biological assessment from which both NMFS and Fish and Wildlife Service developed their respective biological opinions.
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Simply gearing up to take all of the actions required by the ESA has been a tremendous challenge for NMFS. It takes many biologists a considerable amount of time to sort through and understand the status of individual populations of a species, how various actions affect them, and whether the fish populations can withstand the impacts and remain viable. To help us do our job, since 1991 Congress has increased the total NMFS budget for salmon by $16.5 million. This has allowed us to increase the regional staff from some 50 employees in Portland and Seattle in 1991 to 150 employees spread throughout the region today. With the help of Congress, and to be more responsive to constituents throughout the region, we opened field offices in Boise, Olympia, and Roseburg.
Over the past twenty years, NMFS has developed a world class salmon science program covering a number of areas crucial to the Pacific Northwest. Our salmon science program consists of a major, nationally-renowned program on fish passage and survival research in the Federal Columbia River Power System that is absolutely vital to evaluating the effects of Federal dams on salmon recovery. That program has been in place since the mid 1970s and now consists of roughly sixty scientists. Our salmon science program also consists of a major conservation biology division which provides the risk assessments that support: (a) our listing and recovery programs; (b) habitat and chemical contaminations research programs that may be used in support of cleanup and restoration efforts for hazardous wastes sites by EPA and the Federal natural resource trustees; and (c) salmon rearing and fish disease research that is helping chart the path for improved hatchery practices in the Pacific Northwest. Finally, with funding from the Bonneville Power Administration, we have launched a major research effort into the ocean and estuarine survival of salmonids to better understand the role of ocean and estuarine conditions on salmon survival and recovery.
The success of our salmon science program also can be measured in terms of its ability to understand the factors that put salmon at risk. We have developed over the last twenty years of effort world class expertise to evaluate the impacts of differing human activities on the salmon life cycle (e.g., dam operations and fish passage; fishing activities; fish husbandry; and general pollution of the marine and estuarine environment). We are developing state-of-the-art techniques for examining the cumulative impacts of various types of activities and mitigation measures and indicating the degree to which these create a risk to a local salmon population. We can use the state-of-the-art science and technology to look at various types of impacts and mitigation measures and indicate the degree to which risk will be increased or lessened.
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Probably the most difficult task in implementing the ESA for a species like salmon is trying to calculate how to allocate the conservation responsibility when there are many factors that have caused salmon to decline throughout the West. All of these factors must be addressed if we want to restore salmon. The status quo is literally driving salmon runs to extinction, and we must make basic changes in how we approach salmon and their habitat if our salmon are to remain part of the heritage of the Pacific Northwest.
To respond to your second request, I'd like to talk about coordination between the two Services to ensure consistency. Even before coastal salmon stocks were listed, NMFS began working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that Federal agencies, states, tribes and private citizens could count on the agencies to be efficient and consistent in their responses. For example, the Services worked together on the Federal technical team that developed the Northwest Forest Plan to ensure it was adequate for all aquatic species, including salmon. We also started working with the Fish and Wildlife Service after realizing that landowners in Oregon, Washington and California were developing habitat conservation plans for the threatened northern spotted owl and wanted assurance that any plan they developed for owls would address salmon as well. To provide landowners with ''one-stop shopping,'' NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service established a joint office in Olympia, Washington, where biologists from both services collaborated on the development and review of habitat conservation plans. That office was instrumental in developing the Washington DNR and mid-Columbia PUD Habitat Conservation Plans.
The Services have taken other actions to be certain we implement the ESA consistently and efficiently for Federal agencies and private landowners. Some of the more obvious actions are our joint regulations and policies on consultations and habitat conservation plans. We are issuing a number of joint policies for private landowners, including the ''no surprises,'' ''candidate conservation agreement,'' and ''safe harbors'' policies that give landowners greater future certainty when entering into conservation agreements with the Services. To make certain our staffs adhere to consistent procedures when dealing with the public and other Federal agencies, we have issued joint policy and guidance documents, such as the Section 7 Consultation Handbook and Habitat Conservation Handbook. We have issued a number of other joint technical policies such as our artificial propagation policy. Whenever one of the Services takes a major action or faces a novel situation, we communicate with each other at the regional and national level to ensure our approaches to the ESA are consistent. We are currently working on future, joint policies, like one on candidate conservation agreements, that will ensure a consistent level of service between NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Although NMFS and the Fish Wildlife Service coordinate our activities to provide the same level and kind of service to other agencies and the public, each agency brings different strengths to the Federal ESA program. Our strengths—NMFS with extensive marine expertise and the Fish and Wildlife Service with extensive freshwater and terrestrial experience—are complementary in the ESA program. Both NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service implement the ESA on rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest despite clearly divided responsibility for different listed species. To take care of listed Pacific salmon from their cradle to their graves, NMFS has had to add expertise on freshwater ecosystems to its existing marine expertise. Although this freshwater expertise and responsibility appears to ''overlap'' with the Fish and Wildlife Service, it is absolutely necessary to provide a coherent service for the people, communities, and industries that depend on salmon for their economic and social well being. There is no duplication of costs between our ESA programs; in fact, NMFS' ESA program is extremely cost-effective.
Finally, you asked for my views on H.R. 4335, which is your proposal to transfer NMFS' ESA responsibilities to the Fish and Wildlife Service. NMFS' largest ESA program is for salmon, which is where this proposal would have the greatest impact. The Administration opposes H.R. 4335 for the reasons discussed below.
The Pacific Northwest is in the midst of a major challenge to recover salmon runs that face extinction. Meeting this challenge will affect major facets of northwest life: power; water resources; fishing; forest and agricultural land management; and the like. This region is on the brink of some very important decisions on the Columbia River power system. We are also gearing up for major re-licensing efforts for many big hydropower projects, including some in Idaho.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is unquestionably dedicated to the recovery of salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Our leadership of and involvement in many of the key salmon efforts is substantial—from the Columbia River Power System to the Oregon Salmon Plan to the growing efforts of Washington communities to prepare for salmon listings in Puget Sound. The challenges associated with joint administration of the ESA in this region are significant but resolvable; the benefits of shifting salmon responsibilities would be fewer than anticipated, while the disruption, confusion, and delays associated with the transfer of ESA responsibilities would be very substantial.
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That said, we must ask ourselves what problem this legislative proposal is intended to solve and is this proposal the best solution. Is there concern that other Federal agencies and private parties are ''overloaded'' trying to deal with two separate Services protecting at least two (but usually more) different species? If so, such a transfer might address that concern because there would be only a single ESA agency. There are other ways to address this concern such as steps the Services have already taken, that are not as disruptive. Earlier I provided examples of joint consultations, joint HCPs, and co-location of offices that has helped provide ''one-stop'' shopping services to Federal agencies and applicants. We are exploring other administrative ways of coordinating NMFS' and Fish and Wildlife Service's ESA programs like joint processing of Federal agency actions that affect threatened or endangered species, which has streamlined the Corps of Engineers' permitting program elsewhere in the country.
Is the main concern duplication of effort, that is, several biologists analyzing the same action? Right now, there is very little duplication of effort. The number of biologists working on a consultation depends on the geographic scope of the action, the number and diversity of species involved in the consultation, and the probable environmental significance of the action. Right now, if an action affected bull trout, chinook salmon, and grizzly bears, NMFS and Fish and Wildlife Service would have to assign both fishery and wildlife biologists to evaluate the action. With the proposed transfer of ESA responsibilities, the Fish and Wildlife Service would still require both fishery and wildlife biologists to evaluate the action so there probably would not be an appreciable reduction in the number of biologists required to implement the ESA.
Some will argue that the main problem is that NMFS is too protective of species in its application of the ESA, and the best solution is eliminating us from the program. Others would argue that we are not protective enough. We respect those views as part of the public dialogue associated with the difficult task of protecting salmon and clean, healthy water. The Administration has said many times, salmon throughout the West are in deep trouble, and it is the full range of human actions that have put them there. We cannot keep doing business in the Northwest the way we have been and expect salmon to survive in the wild. The Fish and Wildlife Service, with its proud legacy of environmental stewardship, would give you the same answer.
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Shifting NMFS' ESA responsibilities to the FWS would create confusion and delays that could last for years. I mentioned earlier what NMFS has done to prepare for the special challenge of managing salmon issues in the Pacific Northwest. It has taken us some years to get to a point where we can implement our salmon program efficiently. We have gathered a lot of expertise on salmon science and salmon management, and we have invested a lot of resources to develop working relationships with the hydropower industry (public and private) to address salmon issues. We now have a good staff organized and equipped to administer the ESA to conserve salmon species cost-effectively. Our organization is fairly simple, our numbers are lean, and our people are skilled at their jobs.
If NMFS' ESA responsibilities were transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service, they would have to repeat what we did—organize to get the job done, locate and train new staff, find space, and request appropriations. In addition to preparing to handle salmon in freshwater ecosystems, the Fish and Wildlife Service would have to gear up for new marine responsibilities based on this proposed legislation. Based on our experience, we estimate that they would need a minimum of about 150 new FTEs and about $16.5 million in new money just to start handling the additional workload necessary to protect Pacific salmon. The confusion and delays associated with the transfer you propose would create major inconveniences and delays to private landowners, fishing communities, and timber interests—all whose lives are affected by listed salmon. It would, therefore, substantially disrupt ongoing efforts throughout the Pacific Northwest in salmon recovery at the worst possible time. If the transfer occurs without providing the Fish and Wildlife Service the personnel and funding to handle the new workload, the difficulties will become much larger.
Finally, I think we need to examine what the other consequences of transferring authority to the Fish and Wildlife Service might be. Right now, people engaged in marine fisheries only deal with one Federal management agency; transferring ESA responsibility will require them to deal with two agencies where listed species are involved. Hence, transferring ESA responsibility to the Fish and Wildlife Service solves a perceived problem for people on land, but creates new problems for people who make their living from the sea.
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Would the benefits of this proposal outweigh the consequences? As I said, I think the main perceived benefit is to other Federal agencies and individuals who work on rivers and forests and now must deal with two Services. On the other hand, people who earn their living from the sea and now deal only with NMFS, would have to deal with NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service. There are trade-offs to either approach: who benefits, who loses? My agency and I look forward to engaging the Congress, and the region, on that question.
Although most of my testimony, up to this point, has involved the extensive efforts undertaken by NMFS to meet its responsibilities to protect endangered and threatened species of Pacific salmonids, H.R. 4335 would reach far beyond these troubled species.
Under the Endangered Species Act, in addition to listed salmonids, NMFS is responsible for many other marine species, including the Arctic bowhead whale, the Pacific and Atlantic humpback whales, the blue whale, the Steller sea lion, the Hawaiian monk seal, seven species of sea turtles. Even if NMFS' ESA responsibilities were transferred, NMFS and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), would continue to have significant responsibilities to protect and recover these animals pursuant to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Whaling Convention Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and statutes implementing a dozen international conservation agreements, in addition to our other authorizing legislation. With respect to whales, sea lions, sea turtles and ESA-listed species of marine fish, H.R. 4335 would increase, rather than decrease, the need for interagency coordination and would give rise to more, not less, duplication of effort and expertise.
Setting aside the issue of salmonids for the moment, NMFS and NOAA strongly object to transferring ESA authority to Interior since NMFS and NOAA would still have to address the relevant ESA concerns in managing marine fisheries, marine mammals, and aboriginal whaling that have the potential to adversely affect other marine species such as whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and sea turtles.
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To name just a few of the ongoing ESA issues that would be made more complicated by enactment of H.R. 4335, the management of the Alaskan groundfish fisheries, now handled by the Regional Fishery Management Councils and NMFS, must take into account the needs of the Steller sea lions. Management of the lobster fishery and the gillnet fisheries in New England must also take into account the needs of the right and humpback whales. So too must management of the salmon gillnet fisheries in Alaska and recreational activities in the Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary must take into account the needs of the humpback whales that migrate from Alaska to Hawaii. Under H.R. 4335, Interior would be granted much greater control over these fisheries.
Even more significantly, NMFS' national and international responsibilities to protect sea turtles from incidental take in shrimp fisheries would not go away if responsibility for endangered species were transferred from NMFS to Interior, since sea turtles are considered ''fish'' under the definitions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
As should be obvious, the above issues concerning the interaction of marine fisheries and species protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act are all quite controversial. NMFS and NOAA have more than two and one-half decades of experience in coordinating conservation programs for living marine resources. NOAA is the Nation's oceans agency. The Department of the Interior could not easily acquire our expertise.
Even with respect to Pacific salmonids, NMFS and the other NOAA agencies would have to remain involved in ESA matters as a result of our broad ocean fishery resource management responsibilities, including the Federal Power Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, as well as the new requirements of the Sustainable Fishery Act that requires the Regional Fishery Management Councils, in cooperation with NMFS, designate essential fish habitat, which for salmonids at least, will cover much the same river basins as are now covered by our ESA programs. In short, even if NMFS' current ESA responsibilities were transferred to Interior only with respect to anadromous species, NOAA and NMFS would not be relieved of work and the public would not have fewer Federal agencies to deal with.
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Mr. Chairman, thank you again for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
MR. STELLE'S RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Committee requested that the National Marine Fisheries Service supplement my testimony at your hearing in Pasco, Washington, on September 2, 1998. I was asked whether the Endangered Species Act abrogates state water law. I am pleased to provide the following as further response to this question.
It is inevitable that both state and Federal environmental statutes intended to protect aquatic species and their habitat will intersect with the exercise of established water rights. It has been the consistent approach of this Administration to meet ESA water needs consistent with state law. Consistent with this position, the Federal agencies have deliberately implemented their programs, including those for the ESA, to respect water rights. Some examples include:
f Columbia and Snake River Basins, Washington, Oregon and Idaho:
In 1995, during ESA consultations on Federal hydropower operations, the Federal Government concluded it would implement flow augmentation from the Upper Snake River through acquisition by the Bureau of Reclamation from willing sellers and express compliance with Idaho state water law.
f Rio Grande River Basin, New Mexico and Texas:
Similar to the Snake River Basin, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation are working with local and state parties to meet water needs for listed species pursuant to state law.
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f Upper Colorado Recovery Implementation Plan, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona:
This plan, which provides recovery measures for fish species listed under the ESA, calls for implementation of instream flow needs under state law.
In addition, compliance with state water law for ESA water needs is central to efforts in the lower Sacramento River (Bay Delta Agreement), the Platte River, and across Colorado.
With respect to aquatic species protected under the ESA, it is also important to ask where the courts are on the interaction between implementation of the ESA and the exercise of state law based water rights. Perhaps the closest case on point where the courts had to address state water rights in the context of ESA is United States v. Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, 788 F. Supp. 1126 (E.D. Cal. 1992). In this case involving endangered Sacramento River winter run chinook salmon NMFS successfully sought to enjoin an irrigation district from diverting water pursuant to a state water right because an inadequately screened diversion was directly taking these juvenile salmon. The court addressed state water law issues and found that compliance with the prohibitions of Section 9 of the ESA did not abrogate water rights, but rather required that the right be exercised in a manner that did not violate the take proscription.
In our view, the fair and effective management of these issues can only be accomplished through open and candid discussion among water users and those agencies implementing programs protecting and restoring our aquatic resources. NMFS encourages such basin-wide planning efforts to meet the ESA needs of listed species as well as the needs of water users to the fullest extent possible.
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STATEMENT OF JEFF CURTIS, WESTERN CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, TROUT UNLIMITED
Trout Unlimited, the Nation's largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization, appreciates this opportunity to testify at this hearing on Endangered Species Act implementation and H.R. 4335. TU has over 100,000 members nationwide in over 450 chapters. We have over 7,000 members in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
Trout Unlimited is opposed to this legislation. From our perspective, Columbia River salmon management would not be fixed if this bill were passed. Frankly, I cannot imagine the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service carrying out its ESA responsibilities much differently than the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). And, if they did, the Federal courts would certainly force them to carry out their responsibilities consistent with ESA mandates. Let us recall that, while Judge Marsh ratified NMFSs current approach in American Rivers v. NMFS, he did so with a considerable degree of skepticism.
At this time, moving anadromous salmonid recovery responsibilities to an agency previously not involved in these issues is a recipe for mass confusion. Given the imperiled species status and pending court-imposed deadlines, the chance that upcoming decisions would have a random quality to them would be greatly enhanced.
Rather than tinkering with Federal agency organization and responsibilities, we endorse the development of a regional structure along the lines of the ''three sovereigns'' process currently being discussed by the governors of the four Columbia Basin states. We believe a process involving the major governmental agencies in the basin—state, tribal and Federal—that is open to participation by other interested parties, will move the region closer to a consensus on salmon and energy issues. While we are not so naive that we think complete consensus will ever be reached on these issues, we do believe the region as a whole can come to a more complete understanding of the issues.
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But, in the end, it is not process but rather dramatic action that is needed to save salmon. To be blunt, the problem with the Columbia River is that we have changed the river to something that is now much less hospitable to salmon and steelhead. We have changed the hydrograph, running the river so it suits power production as opposed to running it the way that it ran when salmon were plentiful. We have dewatered and degraded many of the tributaries that spring chinook and steelhead need for spawning. And perhaps most importantly, we have turned a flowing river into a series of slow moving lakes.
Recently Trout Unlimited endorsed proposals to breach the four lower Snake River dams. We recognize that we are advocating major changes in the system and we know that prompts two important questions. First, do we really have to make changes as significant as breaching dams to restore salmon? Trout Unlimited believes that to save ESA listed chinook and sockeye salmon and steelhead that return every year bound for Idaho's headwaters we do. Twenty years of failed barging and trucking experiments to get fish around these dams have demonstrated that, in essence, we can't fool mother nature. It is time to take more drastic actions. The Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) has concluded that the juvenile fish transportation program will not restore salmon. The ISAB has called for a normative river approach—restoring some sections of the Columbia/Snake River system to more natural conditions such as those found in the Hanford reach of the mainstem Columbia—to provide necessary habitat for salmon recovery.
Second, and perhaps the more obvious question, is it worth it to the region? Obviously, to those of us who believe that salmon are an icon of the region and a symbol of who we are, the answer to that question is obvious. But to those who look at these issues in more traditional economic terms, I believe the answer is still in the affirmative.
While everyone knows that one of the assets of the Northwest, salmon, is at risk, we are also in some danger of losing another asset—low cost federally subsidized power. In an era of energy deregulation, the question must be asked why the rest of the nation should subsidize cheap power in the Northwest. More importantly, why should New Yorkers pay more to heat and cool their homes than folks from Seattle or Pasco? Why should Californians pay more for energy for their businesses than Oregonians?
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The answer that we in the Northwest give is that our power system provides public benefits as well—investments in renewables, energy assistance for the poor and, most importantly, salmon conservation. If the system does not provide those benefits, if the power system we are protecting for our own advantage is killing a natural resource we are charged with protecting, our position in defending the region's low-cost power is much weaker.
It is apparent the drawdown and dam breaching scenarios being considered will have both negative and positive effects on the economy. TU supports efforts to mitigate the negative impacts to current river users. But it is clear that these economic impacts are far less than what we could face if we lost the benefits of low cost power we have enjoyed since the 1930s.
Many years ago, when there were no dams on these rivers, the fate of the Native Americans who lived in this watershed was inextricably tied to the salmon in the rivers. The salmon were articles of commerce as well as a food source. The health of the people and the salmon were linked. We do not believe that link has been broken. Our salmon and energy futures are still connected. If we sacrifice salmon for what may only be very short-term energy benefits to the region, in the long run we may very well end up with salmon extinctions and the loss of the competitive advantage of low energy costs. If, on the other hand, we as a region decide to make the tough decisions necessary to restore salmon, we stand a better chance of having a future that includes both salmon and a healthy economy.
Trout Unlimited appreciates the opportunity to testify before the Committee.
STATEMENT OF JOHN K. GIVENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF KENNEWICK
Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to participate in this hearing.
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My name is John Givens and I represent the Port of Kennewick, one of seventy-six port districts in Washington authorized into public service by the state legislature with a mission of fostering economic development. In carrying out that mission ports also work hard to be responsible environmental stewards of the resources they manage.
My invitation to speak solicited remarks on the implementation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and views on H.R. 4335, regarding transfer of functions.
I believe the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was enacted with the purest of intent to be a good piece of legislation that could be reasonably interpreted and easily managed. I also believe that during the past few years our changing environment has transformed the ESA into a nine hundred pound gorilla, often difficult to manage, and at times implemented on requirements that might lack common sense. I think it needs to be revisited by Congress.
I'll share with you a good example of a potential recovery plan alternative being explored that, if carried out, would in my opinion be contrary to what most Northwest residents feel would be a common sense solution to the problem.
The Columbia-Snake River system is one of our country's most valuable resources. That vital multiple use resource provides critical economic, recreational, and safety benefits to millions of people.
The 465 mile federally authorized navigation corridor flows through a series of 46 ports, opening international trade markets to more than 40 states. Forty-three percent of all wheat shipped from this country travels through the remarkable Columbia-Snake system. Yearly cargo volumes exceed 50 million tons and provide revenues exceeding $16 billion dollars.
Employment numbers created through that system exceed 50,000.
The federally authorized dams which make that system unique have capacity to produce 75 percent of the Northwest's energy needs using renewable, plentiful, non polluting hydropower.
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About 50 percent of the 7.3 million acres of the producing farm and ranch land in Idaho, Oregon and Washington are irrigated with water supplied from that critical system. Yearly sales from those farms and ranches exceed $10 billion dollars.
During 1996 and 1997 the Columbia-Snake River dams were credited with saving more than $4.8 billion dollars in property damage from two major flood events. The 70,000 acre feet storage capacity behind John Day Dam alone reportedly lowered the river level at Portland by 1.5 feet during flooding.
Reservoir related recreational activities created on those reservoirs add hundreds of millions of dollars to our country's economy each year.
Yet, in spite of the unsurpassed benefits provided by that system, serious consideration is being given to breeching several of those dams and destroying the integrity of that federally authorized system because of perceived ESA listing requirements. The ESA has no accounting responsibility for the potential catastrophic aftermath a decision to tear down those dams might have on those who depend on the resources they provide. I hope Congress doesn't allow that to happen.
During 1992, while I was serving as a Port of Clarkston Commissioner, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after consultation with NMFS under the ESA, elected to stage a 30 day test drawing water down to a near natural river level on the Lower Granite pool of the Snake River. The purpose of the test was to measure infrastructure integrity under drawdown conditions.
The economic interests of the area were not involved in the test planning except shippers were told to make alternative arrangements to barging for their transportation needs during the test period. The result of that 30 day activity caused serious distress. Lost business revenue was estimated in the millions of dollars. Substantial physical damage occurred, including sloughing embankments, heaving and separated highways, twisted commercial and recreational docks, and inoperable water intakes. No cargo moved from the Port of Clarkston for more than a month. A local marina operator ended up filing bankruptcy as a result of unrecoverable damage and business revenue loss.
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Thousands of resident fish were killed after being trapped in ponds which dried up when the river receded. The river corridor through Lewiston and Clarkston almost immediately became a stinking mud-flat as aquatic habitat decayed.
While some economic mitigation was later made available for documented physical loss to private property, the pot was small and reimbursement was difficult obtain. An overwhelming majority of the people who experienced that drawdown never want that experience again.
Now, six years later, we who depend on the integrity of the Columbia-Snake System are still living under the dark cloud of permanent natural river level drawdown while dam breaching options are being considered. Ports have great difficulty attracting many industries to their facilities with that curtain of uncertainty threatening large investments to bring needed jobs to communities.
New ESA fish listings are occurring on a regular basis throughout the region. I understand that the Northwest has 15 species listed as threatened, and five as endangered under the ESA. In addition to those existing listings, 12 species have been proposed for threatened status, and two for endangered protection by either NMFS or USFWS.
Once a population is tagged with an endangered listing, the only option available is to develop a sustainable recovery plan without regard to cost or economic effect. It deeply concerns me when I think about how the Endangered Species Act, if not sensibly interpreted, will drive the future of economic development in this country.
Congress needs to review the ESA to make sure that recovery options are based on good science, sound economics and common sense logic. That makes for good policy. People deserve win-win solutions.
I have concerns about the tiers of governing agencies involved in the ESA recovery process. It's hard to know where to turn to find help any more. Recovery efforts for anadromous fisheries are charged to NMFS. Unfortunately, that agency has both too few people and resources to meet the growing challenges facing them. I receive reports the NMFS consultation process is very slow. Recovery plans are difficult to complete, and then when finally approved are often challenged in court. Those involved with projects affected by threatened or endangered listings are often frustrated by the amount of energy and time involved on their parts due to agency resource scarcity.
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In closing, I'll say that I have no personal preference on what Federal agency, the Department of Interior or Commerce, is delegated the responsibility of coordinating ESA recovery. Consolidation seems to make sense. Single agency control is less likely to place two agencies at odds when recovering competing species. Expertise can be centralized. What is important is that the delegated recovery agency be given the tools (clear mission, people, expertise and funding levels) to do a good job.
Thank you.
STATEMENT OF BOB HALE, HALE FARMS, SHAREHOLDER, INLAND LAND COMPANY LLC
My name is Bob Hale. I am a shareholder in Inland Land Company LLC (''Inland''), 115 West Hermiston Avenue, Suite 240, P.O. Box 110, Hermiston, Oregon 97838. Inland was formed in 1994 by three family farms to develop an irrigated farm on several thousand acres of undeveloped agricultural land in Morrow County, Oregon. Inland leased the land it did because it had existing partially developed state water rights. No new state water rights were needed.
I was born and raised in the small town of Echo, Oregon and have owned and operated farms in the area my entire life. We grow potatoes, onions and other crops for local food processors. New irrigated acreage needs to be developed in our area to replace land taken out of production due to urban expansion, groundwater restrictions and conversion of cropland to tree farms. Our local communities and food processors will not survive unless we maintain our agricultural land base.
You have asked witnesses to address three questions: (1) whether the National Marine Fisheries Service (''NMFS'') is implementing the Endangered Species Act (''ESA'') consistent with the authority granted in the ESA; (2) whether their activities overlap or are consistent with those of the Fish and Wildlife Service; and (3) whether their implementation is being conducted in a cost effective manner. You also asked for our views on H.R. 4335, a bill that would consolidate ESA implementation in the U.S. Department of the Interior. Inland appreciates the opportunity to address these questions because our farm development has been stopped in it tracks by the NMFS and its unreasonable, unscientific and unrealistic Biological Opinion on our application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the ''Corps'') for a new pump station from the John Day Pool on the Columbia River.
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I cannot address your second question regarding consistency between NMFS and Fish and Wildlife Service activities under the ESA. Inland has had no dealings with the Fish and Wildlife Service, only the NMFS. Given our experience with the NMFS, enactment of H.R. 4335 seems like a good idea. We certainly do not need two Federal agencies implementing the same statute. I have to think that the Fish and Wildlife Service has had enough experience under the Act that it would not have issued the unscientific, highly political Biological Opinion NMFS issued on Inland's application.
My testimony will focus on Inland's experience with NMFS implementation of the ESA: (1) its consistency with the Act; and (2) its cost effectiveness.
On May 2, 1996, Inland filed its application with the Corps for a new pump station on the Columbia River. The existing point of diversion for the water rights on the property is on the Willow Creek arm of the Columbia. When Inland advised the Oregon Water Resources Department (''WRD'') of its intent to complete development of the existing water rights, the WRD contacted the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (''ODFW''). ODFW expressed concern that increased pumping from the Willow Creek pump station would harm listed salmon and steelhead by attracting them into the mouth of the creek. In response to this concern and to avoid problems with the existing pump station if the John Day Pool were ever drawn down, Inland agreed to build a new pump station. A new pump station requires a section 10/404 permit. The permit application triggered consultation requirements under section 7 of the ESA. Inland included an environmental assessment and biological assessment with its permit application in May 1996.
Inland has obtained local zoning approval, a state fill and removal permit for construction, department of environmental quality 401 Clean Water Act certification, and water right permit extensions from the OWRD needed to develop the new farm. In spite of nearly a four year effort, however, we cannot begin work on the new pump station.
Why? The May 16, 1997 Biological Opinion issued to the Corps by NMFS.
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A detailed permitting chronology is attached to my testimony as Exhibit A. The key points are that the Corps determined on July 19, 1996 that the proposed pump station would not be likely to adversely affect any of the listed salmon stocks in the Columbia River. NMFS disagreed with the Corps and asked for a supplemental biological assessment. Inland submitted this to the Corps on September 18, 1996. The Corps reviewed it again, and again concluded on October 31, 1996 that the proposed new pump station would not adversely affect listed species. NMFS did not issue its Biological Opinion until May 16, 1997. A copy of the Opinion is attached as Exhibit B.
The ESA and its implementing regulations require consultation to be completed within 90 days. They also require NMFS and the Corps to explain to an applicant, in writing, if a longer period of time is required. In our case, the NMFS Biological Opinion was not issued until over one year after our application to the Corps and nearly eight months after the Corps submitted the supplemental biological assessment to NMFS. These delays in the consultation process are unconscionable. Applicants are forced to agree to extensions of the statutory timelines under the threat of an adverse opinion if they do not. Congress should impose the same type of hammer on Federal agencies under the ESA that the Oregon Legislature has imposed on many state and local government permitting activities. If NMFS fails to provide its opinion in a timely fashion, the requirement for the opinion should be waived.
The ESA also requires the action agency and the NMFS to use the best available scientific information in preparing biological opinions. In our opinion, NMFS failed to do so. To understand how flawed the NMFS analysis was, you need to understand what the impacts of our project will be. You should also remember that we are completing development under existing water rights that are already partially developed.
The Inland project when fully developed will pump a maximum of 303 cfs. The peak withdrawal actually will occur only for about two weeks each season. The biological assessment reviewed and approved by the Corps concluded that this diversion would have no significant impact on smelt survival during out migration, nor on fish travel time in the John Day Pool. Under low flow conditions, the largest estimated impact on yearling chinook would be a total of 16 fewer smalls out of 16O,OOO migrants. The largest impact on travel time is 0.01 days, or about 15 minutes for fish experiencing a migration of weeks or months. The Inland project would only divert two and one half one hundredth of one percent (0.025 percent) of the Columbia River system's water. The impact on flows in the river is so small it cannot be measured. This analysis was done by leading experts on Columbia River flows and fish. The Corps' experts agreed with it. In spite of this, NMFS concluded that issuance of the permit would be likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed salmon in the Columbia and result in destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat.
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Why did the NMFS reach this conclusion? NMFS acknowledges that the Inland diversion is only a small fraction of the river's flow and that Inland's fish screens and construction methods would avoid impacting the listed fish. NMFS reached its jeopardy conclusion entirely on the ''cumulative impact'' of Inland's withdrawal when combined with all irrigation withdrawals in the entire Columbia Basin. NMFS decided that no more water should be allowed to be diverted from the river, even under existing state water rights, until the target flows established in NMFS' 1995 Biological Opinion on the Columbia River hydroelectric system are met.
There are two fundamental problems with the NMFS analysis. First, the NMFS flow targets are unrealistic. Second, NMFS' analysis of the impact of irrigation withdrawals on Columbia River flows is flawed and was applied incorrectly and unfairly to the Inland project. Both of these problems arise from NMFS' opinions about river hydrology, not biology. NMFS is staffed largely by biologists, not hydrologists. It is baffling that NMFS, with no expertise on river hydrology, could trump the opinion of Corps experts on hydrologic impact analysis, when the Corps truly is the Federal expert on river flows and modeling.
Several reports analyze the NMFS flow targets. The fact is that NMFS flow targets have never been met in the known history of the river. Recent reports by consultant Darryll Olsen and by Carl Dreher of the Idaho Department of Water Resources show that the NMFS flow targets could not be met even if all irrigation in the Columbia River Basin were eliminated. How can NMFS continue to assert that the flow targets are based on the best available scientific information?
NMFS' use of the Bureau of Reclamation's draft report on the cumulative impacts of irrigations withdrawals on flows in the Columbia are even more flawed. NMFS requested the study and acknowledges that it is only a draft and only provides rough evaluations of impacts in low flow years. Based upon our discussions with Bureau of Reclamation staff, we believe NMFS knowingly misused and misinterpreted the Bureau's data to reach the result in wanted to reach politically in issuing the Inland opinion.
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Inland is being made to pay the price for all of the water withdrawals that have ever occurred in the Columbia Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation study counted the full amount of water use authorized under all state water rights (including permits, certificates and decreed rights) as water withdrawals. Based on this study, NMFS concluded that ''but for irrigation withdrawals, our ability to meet spring and summer stream flow objectives would significantly improve.'' The NMFS rejected the Corps' analysis of the impacts of the Inland project because the Corps did not take into account the ''contribution of existing water withdrawals'' to the baseline condition. In its analysis of current water withdrawals and assessment of future water withdrawals, NMFS counted partially developed unperfected water right permits, such as Inland's, as contributing to withdrawals. Counting all existing certificated, decreed and permitted water rights as withdrawals of water from the Columbia in determining the effect of water withdrawals on flows makes no sense. Every water right is not used every year and most water rights do not use the full amount of duty authorized. The NMFS analysis grossly overstates the impact of water withdrawals on flows. NMFS even counted non-hydraulically connected groundwater rights as contributing to the alleged flow depletions.
Based upon this, the NMFS is not using the best science available.
The ESA requires the NMFS to provide a ''reasonable and prudent alternative'' to the proposed action if it issues a ''jeopardy'' opinion. The NMFS ''reasonable and prudent alternative'' for the Inland project requires that:
''so that no water withdrawal occurs during times designated as flow objective periods in the FCRPS opinion unless: *** the permitted proves to NMFS' satisfaction that he will provide for in stream use, at the point of diversion or upstream of this point during periods when flow objectives are not expected to be met, an amount of water from completed water rights that is equivalent to the flow depletion caused by the new use. This replacement flow is intended to result in zero net impact of the new diversion on flow targets'' (emphasis added).
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NMFS adopted this unprecedented ''zero net impact'' policy as a reasonable and prudent alternative and imposed it for the first time ever on Inland.
The ESA and its implementing regulations are clear that in order to be a ''reasonable and prudent alternative'' the alternative must meet the intended project purpose, be able to be implemented consistent with the action agency's statutory authority, and be economically and technologically feasible. 50 CFR Section 402.02. NMFS believes that the alternative required in its Biological Opinion can only be satisfied if Inland either does not divert water during periods when target flows are not being met; or replaces any water it diverts with other water rights dedicated to instream flows. If this is what the alternative requires, it does not meet the definition of a reasonable and prudent alternative because (1) it cannot be implemented in a manner consistent with the intended purpose of Inland's farm project; (2) cannot be implemented consistent with the Corps' legal authority and jurisdiction; and (3) is not economically and technologically feasible.
In order to finance development of a new farm of this size, Inland must rely upon project financing from banks or other lenders. These lenders will not loan money unless they are sure that the loan can be repaid over the life of the project. Lenders will require assurance that the conditions of the 404 perm
it and all other permits will be able to be met over the term of any project loan. This means that Inland cannot wait and see whether target flows are being met in any given year and then arrange mitigation on an annual basis. The project cannot be built unless Inland can show lenders that it can provide replacement flows every year. Inland cannot develop its project not knowing from year-to-year whether it will be able to irrigate the land.
The Corps may have the legal authority under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act to condition permits to meet the requirements of the ESA, but the Clean Water Act expressly recogmzes the authority of the states over water rights and states that the states' authority should not be abrogated or superseded by the Clean Water Act, 33 USC 1251(g). As NMFS interprets the Biological Opinion, Inland's existing water right permits are essentially worthless. Target flows were not even met last year when there were record snowpacks and flows in the Columbia Basin. The target flow period extends over eighty percent of the irrigation season. NMFS is requiring Inland to acquire sufficient water rights to irrigate the entire farm to replace the water that would be diverted under Inland's existing permits, or to not divert at all during eighty percent of the irrigation season. If the Corps imposes such a condition in the permit, it would violate the Clean Water Act by making Inland's existing state permits worthless.
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Ever since the Biological Opinion was issued Inland has tried to figure out a way to meet NMFS' requirements. NMFS never even discussed Inland's project purpose or economic and technical feasibility of the ''reasonable and prudent alternative'' with us before it issued its opinion. In spite of lengthy discussions with NMFS, the Corps and state officials, we have not figured out a way to meet the requirements of this supposedly reasonable alternative. It is very difficult under current state law to acquire existing water rights and convert them to instream uses. Even the Bureau of Reclamation's flow augmentation program has been for short terms. The holders of existing water rights are not willing to transfer them for the period needed for Inland's project financing. There is no organized market for such water transfers; they must be arranged with individual landowners which is time-consuming and uncertain. For all of these reasons, Inland believes that the NMFS interpretation of its own ''reasonable and prudent alternative,'' when tested against the real world situation facing Inland, does not meet the definition of a reasonable and prudent alternative at all.
In spite of the NMFS' questionable flow analysis and seemingly unachievable alternative, Inland met with the Corps to try and satisfy the NMFS alternative. Inland and the Corps agreed on an approach we thought would work. We met with NMFS officials on July 31, 1997 to explain our approach. Inland and its lessor offered to voluntarily cancel 12,120 acres of the existing water rights to mitigate for developing the rest. NMFS representatives were not receptive to the proposal. A copy of the Inland proposal is enclosed as Exhibit C for your information. Inland believes that the proposal exceeds the requirements of the Biological Opinion. Inland would ensure that valid existing water right permits that have been partially developed will be permanently reduced at a ratio of 1.5 to 1. The replacement flow offset would exceed the peak amount the project would ever use, even though the peak withdrawal would actually only occur for about two weeks a year. Inland believes that its proposal assures no net loss of flow as required by the biological opinion. The only reason that the NMFS disagrees is that the NMFS thinks partially developed water rights should not be counted for purposes of offsetting future diversions. NMFS suggests that reducing rights under existing permits is a ''paper exercise'' that will not truly replace flows diverted for the new project. As discussed in our letter to the Corps of Engineers dated February 4, 1998 (attached as Exhibit D), the NMFS position is directly contrary to its own analysis of the effects of the project which counted unperfected rights in the baseline and in the analysis of cumulative effects.
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NMFS should not be able to have it both ways. If unperfected or partially perfected permits count for purposes of concluding that irrigation withdrawals are significantly impacting the listed species, then partially perfected permits should count if they are canceled in order to reduce the impact of such diversions on the species.
What does this NMFS position really mean?
• If any water permittee pumps more water next year than they pumped the year before, resulting in additional development under existing water rights, the Corps must reinitiate consultation with the NMFS on the impacts of the pumping.
• In order to continue to develop existing valid state water rights, cities, farms, ports and other businesses will have to somehow obtain duplicate water rights and dedicate them to in-stream flows even though the permittee has valid state water rights and valid existing Federal permits for their pump stations.
If the NMFS approach is followed, the Federal Government would be sending a very unfortunate message to water users in the Columbia/Snake Basin. The message would be that no one who has to divert water from the river under either a new or an existing Section 404 permit can do so and still comply with the ESA. If the Clinton Administration wants to assure that growing cities and towns and the irrigation community avoid any Federal involvement requiring ESA compliance, this would be a great way to do it. Rather than encouraging salmon recovery efforts, the NMFS policy discourages it.
As noted in the permit chronology, we were told throughout the discussions with state and Federal officials that every mitigation proposal we made and every variation we suggested was not acceptable to NMFS. Frankly, we faced a problem of ''bring me a rock'' with NMFS never explaining what kind of a rock they wanted. Instead, they simply rejected every feasible suggestion we made and insisted that the only acceptable solution would be somehow obtaining water rights equivalent to the maximum water withdrawal the project would ever make and dedicating them to instream flows. Perhaps the most frustrating moment came at a meeting in November 1997 when NMFS suggested, for the very first time, that Inland might be able to do a habitat conservation plan (''HCP''). Frankly, after six months of attempting to get straight answers from the agency, Inland had no desire to embark on an HCP since NMFS could provide us with no guidance on what would be required, how long it would take or the likelihood of getting approval.
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You can imagine our frustration when NMFS announced in June 1998 that it had entered into an HCP with two public utilities in the mid-Columbia allowing them to continue to operate hydroelectric facilities which kill fish. Their ''no net impact commitment'' simply requires them to meet a 95 percent survival rate for juvenile and adult salmon passing through the dams and reservoirs and a 91 percent overall survival rate. Inland's diversions would not impact even a fraction of the listed species affected by these dams. Why will NMFS reach an HCP agreement with public utilities, a no jeopardy opinion for the Federal hydro system and a no jeopardy opinion for sport and commercial fish harvests allowing all of them to directly kill fish while they will not allow a farmer to move an irrigation diversion point for existing state water rights that will have an immeasurable impact on flows and fish survival?
No one appears willing to insist on good science from NMFS. Inland believes that the Biological Opinion on its project was issued for political purposes to placate environmental organizations, not because of any scientific justification. NMFS seems willing to live with a flawed cumulative effects analysis that grossly overstates the impact of irrigated agriculture on river flows. The NMFS view appears to be that any water withdrawals from the Columbia Snake River system are bad and should be discouraged and cut back. This is completely unrealistic given the population growth in the region, let alone the need to maintain the net base of irrigated lands.
The NMFS no net loss policy cannot be met under existing state water law. Fundamentally, NMFS has told farmers in the Columbia Basin that further development of existing water rights will not be permitted if it requires any kind of permit from the Corps of Engineers or another Federal agency. Basically, NMFS is taking existing state water rights from landowners in order to create theoretical benefits for fish that cannot be measured in reality.
Inland is willing to address the real environmental impacts of its project. Inland is willing to give up a portion the water rights it now has and to commit to the highest standards of water conservation in its operations. Rather than providing encouragement and incentives for companies like Inland to invest in effective mitigation efforts for the listed species, NMFS prefers to impose conditions that are impossible to meet in order to shut down water development.
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Is NMFS implementing the ESA consistent with the law Congress passed? In my opinion, no.
Is NMFS implementing the ESA cost effectively? Again, in my opinion no.
Inland has spent nearly $1 million trying to permit its project and because of NMFS we still cannot proceed. A fisheries biologist for the Corps Portland office said it best when he interrupted me during a technical presentation I was making on our project's non-measurable impact on fish survival when he said, ''. . . excuse me Bob, this isn't about science and biology, this is about politics.''
INSERT OFFSET FOLIOS 63 TO 64 HERE
STATEMENT OF FRED ZIARI, CHAIRMAN, EASTERN OREGON IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION
My name is Fred Ziari and I am the chairman of Eastern Oregon Irrigation Association, located in Hermiston, Oregon. By profession I am an irrigation engineer with over 18 years of experience in water management fields in the Pacific Northwest. The Eastern Oregon Irrigation Association appreciates the opportunity to present its views on the role of the National Marine Fisheries Service on the management of our Columbia/Snake River. Our Association represents farmers, ports and water users in Eastern Oregon.
Our members have a long history of working in a cooperative manner with Congress, State, Tribes and Federal agencies in implementing and enhancing fish runs in Eastern Oregon. Over the past fifteen years, our farmers working cooperatively with the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla and the related agencies have successfully implemented the Umatilla Basin Project, which has brought salmon back to our river and has become a model of successful salmon recovery in the Northwest.
We live in an area that on average receives less than 8 inches of rainfall a year. Consequently our communities are totally dependent on the Columbia River for its agriculture, industries and municipal drinking water supplies.
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With the use of high technology such as satellite, aerial infrared, intensive soil moisture and crop monitoring, and the use of precision agriculture, our farmers have implemented one of the most extensive water conservation projects in the nation. This conservation effort has resulted in water savings of over 20 percent. We irrigate some 200,000 acres of lands in Eastern Oregon. Almost all of our products are processed locally and values are added. Annually over 80 percent of our agricultural products valued between $800 million to $900 million, are exported out of our region and most for overseas market through the efficient and economical Columbia River barge transportation system. About 8,000 people in our sparsely populated area are employed in agriculture and related food processing. We do all this with the use of only less than 0.3 percent of the Columbia River water.
Let me make one thing very clear, that the Columbia River system, which is the second largest river in the country, is not an over-appropriated river, as some may want you to believe. A total of only 7 percent of Columbia River water is utilized for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and part of British Columbia. Our farmers are a vital part of providing food for our citizens at home and the hungry world abroad, and we are very proud of that achievement. As the world population are expected to reach to over 10 billion people in the coming decades, our ability to produce high quality and affordable food supplies becomes even more vital.
All of these achievements are now in jeopardy through unrealistic dam removal and excessive flow augmentation proposals by our Federal agencies. We watch with bewilderment, how the National Marine Fishery Service and an army of other Federal agencies, have totally abandoned cooperative spirit of working with local officials and the resource users. At the same time they have wasted billions of dollars of Northwesterners' ratepayer's money with nothing to show for it. When they were presented with a resolution to a problem by natural resource users, they instead decided to implement a mean-spirited policy to inflict pain and suffering to water users and landowners. A good example of this politically driven rule making is ''flow augmentation'' and the total shutdown of the river system under the ''zero net water loss'' policy. This policy is of the utmost concern to all of our communities in Eastern Oregon.
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Under the ''flow augmentation'' policy, NMFS arbitrarily requires a minimum flow of 220,000 cubic feet per second up to August 15th at the McNary Dam, which is more water than is naturally available in the Columbia River system. Our average flow for the month of August is 125,000 cubic feet per second. If we shut down all of our water uses in the Pacific Northwest we still can not meet this flow target. This goal is not achievable, it is not scientific, and biologically has not been shown to aid in salmon recovery.
The ''zero net water loss'' policy is a reactionary policy based on no meaningful or defendable analysis, no consultation with other Federal or state agencies, while at the same time they have failed to follow their mandated Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) rules. This policy impacts everyone in the Northwest that depends on the river and above all it violates our state water laws.
This policy not only impacts our farmers and food industries, it also severely restricts our cities' ability to meet the drinking water supply needs of their citizens. Case in point, I am the engineer for the city of Umatilla, Oregon, a town of about 3,300 people located on the Columbia River, 25 miles south of here. Following a state-wide search for a suitable sites, the State of Oregon is now constructing a new state prison in Umatilla which will house 1,500 prison inmates and employ 500 staff. To serve this facility, the City holds a state-approved water right to appropriate a mere 23 cubic feet per second from the Columbia River which has a mean river flow of over 200,000 cubic feet per second. But this permit which they worked so hard to get has been nullified by NMFS without a hearing or compensation. The City is wondering, now what, and how will they meet the needs of their citizens. There are other Cities in Eastern Oregon that are facing the same dilemma.
Recommendation for Congressional Action
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It is obvious to our members that the NMFS management policy is a failure that has not produced a workable regional plan to recover endangered salmon, nor do we have any confidence in them to produce a workable plan in the future.
• It has become obvious to us that the present NMFS Salmon recovery strategy is one of partisan political strategy, not a scientific or even common sense solution. We ask your help in overseeing their actions and to help bring accountability into the process.
• Our farmers are the stewards of the land and they own over 70 percent of the riparian salmon habitat along the rivers. However, these vital economic stakeholders have been totally dismissed and shut out of this recovery process. American citizens would have been totally outraged if for example the government of Brazil did the same thing to Yanomami Tribe of Amazon. For a meaningful recovery plan, landowners must be part of the solution and be represented at the table. We ask your help by empowering the resource users in this process, and by supporting provisions in Senator Gordon Smith's S. 2111.
• The main problem may not be NMFS (although they have lost many opportunities to make a difference), but it is the unworkable ESA process that so far has failed miserably and in my opinion has not effectively recovered any species. We recommend that a bipartisan committee of the House and Senate with the aid of a renowned scientific panel to investigate the effectiveness of ESA process in recovering species and make recommendations for its improvement. NMFS management policies should provide a good case study.
• ESA must be modified so that cooperative, and volunteer recovery plans such as the Umatilla Basin Project which was successfully implemented by our local communities, or the one proposed by State of Oregon, the so called ''Oregon Plan'' can be the focus of a cost effective recovery plan. By the way a Federal Judge recently overturned this popular, voluntary ''Oregon Plan'' which has frustrated our Oregon Governor, Legislators and most of the citizens and is a prime example of flawed ESA processes that presently NMFS is so vigorously pursuing.
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• We support the provisions of H.R. 4335 and believe it may be a more appropriate vehicle of species recovery provided some modification to ESA is implemented.
On behalf of our members we thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important issue which is vital to both our economy and our environment.
STATEMENT OF ALEX MCGREGOR, STATE PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON ASSOCIATION OF WHEAT GROWERS
A flood of economic grief would be unleashed if the four lower Snake River dams were breached. Before this experiment to save dwindling salmon runs is imposed on people of the Northwest, we must look at the effects of dam breaching objectively. We must first look at what will be sacrificed in an experiment that may fail to save the fish.
Some facts help put the impact of dams breaching in perspective.
• The 1,250 mega-watts of the four Snake dams is equal to 20 percent of Pacific Northwest residential needs, or over 100 percent of residential needs for Idaho and Montana combined.
• Navigation value is $414 million per year.
• Irrigation loss on over 36,000 irrigated acres representing annual farm value of $100 million to $150 million.
• Dam decommissioning costs would be between $500 million and $816 million—with concrete removal, between $848 million and $1.22 billion.
• Remaining BPA debt on the four dams is $864 million. BPA would lose $200-million annually, and its financial stability would be determined by an uncertain future electricity market.
I am most familiar with wheat production in Washington state and so use these figures to show the ripple effect of dam breaching beyond any one state's borders: Washington wheat contributes nearly $1.2 billion to the state's economy annually, with up to 90 percent of wheat being exported. Commodity shipments on Lower Snake barges are expected to increase by about 1 percent per year for the next 25 years, if the dams remain. That means in 2022 there likely will be about 5.2 million tons shipped compared with about 4.2 million today. The multimillion-dollar question is, ''If we lose navigation, where is all this traffic going to go?'' Rail and roads are not adequate to the task.
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The above question is as relevant to the environment as well as to economic health in the Northwest. Barging is efficient regarding emissions.
• Hydrocarbon emissions: navigation is 20 percent of rail and 14 percent of truck.
• Carbon monoxide emissions: navigation is 29 percent of rail and 11 percent of truck.
• Nitrous oxide emissions: navigation is 29 percent of rail and 5 percent of truck.
• Barging efficiencies also extend to fuel use.
• A ton of commodity can move 514 miles by barge on one gallon of fuel.
• A ton of commodity can be moved 202 miles by rail on one gallon of fuel.
• A ton of commodity can be moved 59 miles by truck on one gallon of fuel.
Additionally, hydropower is renewable, plentiful and non-polluting. Compare this to fossil fuels and nuclear energy as the next best alternatives for large-scale energy production.
If barge navigation were halted, an additional 120,000 rail cars would be required annually, or an equivalent of 700,000 semi-trucks, greatly increasing highway congestion and/or traffic backups at railroad crossings. It would take an additional 204,320 semi-trucks or 51,080 more railcars to handle just the wheat that is now carried on barges if barging were discontinued above McNary Dam.
Revenue from the natural resources industries is an economic tributary running through the Northwest and it must be guarded to protect the human species. Wheat and other exportable crops are an important part of that tributary. The wheat commissions of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, as well as the grassroots grower associations in each of the three states, are united in their opposition to an experiment that not only may fail, but may cause hardship to people in this great region.
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Notions that we can turn back the clock, breach the dams, or lower the water to a ''natural'' level seemed farfetched when we first heard them a few years ago. Some activist groups view dam breaching as a way to return the river to its ''natural'' wild state of the past. Those of us who have lived near the river since before building of the dams realized no amount of money or nostalgia will bring back those former times. But the economic devastation our state would suffer in this forlorn search for the ''natural'' world few knew would be considerable.
| David J. Stueckle, |
| LaCrosse, Washington, |
| September 2, 1998. |
The Hon. DON YOUNG
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House Resources Committee
U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hearing—Pasco, Washington, September 2, 1998
Dear Sir:
Just a few words about how important the dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers are to agriculture in the Northwest. The railroads are gone and our local roads can not handle more load. The counties can't keep up with maintaining the roads. The barge traffic is very vital to get our crops to market year around.
It upsets me a great deal that the NMFS has not considered the impact that dam removal will have on our economy.
I don't want a Federal agency messing with my water rights.
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Hydroelectric power is important to our area because of the large irrigated area.
Thank you for considering my concerns.
| David J Stueckle, |
| LaCrosse, Washington |
WEST COAST SEAFOOD PROCESSORS ASSOCIATION, PORTLAND, OREGON, LETTER TO HON. DON YOUNG
We recently reviewed a copy of H.R. 4335, the ''Endangered Species Consolidation Act'' which you introduced with several House colleagues. We understand that your Committee will be holding field hearings on the bill in September and ask that these comments be included in the hearing record. These comments are submitted on behalf of the West Coast Seafood Processors Association, whose members have seafood businesses in Oregon, Washington, California, and Alaska.
Two years ago, you introduced legislation reforming the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which—among other things—made some of the same changes in law as does H.R. 4335. At the time, we generally supported ESA reform but expressed our concern with removal of the Secretary of Commerce from the ESA process. Subsequently, your Committee reported the bill with an amendment which maintained the Secretary of Commerce's role. We are therefore puzzled as to why the Committee is again looking at taking away the Secretary of Commerce's responsibilities under ESA.
We understand the frustration that land-owners and land-based resource industries have with the emphasis that the Department of Commerce has put on salmon restoration. As we and others testified before your Committee in April of this year, the Federal Government has poured billions of dollars into Columbia River salmon recovery, yet wild salmon returns are lower than when the recovery program started. At the same time, the Department of Commerce has virtually ignored the Pacific groundfish fishery, which in Oregon has a value greater than all other fisheries combined. Could money be better spent? We certainly think so.
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We also understand the concern that land-owners have to deal with several different Federal agencies under ESA. Again, we have the same concern. For the most part, we are able to deal with one Federal agency—the Department of Commerce—when it comes to ESA actions affecting marine fisheries. However, long-liners in Alaska and gillnet fishermen in Washington must deal with both the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on seabird entanglement issues. Dive fishermen in California must deal with USFWS in regard to sea otter interaction. The problem—and the frustration—is the same at sea as it is on shore, but the answer is not to solve the problem on land by shifting the burden to small businessmen who make their living on the ocean.
Here are examples of some of the problems that will result if H.R. 4335 is passed. The Pacific whiting fishery off California, Oregon, and Washington is managed by NMFS under a fishery management plan developed by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. NMFS and the fishing industry have long recognized that a certain level of salmon bycatch occurs in the fishery. Accordingly, NMFS issues a biological opinion specifying the allowable level of bycatch and the industry takes steps to monitor and avoid bycatch to stay within that allowable level. Both NMFS and the Council have found this to be a logical and acceptable arrangement.
If H.R. 4335 were enacted, the issuance of a biological opinion and any arrangements to avoid salmon bycatch would fall under USFWS, an agency that has little knowledge and no experience with marine fisheries. In fact, section 2(d) of the bill would give USFWS management authority over any marine fishery that interacted with an endangered or threatened species. Marine fisheries management is convoluted enough without bringing in another Federal agency with no expertise in the area.
In Oregon, Pacific groundfish fishermen, processors, and recreational anglers are already paying the cost of marine fisheries management through licenses, fees and taxes, as well as paying for endangered salmon programs in our State. We neither want nor need the additional burden of having marine fisheries management turned over to the Department of the Interior.
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A similar problem would occur in Alaska, where several marine mammal species are listed as threatened or endangered. Again, fisheries management authority would be removed from the relevant Council and NMFS, and placed in the hands of USFWS. The same problems would occur in New England (harbor porpoises and whales) and in the Gulf of Mexico (sea turtles). On the international front, NMFS would be removed from ICCAT if bluefin tuna are listed and from IATTC (threatened species of porpoises). In Hawaii, interactions between monk seals and long line fishermen would now come under the jurisdiction of USFWS.
The Alaska Congressional delegation has worked hard to prevent the Department of the Interior from taking over fish and game management in Alaska under subsistence regulations; it seems inconsistent to allow that same agency to take over marine fisheries management in the entire country.
Just this week, you were quoted in the press as saying ''everyone wants the Endangered Species Act to work effectively.'' We agree; like you, we support ''the much needed ESA reform effort.'' Unfortunately, H.R. 4335 does not provide that reform; it simply shifts a set of problems from small businessmen on land to small businessmen on the ocean.
We believe that there are better, more effective ways of alleviating the regulatory burden faced by land-owners and land-based resource industries. We are interested, as we have always been, in working with those entities, with you, and with your staff in finding reasonable answers to problems that we all face. However, H.R. 4335 as presently written is not one of those answers. Thank you for providing us the opportunity to comment
LETTER FROM LINDA M. JOHNSON, DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, WASHINGTON STATE FARM BUREAU, OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON
Dear Committee Staff:
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Enclosed is our testimony which we would like to have submitted for the record. I was in attendance at the hearing but in the confusion of the day, simply forgot to submit our testimony to your staff in attendance. Also included are copies of several letters one faxed to me by a member the other handed to me at the hearing. They asked me to be sure they were also submitted for the record as well.
Please thank the Chairman for scheduling this hearing and all of the Committee members who were in attendance. Also, a hearty thanks to the Committee staff as well. We know that meetings which go as smoothly as this one did only happen because of the behind the scenes effort of staff.
As you know it was well attended and our members that were in attendance were very pleased with the messages which were delivered. We truly appreciated the opportunity to attend this important hearing.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at the number shown above.
STATEMENT OF THE WASHINGTON STATE FARM BUREAU, OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON
The Washington State Farm Bureau is very concerned with NMFS approach to saving the salmon under the jurisdiction of the ESA and their desire to breach the dams along the Snake and Columbia River.
First we feel it is important to point out that the WA State Farm Bureau actively worked with the Joint Committee on Salmon Recovery for the past year and a half to create and pass legislation which would help to protect and recover the salmon. There were several pieces of legislation which were passed unanimously by the House and the Senate and signed by our Governor. The actions and the money which was allocated proves that our state and our farmers are determined to do the right thing, protect and recover the salmon.
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It is important to note that these bills depend on working closely with the landowners. Much of the habitat for salmon is located on private property. Landowners are willing to work towards this worthwhile goal as long as Agencies and Congress understand that people have to fit in this equation.
NMFS has not been an easy agency to work with and often times have been a major stumbling block to our local efforts. They seem to have forgotten that the Grand Coulee dam was specifically built for irrigation of the Columbia Basin. They seem to have forgotten how important the power generated by the dams in our state is to the survival of the farms which were created because of the promise of irrigation water and power.
As a result of these dams we have an excellent transportation system which is environmentally friendly. This barging system handles shipments of wheat and corn from as far as the midwest. By shipping freight on the river we actually help to improve the air quality in our state through fewer air emissions. We also help to cut our dependency on foreign fuel because it takes far less fuel to ship by water than by either rail or truck.
Supporters of breaching the dams state that trucking and railroads will pick up the shipments. The existing transportation infrastructure is incapable of handling the increased freight. Eliminating barging would result in a marked increase of traffic on our already overloaded freeway system which leads into our port systems on the West Coast. We already have a freight mobility problem which we are trying to solve and this will only add to the problem. The highway system in Washington State is simply not capable of handling the amount of freight that is shipped up and down these rivers.
Unfortunately, railroads eliminated a vast majority of their unprofitable spur lines years ago. This means that it will be almost impossible to bring rail back to the areas economically. Not to mention the fact that the railroads already can't meet the current needs of wheat shipments.
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Supporters of breaching dams state that it won't disrupt irrigation. Unfortunately when you lower the river to the levels they suggest our irrigation pipes are left sucking air instead of water. The cost of extending these irrigation pipes is not a cheap endeavor for farmers. Who is going to help cover this cost? That's assuming the farmers would even be allowed to, which is highly questionable when you view the way the environmental organizations currently use the court system.
The power generated by the Bonneville Power system is a very important component of the success of farming in our state. As a result of reasonable electricity rates, we have farmers who have made major investments in irrigation equipment, dairy milking barns, and other capital investments. We have numerous food processing facilities which have been built to process the crops grown in eastern Washington, which also require reasonable power rates. Eliminate the access to reasonable priced power and many of these investments may not pay. Not to mention the number of jobs generated by the farms, and the supporting industries.
The dams were also built for flood control, which seems to be conveniently forgotten by supporters of breaching. Is the government prepared to fund FEMA for the flood damage which will result if dams are breached?
Contrary to the belief of supporters of breaching dams, generations of family farms would not survive for many of the reasons mentioned above.
Next we want to point out that NMFS has been remiss in its duties. They have not researched the problems of the predators to the salmon. We have sea lions which are protected under the ESA feasting on salmon at the mouth of the rivers. We have sea gulls and terns which are also voracious predators. Why have they not expressed concern about predator control and done something about this? NMFS appears to have no studies which look at what happens to salmon when they are in the ocean. This is an important part of the salmon life cycle and yet it is a black hole as far as research. Why? Where is NMFS on this important piece of the puzzle?
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What about drift nets on the high seas? Not to mention the gill nets which are place in the river by the Indian tribes. Is anyone looking at these important pieces to the puzzle?
Farmers are willing to do their part to provide good habitat for the salmon. But who is going to guarantee that we have salmon returning once the habitat is fully restored?
We hope that Congress will take into consideration the complexity of this problem and allow the states of Washington and Oregon to move forward unimpeded. The ESA is not working as it is currently written and it is time to take a close look at what needs to be changed to make it work as Congress originally intended, before the economy of Washington State is devastated in the admirable hope of saving salmon.
We ask that Congress take into consideration the people of Eastern Washington who face this economic disaster. We believe that a little common sense can go a long ways and the result will be both salmon and people surviving.
STATEMENT OF RICHARD L. ERICKSON, SECRETARY-MANAGER, EAST COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT
Honorable Members of the Resources Committee:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide information to the Committee about the effects on the Columbia Basin Project of the National Marine Fisheries Service's Columbia River flow policies. The Columbia Basin Project, constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and now primarily operated by the East, Quincy, and South Columbia Basin Irrigation Districts presently provides irrigation water to approximately 622,000 acres of farmland. This irrigation is accomplished by diverting, at Grand Coulee Dam, approximately 3 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Project is authorized by Congress to ultimately irrigate 1,095,000 acres.
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The NMFS mandated flow policy caused the Bureau of Reclamation in July of 1993 to impose an administrative moratorium on new Columbia Basin Project water service.
This moratorium resulted in the shelving of all planning for further development of the Columbia Basin Project. This action hit late in the EIS study process to enlarge an existing canal to provide Columbia River water to 87,000 acres. That planning effort had begun in 1983, was nearing completion at the time it was shelved and had substantiated that this next phase of CBP development was economically feasible and had the support of both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Washington Department of Wildlife because of the considerable new fish and wildlife habitat that would be created on the Project. This cancellation occurred in spite of the fact that the draft EIS demonstrated that the 87,000 acre development would need only another 0.3 percent of the Columbia's flow at Grand Coulee and that adverse impacts to anadromous fish would be negligible. That Bureau decision to stop planning does not appear to us to have been science driven but rather based on political expediency.
This delay or cancellation of further development appears to many who are unfamiliar to be simply an opportunity foregone. However, between one-third and one-half of those 87,000 acres are irrigated by deep wells. All these wells were permitted by the State of Washington in the late 1960's and early 1970's at a density estimated to give that aquifer a 30 year economic life. That state action was taken with the expectation that the Federal Government would continue the orderly phased development of the second half of the Project, gradually replacing that groundwater source with surface water. Thirty years have now nearly passed. Many of those wells are not sustainable long term. The draft EIS estimated that by 1989, the deep well irrigation in the CBP second half area had declined from a peak of 110,000 acres to about 90,000 acres.
This NMFS inspired USBR moratorium has also taken authorized water supplies amounting to about 85,000 acre feet per year from the already developed first half of the Project. Because of the moratorium the Bureau has rescinded previously authorized contractual authorities for the Districts to irrigate about 13,000 more first half acres, translating to about 39,000 acre feet. Also reneged on was authority to provide up to 60,000 acre feet per year of Project water to area industries and communities far municipal and industrial use. The Project's M&I ability is now capped at the amount already then in use which is about 14,000 acre feet per year, locking up the balance of 46,000 acre feet.
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This NMFS driven, USBR enforced moratorium, exacerbated by the scarcity of groundwater, has brought much of the Columbia Basin Project area to the threshold of a no-growth scenario. To better understand that situation please consider the attached letter from the Port of Moses Lake.
We are often told that our response to this moratorium and the source of our future water supply should be increased water conservation. Significant conservation is ongoing but is not a solution. In the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District the average on-farm use of water is now about 3.5 acre feet per acre. That average use was about 4.3 acre feet per acre in the past. That 0.8 acre foot per acre reduction is nearly a 20 percent efficiency improvement and amounts to over 100,000 acre feet annually. However, there is no sincere willingness by government to allow the use of this conserved water to offset the effects of the Bureau's moratorium. Every time that concept is raised we are told that such use is contrary to Federal reclamation law, contrary to Bureau policy and contracts, is water spreading, should carry a much higher Bureau repayment cost and is contrary to state water law.
An outrageous example of the extent to which these NMFS flow policies is dictating Bureau of Reclamation actions is the recent agreement by USBR to run Columbia River hydrologic studies for the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission showing Grand Coulee diversions to the Columbia Basin Project being reduced by 1 million acre feet per year. That would amount to a 40 percent reduction in the water available to CBP farms. Crop diversity is one of the hallmarks of the Project along with the multiple purpose use of Project waters for resident fish, wildlife and recreation. Assuming a 40 percent shortage would be distributed uniformly throughout the Project, instead of growing 70 or so different types of crops each year, only a handful would be possible—the potatoes, apples, onions and alfalfa hay, to name a few, would no longer be possible. Such a shortage would also likely diminish the Project created wetlands and lakes managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. While the Bureau's Acting Regional Director has offered assurances that no such actual reduction is seriously being contemplated, the fact that Bureau hydrologists would undertake a study that is contrary to the Congressionally authorized purposes of the Columbia Basin Project, that violates the Federal repayment contracts between the Bureau and the Districts and that runs counter to the primary water supply mission of the Bureau demonstrates that these Federal agencies are out of control in their zeal to enforce the Endangered Species Act.
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On behalf of the East, Quincy and South Columbia Basin Irrigation Districts, I ask this Committee to use its considerable authority toward reducing these NMFS flow targets to levels supported by valid hydrology and valid biology and to end the Bureau's moratorium.
Regarding H.R. 4335, which if enacted would consolidate ESA authority with the Secretary of Interior, I'm not sure if that would be an improvement or not. In the Northwest, NMFS is using its ESA authorities to further an agenda of dam removal and single purpose control of mainstem flows. Judging from his statements and actions, the current Secretary of Interior has a similar agenda, especially regarding dam removal. If Congress determines to consolidate ESA authority to a single agency, it needs to be done in a manner that requires the responsible agency to minimize social and economic impacts as it administers the Endangered Species Act.
LETTER FROM PORT OF MOSES LAKE, MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON
| Port of Moses Lake, |
| Moses Lake, Washington |
| August 19, 1998. |
Resources Committee,
124 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Honorable Members of the Resources Committee:
Thank you for your interest in overseeing Columbia and Snake River fish flow augmentation targets being set by the National Marine Fisheries Service and other Federal agencies. The purpose of this statement is to be sure the Committee is aware that the NMFS flow targets are having impacts beyond those two rivers and beyond the economic sectors which are direct river users. Moses Lake, Washington is relatively far from the banks of the Columbia or the Snake but our community is being affected by these federally mandated flow policies.
Much of Moses Lake's industries are food processing companies that convert Columbia Basin area raw agricultural products to value added consumer food products for domestic and export markets. In recent years, other types of industries have located in the Moses Lake area which manufacture non-ag products such as electronics materials, automotive components, industrial chemicals and metal products. This diversification is important to our economy and the area's working people to, among other things, help smooth out the inherent cyclical nature of the ag sector.
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These industries, ag and non-ag, have located around Moses Lake for a variety of reasons, but an economic supply of electricity and a dependable water supply are common needs of nearly all these manufacturers. Both of these fundamentals are being threatened by the NMFS flow policies.
The Moses Lake area's electricity is supplied by Grant County Public Utility District and most of that energy is generated at Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams on the Columbia. NMFS flow policies, enforced by FERC, are now to the point that Grant PUD is having to spill something like 60 percent of the river's spring and summer flow thus idling many generators. This results in the need to purchase replacement power at a higher cost. Grant PUD has worked diligently with NMFS for a couple of years to develop an ESA Habitat Conservation Plan. So far an affordable HCP has not been possible. Grant's rates continue to increase and there is concern they may eventually exceed the region's market rate. Many of our Moses Lake industries' economic feasibility is very sensitive to power costs.
Most of these industries also need water for their manufacturing processes and also for fresh water to blend with the process wastewater so that it can be treated by land application. Most of this land application is done by irrigation of crops by nearby farmers so the wastewater is actually supplementing our irrigation supplies and has a beneficial effect on irrigation demands on the Columbia and on area groundwater. However, the proportion of process water and either canal water or groundwater for blending is critical both for wastewater treatment requirements and for crop nutrient requirements. These canal water and groundwater supplies are now on the verge of exhaustion.
The use of groundwater in our area has been maximized. There is little argument about this from the ag sector, from municipalities and from industries. The circumstances under which the State will issue new groundwater permits are very limited. Complicating this even more is the fact that Moses Lake area groundwater is naturally high in sodium and other salts making it more difficult to use for some manufacturing processes and for blending water for wastewater treatment.
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A number of Columbia Basin Project area food processors are using CBP canal water for blending water and process water. These CBP municipal/industrial supplies should be our supply for the future. That is not presently possible on any meaningful scale. The NMFS flow policy, since 1994, has caused the Bureau of Reclamation to impose a moratorium on any new CBP water services, including M&I, even though previously existing reclamation contracts and state water rights certificates and permits provided for several thousands of acre feet of M&I service. The only M&I water now available through the Bureau of Reclamation and the irrigation districts is what comes from previously issued M&I contracts that have been surrendered. We are told that most of what is available through these cancellations is now spoken for. It is ironic that this NMFS flow policy, supposedly necessitated by the Endangered Species act, is now about to complicate our area's ability to comply with the Clean Water Act.
The Port of Moses Lake has worked hard to attract these industries. These industries have invested much in locating here. These companies are national and international in scope. With today's global economy they no doubt have opportunities elsewhere. Please give careful consideration to Moses Lake's energy and water needs as you look into these NMFS flow policies.
Sincerely,
| Larry D. Peterson, |
| Commissioner. |
STATEMENT OF ROB PHILLIPS, DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST SPORTFISHING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION
Honorable members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity today to comment on H.R 4335 specifically, and in general upon the execution of the Endangered Species Act. I am Rob Phillips, joint owner of the advertising firm Smith, Phillips and Dipitrio located in Yakima. Approximately 40 percent of our advertising billings are directly tied to sportfishing and tourism related businesses. We acutely experience downturns in salmon and steelhead populations, as advertising dollars can often be the first part of a budget cut.
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My concern over the declines led directly to my service on the board of directors of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. Our association consists of hundreds of businesses and thousands of family-wage jobs dedicated to our rivers, lakes and streams being healthy and full of fish. Since fish live in every zip code, you will find our businesses distributing our economic benefit throughout the region. Information regarding our business membership and economic impacts of the Sportfishing Industry are enclosed with this testimony.
Our businesses have been deeply impacted by the implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Fishing closures and extensive regulations which are barriers to participation have severely impacted sportfishing opportunities for salmon and steelhead. Many of our businesses have not been able to survive the declines.
Most of us recognize, however that the Endangered Species Act is merely the messenger and not the message. Our watersheds are in trouble, and the Salmon are the indicator species. Admittedly, the current manner in which the ESA is executed is very heavy-handed in dealing with sportfisheries. Sportfishing is often the favorite short-term target. The problem is, these burdensome short-term measures are meaningless without substantial long term measures.
This is where the current implementation of the ESA falls apart. There are scarce to no examples of enforcement actions for the very real multi-generation ''take'' of salmon, steelhead and trout which occurs from hydro passage and habitat degradation. We feel that NMFS can and should play a stronger role in defining take and enforcing serious violations (especially where they occur under section 7) while helping to define and implement restorative actions for the remainder of the problems. In other words, enforce the worst actions, while helping with compliance in other areas.
Recovery will never be accomplished on the backs of fishermen. Decades of fishing coxswains have not brought about recovery. Massive small and adult mortalities caused by Columbia/Snake river hydro operations are causing constraints on fisheries from Northern California to the Gulf of Alaska. Operations of the Columbia River hydro system must be dealt with in the same scrutiny and severity as sportfishing. We continue to apply tune-ups to a car that needs a whole new transmission. NMFS, USF&W, BuRec, The Corps, and BPA must all coordinate together to reduce the impacts which are strangling healthy fisheries throughout the region.
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H.R. 4335 does get to the heart of an important issue, however. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must be better partners if the precious freshwater resources of the region are to recover to fishable levels, reassuring the health of our watersheds. There are no laws prohibiting better cooperation between the agencies—indeed the dire plight of the resources demands better communication and cooperation throughout the Federal family.
NMFS did the right thing by working with Governor Kitzhaber in the State of Oregon to build a state supported and executed recovery plan. It is unfortunate that Judge Stewart struck down the NMFS ''no list'' decision for coho in the coastal ESU, however NMFS is standing by the Oregon plan in the Courts. We hold that NMFS will accept the substance of the Oregon Plan as a recovery plan, when a final listing determination is made.
As Governor Kitzhaber facilitated coordination and communication throughout State agencies in the Oregon Plan, we must demand the same of the Clinton Administration. Truly, if there is fault to find with the National Marine Fisheries Service's implementation of the Endangered Species Act, much of it lies in the sideways accountability. Federal activities will only move in the same direction when turf issues are removed and the Administration demands more accountability from its agencies for salmon recovery.
With the onset of numerous listings and proposed listings, now is not the time to shuffle the deck chairs on the Titanic. It may be that in the future, salmon and steelhead will benefit from transferring responsibilities under the ESA. Changing into another vehicle is not something a sane person does while the vehicle is moving.
In summary, from our perspective the timing of the bill is inappropriate. Salmon and Steelhead don't need new laws and don't need agency changes. What they really need first, is enforcement of existing laws, regulations and authorities. Federal agencies need to have better accountability to the Administration and better communication and cooperation. It is pathetic that taxpayers and ratepayers fork over dollars in one hand that destroy salmon, while paying out of the other hand dollars to save salmon. ACCOUNTABILITY, COORDINATION, & COMMUNCATION!!
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Other improvements would include earlier work with the states before the situation is severe. Everyone knows that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The longer we delay tackling a problem, the more drastic and costly the measures for recovery. Earlier participation by NMFS (or any of the Federal agencies for that matter) would facilitate a partner role with the states, rather than an enforcement role. STEP IN EARLIER!
ESA levels of recovery do not often meet other standards of recovery. In this region, the Power Council, the Lower River Treaty Tribes, and the States of Washington and Oregon all have recovery to harvestable levels as their standards. The goals of ESA should be to the harvestable levels that give a return to society on the investment, as well as allow for better coordination between the sovereigns in the region.
NSIA appreciates any intent with which the bill may have been written which strives to enhance the ability of the Endangered Species Act to recover salmon and steelhead in our region. NSIA recognizes that the improvements in our watersheds and operations of the hydrosystem which benefit the weakest stocks will only further enhance the healthy populations available for harvest. We applaud any effort which allows us to plan for secure jobs and futures, and even to rebuild the 10,000 jobs lost during the salmon and steelhead declines.
We ask that you help our industry in demanding accountability and enforcement out of the administration and the agencies involved in salmon. The future of our industry will be dim without it.
RESPONSE FROM JAMES M. BAKER TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MRS. CHENOWETH
Re: Atlantic Salmon Recovery
At the Pasco, Washington hearing of the Committee on Resources on September 2, 1998, Rep. Chenoweth directed me to respond in writing to her and the Committee no later than this date. This letter is written in compliance with her directive.
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By my recollection from the hearing, Rep. Chenoweth asked me to compare and contrast the recovery efforts under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for. coho salmon in Oregon, and Atlantic salmon on the East Coast. She also asked me to explain any differences in Sierra Club policies or actions for the two fish on the two coasts.
In 1993 two conservation groups—not the Sierra Club—petitioned for ESA protection of Atlantic salmon throughout its historical range in New England rivers. In 1995, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed an ESA listing for the fish as ''threatened,'' but only for those stocks of Atlantic salmon spawning in seven rivers in the state of Maine.
In contrast, the Sierra Club was one of 23 organizations which petitioned the NMFS for listing of coho salmon in Oregon, Washington State, and California, and was one of several co-plaintiffs which successfully sued the NMFS in order to force the agency to propose an ESA listing for coho salmon. The 1995 proposed listings comprehensively covered all native coho in all streams in Oregon from the Columbia River south to California, and indeed beyond to Monterey Bay.
In December, 1997, the Federal agencies declined to list Atlantic salmon in deference to the Maine Salmon Plan. Similarly, the NMFS in 1997 declined to list coho salmon in Oregon in deference to a state plan, which, like its counterpart in Maine, was entirely voluntary. The Sierra Club and several co-plaintiffs sued the NMFS for refusing to list Oregon coho, and earlier this year, a Federal district judge remanded the decision to the agency which subsequently did list the fish as ''threatened'' in Oregon rivers.
In contrast, conservation organizations on the East Coast, including the Sierra Club, have not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit against the Federal agencies for not listing Atlantic salmon in Maine and/or throughout New England. From Rep. Chenoweth's remarks at the September 2 hearing, I surmise that she concludes from their failure to date to challenge the Federal agencies in the courts that the Sierra Club and other New England conservation groups support, or approve of, the Maine Salmon Plan.
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Such a conclusion is incorrect. First of all, the Maine plan applies to fish stocks in just seven rivers in one state, instead of the regional effort in all Atlantic salmon-bearing rivers throughout New England which conservationists continue to seek. Moreover, the Maine plan lacks funding, enforcement, and accountability, and even includes a stakeholders process which has no representation from environmental organizations. So the lack of a Federal lawsuit from conservation groups does not in any way mean support for, approval of, or even acquiescence in, the Maine Salmon Plan. At this time, the Sierra Club and other conservation organizations simply have not decided whether to file a lawsuit for ESA protection of Atlantic salmon.
Turning briefly to another matter raised at the Pasco hearing, Rep. Chenoweth asserted that PIT-tag (Passive Induced Transponder) data demonstrate that the ''800 gill-nets'' set by American Indians in the Columbia River below the Snake River confluence inflict an inordinate and predominant toll on upriver salmonid stocks. Federal, state, tribal, and independent biologists do not agree with this interpretation of the PIT-tag data. Moreover, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission informs me that, throughout this decade, American Indians have never put 800 nets in the river. Law enforcement programs by the Bonneville Power Administration confirm that the Tribes have not violated harvest limitations under U.S. v. Oregon.
Thank you for this opportunity to respond to Rep. Chenoweth at this later date. If you have additional questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience.
RESPONSE FROM JAMES M. BAKER TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MR. HASTINGS
Re: Flow Augmentation for Columbia Basin salmon
At the Pasco, Washington hearing of the Committee on Resources on September 2, 1998, Rep. Hastings directed me to respond in writing to him and the Committee no later than this date. This letter is written in compliance with his directive.
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According to my notes from the hearing, Rep. Hastings directed me to respond to the following question: ''How much flow [augmentation] is enough [for Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead]?'' Rep. Hastings asked this question with regard to a white paper ''The Columbia-Snake River Flow Targets/Augmentation Program'' by Darryll Olsen (1998) criticizing flow targets set by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Over the past quarter century, biologists have identified a positive correlation between river flow during juvenile salmonid migration, and survival to spawning adulthood. In an exhaustive review of the scientific literature commissioned by the Northwest Power Planning Council, Glenn F. Cada of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1993) concluded that ''the general relationship of increasing survival with increasing flow in the C[olumbia] R[iver] B[asin] still appears to be reasonable.'' In its landmark Return to the River, the Independent Scientific Group (1996) noted this positive correlation, and encouraged flow regimes which approach the natural hydrograph as an important way to provide the ''normative'' river conditions required for salmon and steelhead recovery. The data cited in the white paper by Darryll Olsen (1998) also demonstrate this positive relationship between flow and salmonid survival.
While positive, the exact one-to-one relationship between flow and fish survival has not been determined by biologists at this time. The reason for this lack of precision is the inability of scientists to conduct the proper and necessary research. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation have never provided sufficient flows properly timed to meet research protocols. Moreover, the huge number of juvenile fish needed to attain statistical validity has never been available.
In 1990, the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) recommended a flow augmentation program to provide adequate salmonid survival through the mainstem dams and reservoirs on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The CBFWA proposal set minimum targets of 300,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) in the Lower Columbia and 140,000 cfs in the Lower Snake River sustained during the spring migration, and lower targets of 250,000 cfs and 100,000 cfs respectively sustained during the summer juvenile fish migration. CBFWA recommended these flow targets based upon historical data; the CBFWA proposal has never been tested in-the-river. Nevertheless, the CBFWA recommendation for flow augmentation remains the best available answer to Rep. Hastings' question as to ''how much flow is enough.''
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As I testified at the September 2 hearing of the Committee, hydrological evidence was brought to the regional Salmon Summit in 1990-91, and subsequently to the Northwest Power Planning Council that the current configuration of dams and reservoirs in the Columbia Basin can not attain the CBFWA flow recommendations on a sustainable basis. For this reason, the Salmon Summit explored, and the Northwest Power Planning Council in 1994 recommended, reservoir drawdowns at the four Lower Snake dams and at the John Day project on the Lower Columbia as the only way to achieve the water and juvenile fish travel speeds equivalent to the CBFWA flow proposal. Basically the salmon need either very deep drawdowns of storage reservoirs for flow augmentation, or relatively shallow (in vertical elevation) drawdowns of some of the run-of-the-river reservoirs through which the fish migrate. As I said earlier, the four dams on the Lower Snake and the John Day Dam on the Lower Columbia River have been investigated throughout this decade for these drawdowns at run-of-the-river projects.
As you know, the white paper by Darryll Olsen also argues that the currently configured system of dams in the Columbia Basin can not achieve these high flow targets recommended by CBFWA, or those specified by NMFS in its ''Biological Opinion.'' For this reason, Olsen contends that NMFS should not set any flow augmentation targets. That the dam system can not meet the CBFWA flow targets does not mean that lesser flows are not beneficial. Therefore, the Sierra Club and fish conservation organizations reject Olsen's argument in his white paper because biologists have concluded that there is a positive relationship between flow and salmonid survival, and because the perilous situation of the salmon and steelhead close to extinctions demands the prudent course of taking the most risk adverse actions—in this case, flow augmentation.
The Olsen white paper further argues that, because scientists have not established the exact relationship between one cfs of flow during juvenile fish migration, and some resulting number of salmonid surviving to spawning adulthood, NMFS has no justification for setting any flow augmentation targets. First of all, Olsen bases his argument on a very limited set of PIT-tag (Passive Integrated Transponder) data, which, as I stated earlier, would actually support the flow-survival relationship when added to the larger data set which biologists have gathered historically. Moreover, to conclude that NMFS should set no flow targets, Olsen must prove that there is no flow-survival relationship whatsoever, which his white paper patently can not and does not do. Therefore, the Sierra Club and fish conservation organizations reject this second of Olsen's arguments, too, once again because biologists have concluded that there is a positive relationship between flow and salmonid survival, and because the perilous situation of the salmon and steelhead close to extinctions demands the prudent course of taking the most risk adverse actions—in this case, flow augmentation.
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Clearly I differ with the arguments and conclusions of the Olsen white paper. In this regard, I would respectfully remind Rep. Hastings and the Committee that the white paper has not undergone independent peer review by biologists, economists, or hydrologists.
Turning briefly to another matter raised at the Pasco hearing, Rep. Hastings and others on the Committee panel expressed skepticism about my assertion that the four Federal dams on the Lower Snake River provide no flood control. Here is an excerpt from a copyrighted article in the Lewiston Morning Tribune of August 16, 1998:
The four dams between Lewiston and Pasco, that are being considered for breaching—Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor—are run-of-the-river dams. ''A run-of-the-river dam has some significant application in water management, but they are not necessarily true flood control dams. That's what storage reservoirs are for,'' says Dutch Meter, spokesman for the corps at Walla Walla. ''Run-of-the-river dams must pass virtually all the water that arrives.''
Again I would respectfully submit that a witness from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will confirm my assertion at the hearing that the four Lower Snake dams by their design have no flood control function.
Thank you for this opportunity to respond to Rep. Hastings' question in writing. If you have additional questions or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact me at your earliest convenience.
INSERT OFFSET FOLIOS 1 TO 68 AND 70 TO 97 HERE
HEARING ON THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1998
House of Representatives,
Committee on Resources,
Boise, Idaho.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in the Boise City Hall, 150 North Capitol Boulevard, Boise, Idaho, Hon. Richard W. Pombo presiding.
Mr. POMBO. Good morning. I would ask unanimous consent that my entire statement, opening statement, be included in the record. I am, in the interest of time, going to summarize my opening statement.
It is great to be here in Boise, Idaho, today to have an opportunity to hold another in a series of hearings on the Endangered Species Act, on its impacts, what is working, what is not working, possible changes that can be made. Specifically, there is legislation that has been introduced that would deal with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the transfer of functions over to Fish and Wildlife in the Interior Department, which is one of the issues that we are covering today.
One of the—what we would hopefully like to take away from the hearing is a lot of good ideas, a lot of good discussion, good debate, on what is occurring, what is working, and what is not working. One of the major concerns that many of us have is that we continue to have major conflicts over the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
Everyone who has testified before our hearings in the past has voiced strong support for saving endangered species and being able to have a strong and vibrant wildlife, at the same time, reducing the conflicts between people and their environment. So one of the things that we would like to do is come away with some real good discussion.
I would like to ask all of you, today, that are members of the audience, one of the House Rules that we have is that we do not allow comments coming from the audience. We have a very full and long schedule that is ahead of us. And any comments, positive or negative, shouted out from the audience do nothing more than cut time down of the people that are testifying and their ability to get their point across.
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One of the things that we would like to do is to have the ability to have everyone have their say and have their opportunity to speak here this morning. So I would appreciate it if we would have the courteousness from the audience at this time.
I would like to turn to the Ranking Member on the Committee, Mr. Romero-Barceló, for any possible opening statement he may have.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to say thank you once again for holding these hearings. I think this is important to everyone throughout the Nation. The Endangered Species Act has created a lot of issues. And wherever there are endangered species, there is conflict between what some groups feel should be done and what piques people's interest.
And I think the hearing we had yesterday and today is a way of learning. I learned a lot. The more I learned, the more I realized I have to learn from the issues involved in so many different decisions and statements that have been made and what is the cause and what are the solutions. So I think it is definitely a very important issue.
There is a lot of interest yesterday and today. We have seen a number of people who have come to these hearings. So it is my pleasure to be here, and I look forward to learning a little bit more about this and what the solutions might be.
Mr. POMBO. Well, I thank you very much. Just so everybody knows, Mr. Romero-Barceló flew all the way from Puerto Rico to participate in this hearing. We appreciate him being here.
Mr. ROMERO-BARCELÓ. We do have some endangered species over there, the manatee and the turtle.
Mr. POMBO. Well, thank you for being here. Congresswoman Chenoweth, your opening statement.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I join my colleague, Mr. Crapo, in welcoming both of you to Boise. We are just thrilled that you would bring the Committee into Boise on this very, very important issue.
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And before I begin my opening statement, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to enter into our record the statement of our Senator Dirk Kempthorne, who had planned on being here and taking part in this hearing, but was called back to the Senate, as you know, and they are now in session.
Mr. POMBO. Without objection, it will be included.
[The prepared statement of Senator Kempthorne follows:]
STATEMENT OF HON. DIRK KEMPTHORNE, A SENATOR IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO
I am pleased that Representative Helen Chenoweth is holding this hearing today to address the role of the National Marine Fisheries Service in implementing the Endangered Species Act. As you know, I have dedicated a considerable amount of my energy toward reforming the Endangered Species Act over the last several years. Hearings throughout the country—and particularly in the West, where we have significant ESA issues—were integral to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works' fact-finding mission during the development of my ESA reauthorization bill. Undoubtedly, the law needs to be reformed, and to that end I am truly glad that Representative Chenoweth has elected to hold these NMFS jurisdiction hearings in the West.
The subject of this hearing is particularly relevant to the dilemma we have been facing with regard to the decline of Idaho's salmon and steelhead. As you know, the debate has been strongly focused on flushing and spilling more Idaho water or removing the lower Snake river dams in an attempt to aid fish migration. I remember in 1995, my Senate Subcommittee on Drinking Water, Fisheries, and Wildlife held a hearing on the salmon spill policy on the Columbia and Snake rivers. At that hearing, the NMFS was criticized for the lack of good, peer-reviewed science which contributed to its decisions on the fish spill policy.
It is vital that decision-makers like NMFS take into account the effects of all factors which contribute to fish decline when determining a preservation strategy. Issues such as predation and harvest should not be eclisped by the attention focused on spill and dam removal. However, I am concerned that the issue of fish harvest has placed the National Marine Fisheries Service in a situation where it must prioritize between two competing missions. On the one hand, the NMFS facilitates and oversees commercial fishing in U.S. waters. On the other hand, the agency has been entrusted with a mission of conservation to preserve this resource for the future. I believe there must be a clear separation between NMFS's role as a conservation organization and its role as a fisheries development and management organization. At a minimum, the NMFS biological opinion on harvest should be independently peer-reviewed to ensure that harvest methods are consistent with conservation goals. For example, I am concerned about the bycatch of salmon in groundfisheries since there is no way to prevent the taking of endangered and threatened fish in a groundfish catch. The bycatch loss of any of these fish could jeopardize an entire distinct population segment. In addition, the NMFS' definition of harvestable surplus with regard to endangered fish species should be seriously questioned.
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These hearings should help Congress sort out whether the two NMFS missions are truly complementary, or whether competing priorities greatly limit NMFS's ability to review the fullest spectrum of solutions when considering fish recovery options. The new avenues of debate and discussion that these hearings will produce are productive and needed. As a Member of Congress who has made ESA reform one of my most important goals, I am gratified to see these issues addressed here today, and I thank the Chairman for this opportunity to express my views.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Thank you.
I, again, want to publicly thank Chairman Don Young, who is my good friend from Alaska, for bringing the House Resources Committee to Boise.
There are few things that are more symbolic of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest than the salmon. The salmon represents the enduring spirit of survival. And for generations, the salmon has struggled to return year after year to the same spawning grounds. This same spirit of survival is shared by the pioneers who settled the new frontier and built Idaho. Like the salmon's struggle, many Idahoans are struggling. We have to find a way for everyone to survive and to thrive. And this is why we are here today, to look for solutions that will not only save the fish but save Idaho's remarkable way of life.
Under the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, was given responsibility for management of oceangoing fish. This authorization has unfortunately involved the National Marine Fisheries Service fish biologists managing timber, rangeland, road building, farmland, and just about every on-land activity that you can possibly imagine. What was once an agency dedicated to managing ocean fisheries now finds itself hundreds of miles inland involved in every aspect of land use.
National Marine Fisheries Service's fish management has become so incredibly single-minded that people are not longer part of the equation. We find that, like the salmon, many, many Idahoans are struggling too. Again, we must find a way where we can all live together.
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There is no other issue in Idaho or the Pacific Northwest that is as emotionally charged as salmon and steelhead management. It is an issue that we can all agree has been mired in controversy. Rhetorical battles are the norm, not solutions. Yet we offer a solution.
Together, I and other members of the House Resources Committee have drafted a simple piece of legislation to take one step, only one step, in the right direction. No one, including myself, claims this bill will solve all of our problems and put an end to the controversy. Yet it will consolidate authority. It will make government more efficient and accountable and consistent and lead, I believe, to better fish management simply because of that accountability. I believe everyone can support that concept, and I look forward to hearing constructive comments to improve the bill.
The Endangered Species Consolidation Act, H.R. 4335, authored by Don Young and cosponsored by myself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Pombo, and others, transfers National Marine Fisheries Services' ESA functions to the Fish and Wildlife Service. By bringing under one roof all ESA functions, everyone—the farmer, the rancher, the recreationist, the lumberman, the mine, the environmental groups, State and Federal agencies—will know that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determinations will be final. Today's dual agency responsibility allows for feasible deniability and a lack of accountability. Our bill will paste a big sign over the Fish and Wildlife Service that says, ''The buck stops here, right here.''
There can be finality despite our long and bitter experience of being whipsawed between multiple Federal agencies. Further, and possibly even more frustrating, agency decisions are often contradictory.
Take, for instance, the bull trout. Steps taken by NMFS to save the salmon impact the bull trout, and steps taken by Fish and Wildlife Service to help the bull trout affect the salmon. Duplicative ESA authority results in contradictory policies and paralyzing controversy.
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It is my view that if ESA enforcement authority were under one roof, there would be more consistent policies that could accomplish both salmon and bull trout recovery objectives.
There are numerous examples of duplicative and contradictory agency actions: the Fish and Wildlife Service habitat conservation plan, 2 years in the making, completely gutted by NMFS—a loss of tens of thousands of dollars; an Idaho timber sale once approved by NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service put on hold a year later; an Army Corps of Engineers study indicating success in the transportation of smolt downriver, but a NMFS decision stated exactly the opposite.
Clearly, interagency turf battles and contradictory policies and decisions will not piece together the salmon puzzle. But we can solve these problems by consolidating ESA authority in one agency.
A word of caution, though, don't mistake this simple piece of legislation for an attempt at ESA reform. ESA's substantive recovery requirements and legal protections remain totally intact and are in no way affected by this legislation. Our bill merely speaks to government efficiency, responsibility, and accountability. It does not solve all of the issues, but it is a start.
Since late July when we introduced our Endangered Species Consolidation Act, I have heard many comments and concerns. And it is certainly far from clear that the Fish and Wildlife Service will necessarily do a better job than NMFS of fish management.
After all, it was the Fish and Wildlife Service who introduced the wolf into Idaho—and you know how I felt about that—and is forcing the reintroduction of the grizzly bear—you know how I feel about that—both predator species, over the objection of the people of Idaho, the Governor, our legislature, and the entire congressional delegation. The Fish and Wildlife Service has done nothing to engender the trust of Idahoans.
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But when it comes to accountability, the Federal Government has become skilled at passing the buck, and we must pick our poison. This is the purpose of the bill, and this is exactly why I asked Don Young to bring the Resources Committee to Idaho. Congress must listen carefully to what Idahoans have to say.
And last, I want to say that America is the most benevolent country in the history of the world. We lead the world in humanitarian actions and helping people to a better way of life and a better future. Yet we have left people out of the equation on the salmon issue by allowing our region to be mired in controversy and our economy to degrade to a shadow of its former self.
It is inconceivable to me that many groups and individuals have focused solely on the dams for the solutions here rather than looking at the legion of issues involving salmon restoration.
And with that, I do want to say in closing that, in my opinion, the NMFS has no authority to force another government agency to violate a congressional mandate, whether it is Dworshak Dam or taking water out of Idaho for an unproven measure like salmon fleshing. And I think that we, in the Congress, must be very watchful and very vigilant with regards to those kinds of agency actions.
Mr. Chairman, without objection, I would conclude now, and I would like to enter my entire testimony into the official record. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Without objection.
[The prepared statement of Mrs. Chenoweth follows:]
STATEMENT OF HON. HELEN CHENOWETH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO
Welcome everyone. I want to publicly thank Chairman Don Young, my good friend from Alaska, for bringing the House Resources Committee to Boise. I also want to thank my good friend from California, Richard Pombo, the Chairman of the Endangered Species Task Force established by Newt Gingrich, for chairing this hearing. I welcome my colleague from Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero-Barceló, to Boise. I know my colleague and fellow Resources Committee member, Mike Crapo, is as concerned as I am about what is happening in our state of Idaho.
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There are few things more symbolic of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest than the salmon. The salmon represents the enduring spirit of survival. For generations, the salmon has struggled to return year after year to the same spawning grounds. This same spirit of survival is shared by the pioneers who settled the new frontier and built Idaho. Like the salmon's struggle, many Idahoans are struggling. We have to find a way for everyone to survive and thrive. This is why we are here today—to look for solutions that will save the fish, and save Idaho's remarkable way of life.
Under the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, was given responsibility for management of ocean-going fish. This authorization has unfortunately evolved into NMFS fish biologists managing timber, rangeland, road building, farmland and just about every on-land activity you can imagine. What was once an agency dedicated to managing ocean fisheries now finds itself hundreds of miles inland involved in every aspect of land use.
NMFS' fish management has become so incredibly single-minded that people are no longer part of the equation. We find that, like the salmon, many, many Idahoans are struggling too. Again, we must find a way to all live together.
There is no other issue in Idaho or the Pacific Northwest that is as emotionally charged as salmon and steelhead management. It is an issue that we can all agree has been mired in controversy. Rhetorical battles are the norm, not solutions. Yet we offer a solution. Together, I and other members of the House Resources Committee have drafted a simple piece of legislation to take one step in the right direction. No one, including myself, claims this bill will solve all of our problems and put an end to the controversy. Yet it will consolidate authority, make the government more efficient, accountable and consistent, and lead to better fish management. I believe everyone can support that concept and I look forward to hearing constructive comments to improve the bill.
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The Endangered Species Consolidation Act (H.R. 4335) authored by Don Young and cosponsored by myself, Mike Crapo, Richard Pombo and others, transfers NMFS' ESA functions to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. By bringing under one roof all ESA functions, everyone—the farmer, rancher, lumberman, miner, recreationist, environmental groups, state and Federal agencies—will know that U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service determinations will be final. Today's dual agency responsibility allows for feasible deniability and a lack of accountability. Our bill will paste a big sign over the Fish & Wildlife Service that says, ''The Buck Stops Here . . . Right Here.''
There can be finality despite our long and bitter experience of being whipsawed between multiple Federal agencies. Further, and possibly even more frustrating, agency decisions are often contradictory. Take for instance the bull trout. Steps taken by NMFS to save the salmon impact the bull trout; and steps taken by FWS to help the bull trout affect the salmon. Duplicative ESA authority results in contradictory policies and paralyzing controversy. It is my view that if ESA enforcement authority were under one roof there would be a more consistent policy that could accomplish both salmon and bull trout recovery objectives.
There are numerous examples of duplicative and contradictory agency actions; a FWS habitat conservation plan two years in the making completely gutted by NMFS—a loss of tens of thousands of dollars; an Idaho timber sale once approved by NMFS and the FWS put on hold a year later; an Army Corps of Engineers study indicating success in the transportation of smolt down river, but a NMFS decision stated exactly the opposite.
Clearly, inter-agency turf battles and contradictory policies and decisions will not piece together the salmon puzzle. But we can solve these problems by consolidating ESA authority in one agency.
A word of caution: Don't mistake this simple piece of legislation for an attempt at ESA reform. ESA's substantive recovery requirements and legal protections remain totally intact and are in no way affected by this legislation. Our bill merely speaks to government efficiency, responsibility and accountability. It does not solve all of the issues, but it's a start.
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Since late July when we introduced our Endangered Species Consolidation Act, I've heard many comments and concerns. It is certainly far from clear that the Fish & Wildlife Service will necessarily do a better job than NMFS of fish management. After all, it was the FWS who introduced the wolf into Idaho and is forcing the re-introduction of the grizzly bear, both predator species over the objection of the people of Idaho, its legislature, its Congressional delegation, and Governor. The FWS has does nothing to engender the trust of Idahoans.
But when it comes to accountability, the Federal Government has become skilled at passing the buck, and we must therefore pick our poison. This is the purpose of the bill, and this is exactly why I asked Don Young to bring the Resources Committee to Idaho. Congress must listen carefully to what Idahoans have to say.
Lastly, I want to say that America is the most benevolent country in history. We lead the world in humanitarian actions and helping people to a better way of life and future. Yet we've left people out of the equation on the salmon issue by allowing our region to be mired in controversy and our economy to degrade to a shadow of its former self.
We've even gone so far as to consider radical, false solutions like destroying the four lower Snake River dams, when we should be looking for common sense solutions that work.
It is inconceivable to me that many groups and individuals have focused solely on the dams, rather than looking at the legion of issues involving salmon restoration. What about predation and changing ocean conditions? I recently learned that NMFS has approved a commercial harvest of threatened and endangered chinook and salmon. Last year's fall harvest from August 27 to September 20 gill netted 64,100 chinook and 22,700 steelhead. And I understand that historically this fishery has taken 40 percent of the total fall chinook run with large incidental catches of steelhead.
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Let me say that I am not taking issue with tribal cultural and ceremonial salmon harvests. However, this fall chinook gill net harvest is solely commercial, often selling the fish for as little as a dollar per pound. If these fish are truly endangered, why do we continue to harvest so many of the remaining adults? These are the only endangered species with an allowable harvest.
When NMFS' salmon decisions literally cost the region hundreds of millions of dollars annually and have had the effect of putting people out of work and shutting down industries, allowing a commercial harvest of the very chinook and steelhead that we are trying to save is a little bit insane.
Again, we are all here together. We are all struggling together. H.R. 4335 is a good start in laying the foundation to make a more consistent, efficient and responsive Federal Government.
One final note, Mr. Chairman. Last Tuesday I held a hearing in Orofino, Idaho on drawdowns of the Dworshak Reservoir to flush salmon downriver. For the last few years NMFS has forced the Corp of Engineers to ''draw down'' the reservoir in an unproven experiment to flush salmon downriver.
The unexpected result was a significant impact on bull trout habitat and kokanee salmon—another example of NMFS' actions adversely affecting another agency.
In my opinion, the NMFS has no authority to force another government agency to violate a Congressional mandate—in this case the legislation that authorized Dworshak Dam—for an unproven measure like salmon flushing.
Mr. Chairman, the drawdowns at Dworshak are a violation of law, and break the promises made to the local people. Dworshak's authorizing statute specifically promised the people of Idaho flood control, power generation, log transportation and recreation.
It is legally, ethically, and worst of all, morally wrong for unelected bureaucrats to re-craft the dam's mission and purpose, and wreak havoc on a community that relied on promises made by the Federal Government.
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Mr. Chairman, without objection, I would like to enter this testimony into the official record as a case study of how the NMFS has gone too far.
[The above mentioned material can be seen at the Committee office where it will be kept on file.]
Mr. POMBO. Mr. Crapo?
Mr. CRAPO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you and our Ranking Member for being here and for giving us the opportunity to hold this hearing on what is probably one of the most critical issues in the Pacific Northwest. And the issue, as I see it today, is not just with regard to the legislation before us, but with regard to the question of how we manage salmon and steelhead recoveries and we how manage endangered species actions.
For some time, I have been a very open and vocal critic of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the way that it has approached salmon and steelhead recovery measures.
And I think that whether one comes from the—from any of the many different perspectives that we have in the Pacific Northwest, whether it be from the perspective of the salmon and steelhead recovery effort or the perspective of the economies and the jobs in Idaho and in the Pacific Northwest that are at risk because of some of the proposed decisions that have been on the table for the last several years and that are now on the table or other perspectives.
It seems to me that there has been great concern with the management decisions and the approach of the National Marine Fisheries Service. This is not the first hearing at which I have raised these concerns. And I think that to kind of highlight what I am focusing on here today, it seems that we have got to insist on more regional State and local involvement in the decisionmaking process.
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In Idaho, we have been under Governor Batt's very good leadership working on a plan to try to spread the risk and approach the issue of salmon and steelhead recovery in a sensible way by building consensus among the different competing interest groups.
Not everybody was happy with that plan. People had to give and take in order to work together. But we were getting people to give and take and work together in Idaho, yet our voice fell on deaf ears. Our efforts to provide a path forward fell on deaf ears at the National Marine Fisheries Service.
And, in fact, the service actually, in the face of what I thought was pretty strong consensus, chose alternate approaches, which were not justified. They were not justified by science. They were not justified by politics. They were not justified in the face of the type of consensus that we move forward.
Even as recently as this year, after it looked like we were starting to make progress with some of the efforts to encourage the National Marine Fisheries Service to approach some of the ideas that we have developed here in Idaho. It turns out that the management actions taken by NMFS this year seem to ignore the very discussions that we have had and the very approaches that we have developed.
And because of that, I was very willing to lend my name to the support for this legislation if, for no reason, than to engage this debate as to how we approach decisionmaking and how the Federal Government must interact with the States and the region in this case and local communities in the decisionmaking processes.
I am very aware, as has already been referenced, that there are great concerns that people have with regard to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And had the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service been the agency in charge for the past number of years, we would probably be holding a hearing here today about concerns with regard to the way that they had undertaken management decisions.
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I know that those concerns will be raised here today by many. And I guess what I hope comes out this hearing is a full airing and a full discussion of how we will approach this critical issue. It is critical to us in this region that we save the wild salmon and steelhead. And it is also critical to us in this region that we not destroy the economy of our region. And I am confident that we can do that.
The economies of our region that have grown over the last decades are critical to the people of Idaho. And the jobs that they represent, strengthen and support the families of the people who live here in Idaho. And there are ways that we can maintain and strengthen and regain our cultural and wildlife heritage with the fish, the salmon, and the steelhead, without destroying economies.
I am very concerned that right now we in the region, even as we work aggressively to develop consensus, do not seem to have a voice in the process. And that voice must be heard. And that is one of the reasons for this hearing, and I look forward to the testimony to be heard today. Because one way or the other, efforts like we have seen in Idaho and in the region to find a path forward have got to get past the bureaucracy that is now built up around the Endangered Species Act.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you. I would like to call up our first witness here today, Governor Phil Batt. If he would join us at the witness table.
Governor, I would like to welcome you here today. We have all had the opportunity to review your testimony. Feel free to summarize your written testimony. The entire thing will be included in the record. Welcome, and you may begin.
STATEMENT OF PHILIP E. BATT, GOVERNOR, STATE OF IDAHO
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Governor BATT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee.
I see in the rules that I am limited to 5 minutes. My testimony may run six or seven. I would like to read it, if I could.
Mr. POMBO. Yes. Go ahead.
Governor BATT. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee on Resources, I congratulate the Committee for addressing the question of how Federal agencies could better serve the people. In this case, you are examining whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could better handle the responsibility of endangered species regulation than the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency that now partially handles that responsibility.
I want to say with emphasis, that I do not believe some Federal agencies are serving their constituents properly or implementing their authority consistent with the intent of Congress. Examples are abundant, and I will mention just a few.
The Environmental Protection Agency has become so large and complicated that it has lost all practicality in the application of its responsibilities in the field. Its water quality actions have imposed unnecessary and indefensible burdens on the State of Idaho. EPA is not charged with protecting endangered species, but, after consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they impose actions on us, which are addressed plainly for that purpose.
Another example is the censuring of Idaho's DEQ for its enforcement procedures regarding air quality. Never mind that Idaho is one of the few states, maybe the only one, that has not even a single Federal non-attainment area under the State's jurisdiction. Our air quality is excellent and has improved dramatically. Our sin is not dirty air but failure to fine enough people and to shut down enough operations and thereby put people out of jobs. We believe in a cooperative effort with clean air as the objective.
EPA believes in punishment with results only secondary. Chuck Clarke, the director, is most reasonable in his frequent discussions held between us. But when the lieutenants and privates in EPA do their work in the field, they are bureaucratic in the extreme and sound, sweet reason doesn't stand a chance. Costly State planning and remediation efforts are thrown on the scrap heap.
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Let's take another example, the U.S. Forest Service. Local Forest Service managers are great. They are practical. After careful consideration of the impact, they authorize occasional timber sales. Then the inevitable protests are filed, and the sales are canceled. The agency is powerless and the forests are debilitated by disease and fires caused by a lack of timely maintenance and harvest of forest products.
The Department of Energy is another agency which is ineffective because of internal paralysis. The Pit 9 fiasco is baffling. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent and not a spoonful of waste has been removed. Radioactive materials, foolishly dumped into the pits years ago, continue to threaten our aquifer. President Clinton has thwarted efforts to open the central repositories necessary to carry out the national policy of waste disposal. Our new policy is gridlock.
Federal agencies are not all bad. I believe FEMA, under James Lee Witt, has done a very good job in cleaning up disasters and also placing great emphasis on prevention.
I also believe our military does an effective, although sometimes wasteful, job of protecting our freedom. Oftentimes, their job is complicated by other Federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management.
Speaking of the BLM, that agency has a history of imposing rules, which, in my opinion, are far beyond the authority granted by Congress. I must give credit to Bruce Babbitt for rescinding the proposed law enforcement rules on BLM land after I personally asked him to do so. But the agency still seems to impose arbitrary regulations in many areas.
One of these topics is the tribal gambling question. Mr. Babbitt seems to have wide authority to decide questions on Indian gaming. He has asked for even more. States' rights seem to take a back seat in these matters. Fortunately, Congress has not acquiesced to him.
President Clinton recently put out an executive order, which called for Federal supremacy over nearly all State and local matters. After a loud outcry, he put the matter on hold, but the increase in Federal power continues, occasionally taking a baby step backward but then regaining its pace.
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But I have digressed from the main question: Would we be better off dealing with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service than with NMFS regarding anadromous fish recovery?
The NMFS used to be concerned mainly with ocean fishing. Its involvement in regulating storage dams and water quality is a recent phenomenon. NMFS makes its decisions in conjunction with a myriad of Federal agencies, which you have pointed out, including the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers and others, as well as receiving input from state, private, and other sources.
I believe Mr. Stelle is a capable, conscientious department director. But the department is pulled and tugged in so many different directions that its decisions are almost capricious. They have little basis in science or practicality.
I proposed leaving more smolts in the river during high water years as opposed to barging so that we may get a better scientific comparison for future actions. And I have a lot of support for that proposal. But NMFS ignored that suggestion because of pressure from BOR and others. NMFS seems to be powerless to set a consistent course of action.
But to move the anadromous fish recovery to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service? Wait a minute. These are the folks who brought us wolves. They are the ones who tell us we are going to get grizzly bears whether we want them or not. They are the Bruneau snail people. They will probably list the lynx soon. They were the chief cause of the paralysis imposed by the Upper Columbia River Basin EIS study. They were the chief protagonist of the special interest group which brought a suit to shut down most of Idaho through a ruling of a judge sitting in Hawaii.
Mr. Ruesink is a pleasant fellow. He is a good, conscientious man, but he is a captive of the Federal rules. When he came to my office to discuss the grizzlies, he brought with him strong proponents of bear reintroduction from the private sector. They had little regard for those with opposite views. His agency has given short shrift to our plan for improving bull trout populations in Idaho. They chose to ignore the sound plans laid out by our agencies for recovery, in favor of imposing Federal dictates based mostly on shutting down our economy.
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We, in Idaho, are proud to be part of these United States. Our Federal agencies have a difficult job. The absurdities which arise are usually caused by overzealous interpretation of Congress' desires. You are to be commended for trying to clarify and monitor the laws you have passed concerning our resources.
Yet in closing, I would like to gently remind you and our Congressmen that we work with these agencies every day and that we would appreciate being consulted before recommending such a major change in responsibility.
Let me also say, that this debate is a worthwhile effort, and I congratulate you on bringing this to Idaho. Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you very much, Governor.
I would like to thank the Governor very much for his testimony.
Governor BATT. Did you have questions? I am sorry.
Mr. POMBO. That is all right. Thank you for your testimony. It is a great deal. You brought up many of the concerns that members of this panel, members of the Resources Committee have about the legislation, many of the concerns that I think we will hear about later today, and thank you for your testimony.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. And Mr. Chairman, I want to join you in thanking the Governor for his testimony. I think that his testimony reveals, from a man who has been so even-handed in his governing of this State, even-handed with everyone. It has been very admirable. But his testimony brings out the frustration that one, who is the chief executive officer of this State, has felt.
And, Governor, I very much appreciate your time and your good testimony. Thank you very much.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Governor Batt follows:]
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STATEMENT OF PHILIP E. BATT, GOVERNOR, BOISE, IDAHO
Chairman Young and members of the Committee on Resources:
I congratulate the Committee for addressing the question of how Federal agencies could better serve the people. In this case you are examining whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could better handle the responsibility of endangered species regulation than the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency that now partially handles that responsibility.
I want to say, with emphasis, that I do not believe some Federal agencies are serving their constituents properly, or implementing their authority consistent with the intent of Congress. Examples are abundant. I'll mention a few.
The Environmental Protection Agency has become so large and complicated that it has lost all practicality in the application of its responsibilities in the field. Its water quality actions have imposed unnecessary and indefensible burdens on the state of Idaho. EPA is not charged with protecting endangered species but, after consultation with USFWS, they impose actions on us addressed plainly to that purpose.
Another example is the censuring of Idaho's DEQ for its enforcement procedures regarding air quality. Never mind that Idaho is one of the few states, maybe the only one, that has not even a single Federal non-attainment area under State's jurisdiction. Our air quality is excellent and has improved dramatically. Our sin is not dirty air, but failure to fine enough people and to shut down operations and thereby put people out of jobs. We believe in a cooperative effort with clean air as the objective. EPA believes in punishment with results only secondary. Chuck Clarke, the director, is most reasonable in the frequent discussions held between us. But when the lieutenants and privates in EPA do their work in the field, they are bureaucratic in the extreme, and sound, sweet reason doesn't stand a chance. Costly state planning and remediation efforts are thrown on the scrap heap.
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Let's take another example—the U.S. Forest Service. Local forest service managers are great—they are practical. After careful consideration of the impact, they authorize occasional timber sales. Then the inevitable protests are filed and the sales are cancelled. The agency is powerless and the forests are debilitated by disease and fires, caused by lack of timely maintenance and harvest of forest products.
The Department of Energy is another agency which is ineffective because of internal paralysis. The Pit 9 fiasco is baffling. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent and not a spoonful of waste has been removed. Radioactive materials, foolishly dumped into the pits years ago, continue to threaten our aquifer. President Clinton has thwarted efforts to open the central repositories necessary to carry out the national policy for waste disposal. Our new policy is gridlock.
Federal agencies are not all bad. I believe FEMA, under James Lee Witt, does a good job in cleaning up disasters and, also, places great emphasis on prevention.
I also believe our military does an effective, although sometimes wasteful, job of protecting our freedom. Oftentimes their job is complicated by other Federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management.
Speaking of the BLM, that agency has a history of imposing rules, which in my opinion, are beyond the authority granted by Congress. I must give credit to Bruce Babbitt for rescinding the proposed law enforcement rules on BLM land after I personally asked him to do so. But the agency still seems to impose arbitrary regulations in many areas.
One of these topics is the Tribal gaming question. Mr. Babbitt seems to have wide authority to decide questions on Indian gaming. He has asked for even more. State rights seem to take a back seat in these matters. Fortunately, Congress has not acquiesced to him.
President Clinton recently put out an executive order which called for Federal supremacy over nearly all state and local matters. After a loud outcry, he put the matter on hold, but the increase in Federal power continues, occasionally taking a baby step backward but then regaining its pace.
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I have digressed from the question—would we be better off dealing with USFWS than with NMFS regarding anadromous fish recovery?
The NMFS used to be concerned mainly with ocean fishing. Its involvement in regulating storage dams and water quality is a recent phenomenon. NMFS makes its decisions in conjunction with a myriad of Federal agencies, including the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers, as well as receiving input from state, private and other sources. I believe Mr. Stelle is a capable, conscientious department director, but the department is pulled and tugged in so many different directions that its decisions are almost capricious. They have little basis in science or practicality. I proposed leaving more smelts in the river during high water years as opposed to barging so that we get better scientific data for future actions. I had a lot of support for this proposal. But NMFS ignored that suggestion because of pressure from BOR and others. NMFS seems to be powerless to set a consistent course of action.
But to move the anadromous fish recovery to USFWS? Wait a minute. These are the folks who brought us wolves. They're the ones who tell us we're going to get grizzly bears whether we want them or not. They're the Bruneau Snail people. They'll probably list the lynx soon. They were the chief cause of the paralysis imposed by the Upper Columbia River Basin EIS study. They were the chief protagonist of the special interest group which brought a suit to shut most of Idaho totally down, through a ruling of a judge sitting in Hawaii. Mr. Ruesink is a pleasant fellow, but he's a captive of the Federal rules. When he came to my office to discuss grizzlies, he brought with him strong proponents of bear reintroduction from the private sector. They had little regard for those with opposite views. His agency has given short shrift to our plan for improving bull trout populations in Idaho. They chose to ignore the sound plans laid out by our agencies for recovery, in favor of imposing Federal dictates based mostly on shutting down our economy.
We, in Idaho, are proud to be part of these United States. Our Federal agencies have a difficult job. The absurdities which arise are usually caused by overzealous interpretation of Congress' desires. You are to be commended for trying to clarify and monitor the laws you have passed concerning our resources.
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Yet in closing, I'd like to gently remind our Congressmen that we work with these agencies every day. You might consider consulting with us before recommending a major change in responsibility.
INSERT OFFSET FOLIOS 98 TO 100 HERE
Mr. POMBO. I would like to call up our second panel: Mr. Thomas Kerr, Ms. Olivia James, Mr. Bob Maynard, Mr. Mark Limbaugh, and Mr. David Doeringsfeld. If you would, join us at the witness table.
Thank you for being with us today. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to testify in the past, I will explain the light system to you.
Your entire written statements will be included in the record. We ask you to summarize those and try to keep your oral statement within 5 minutes. The light system: Green is to begin, yellow is wrap it up, and red is to stop. And if you could try to stay within the 5 minutes, it would be appreciated by the Committee.
Mr. Kerr, if you are prepared, you may begin.
STATEMENT OF THOMAS KERR, COMMISSIONER, VALLEY COUNTY, IDAHO
Mr. KERR. I am Tom Kerr, Valley County Commissioner. I was born in 1937 in McCall, Idaho. I was raised there, educated there. I have a B.S. Degree in mining engineering from the University of Idaho in 1961. I have worked as a professional land surveyor in Valley County for 25 years, and I am very familiar with its people, conditions, and needs. I have served on the board of county commissioners since 1997.
My testimony not only represents the views of my colleagues on the Valley County Board of Commissioners but also those of the Idaho Association of Counties, which represents the elected officials in Idaho's 44 counties. I do not believe that my views on NMFS are in any sense unusual, but, on the contrary, are typical of those of my colleagues around this great state.
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There is an ongoing project, the course of which has decisively shaped our view of the role of NMFS in fulfilling its responsibilities.
The Warren-Profile Gap Road was built prior to the establishment of the Payette National Forest and is a public right-of-way under the jurisdiction of Valley County.
In 1994, debris torrents washed out a 500-foot segment of the road along Elk Creek. During the Chicken Complex Fire, later in 1994, emergency funds were used to repair this damage. We experienced unusually heavy rainstorms during the year following the fire and high runoff caused the destruction of two bridges and seriously damaged portions of the road. Further storms and flooding caused even more damage to the road in the winter of 1996 and 1997.
In February 1997, the Valley County Commissioners met with the representatives from the Forest Service, Federal Highways, National Marine Fisheries, Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Lands, the timber industry and private landowners to put together an action plan for the repair of the road which would be consistent with the needs of the community as well as the requirements of the regulatory agencies.
I am disappointed to report that the plan we agreed to in February 1997 has yet to come to fruition. There is no question that this failure is largely due to the inaction of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
NMFS has consistently taken an inordinate amount of time to complete the analysis necessary for repair work to proceed. When it finally does come back with its review, it asserts that it still needs more information to issue a Biological Opinion, even when it already has received sufficient data. This view is shared by our local Forest Supervisor, Dave Alexander, who wrote in his June 9, 1998 letter to Ms. Elizabeth Gaar of National Marine Fisheries Service regarding their delay in the issuance of a Biological Opinion:
''I am very concerned that after 17 months of discussion, analysis and meetings, and almost 3 months after we jointly reached agreement which resulted in a four-party memorandum of understanding outlining the resolution of this issue, we are continuing to see delays in the issuance of a Biological Opinion.''
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Rather than participating throughout in an open and straightforward way, NMFS seems only to take potshots at the successive plans they want submitted for approval. It would seem logical for them to identify all of the conditions needing mitigation at one time, rather than picking a new one later.
On at least one occasion the NMFS representative admitted that he had not really read the report that was to be the subject of a meeting at NMFS's office in Boise with Federal Highways, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife, Valley County, and a representative from Representative Chenoweth's office, most of whom had to travel to Boise for the meeting.
I was left with a clear impression that talking to the locals is a low priority indeed, and that our point of view is not being fairly represented or even taken seriously.
I observed that NMFS representatives have not had sufficient authority to speak for the agency, but we are convinced that the outcome may not be any different even if NMFS officials of sufficient stature participate in the process.
One NMFS representative said they did not really care what the cost and inconvenience of NMFS's might be to the public. As long as NMFS has an institutional culture so resistant to public scrutiny, accountability, and cooperation, it is hard to imagine that this situation could improve.
Meanwhile, the road remains unrepaired, local landowners are without access to their property, the State of Idaho has not been able to proceed with a timber sale, the Forest Service has limited access for forest management, and the United States taxpayers continue to foot the bill for more NMFS delays. The great irony is that more damage is being done while they are being delayed to the detriment of fish spawning and rearing habitat.
Therefore, the commissioners of Valley County and the Idaho Association of Counties urges you to support H.R. 4335. While we are not always thrilled and happy with the positions taken by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to the Act, it will get it under one agency. And our experience has been that they are more responsive and cognizant of our concerns, participate more openly in discussions of proposed action, and are generally more timely and efficient in reaching conclusions than is the National Marine Fisheries Service.
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Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kerr may be found at end of hearing.]
STATEMENT OF OLIVIA JAMES, PRESIDENT, THE RIVER COMPANY
Ms. JAMES. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Endangered Species Act.
I represent The River Company, one of four outfitters who offer 1-day raft trips on the upper main Salmon River out of Stanley, Idaho. Stanley has a population of 69 and is almost totally dependent on tourism centered on river activities. We four outfitters, all together, do about a million dollars of business a season. We are small. Since Snake River chinook salmon were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1992, we have been subjected to abuse of power, mismanagement, and overregulation by the U.S. Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.
Five-year permits issued in August 1996 require that as soon as chinook salmon are seen exhibiting spawning behavior on August 21st, whichever is sooner, anywhere in the navigable 30-mile stretch of the Salmon River in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, all floatboaters, commercial and private, must portage a half-mile section where salmon historically have nests or redds.
We have to take out 2 miles above the federally funded official takeout through my company's leased picnic site. What is normally an eight-mile trip is shortened to five-and-a-half. While guests are getting a shorter river trip for their money, outfitters have to add vehicles and personnel to execute the portage and carry the rafts up the steep embankment at the improvised takeout. Our costs are further increased by funding federally required monitoring.
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Outfitters and the public are subject to a penalty point system for violating regulations. This resulted in the river being closed to public floating in mid-August in both 1996 and 1997.
Because new permits were not accompanied by a NMFS Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Statement, as was the case in years prior, as soon as a salmon moves off its nest, because of a passing floatboat, the river can be closed. In 1997, the river was closed on September 10 because one fish moved off its redd twice, both times for less than 15 minutes.
Previously, NMFS defined a ''take'' as a single fish moving off its nest three times, or eight different fish once each, at a distance of 10 feet or more for 20 minutes or more. Now, ''take'' is no longer applicable. No disturbance is allowed.
There is no documented evidence that displacement of listed chinook from a redd from more than 20 minutes is related to diminished spawning success or a diminished reproductive or survival rate for the species.
To the contrary, the available scientific evidence for other chinook salmon indicates that spawning salmon may leave their redds for up to 8 hours a day with no adverse effects on spawning success as measured by egg retention in female spawners.
We four tiny outfitters are victims of ''over protection'' of a fish listed under the Endangered Species Act. Instead of using the best scientific and commercial data available, the Federal agencies have relied on casual observations of redd displacement as justification for decisions to restrict and even prohibit the use of the river by floatboaters.
Regulations governing floatboats have been based on two arbitrary assumptions: one, that floatboats pose a threat to endangered chinook salmon; and two, that the presence of floatboats will discourage salmon from spawning.
In 1997, salmon spawned both where we portaged and where we rafted. This indicates that the original assumptions are false. Instead of using this opportunity to measure effects of float boating on salmon spawning, the Forest Service instead elected to close the river to floatboating.
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In general, the NMFS has taken a very conservative approach to the assignment of incidental take to habitat-related projects. Little or no incidental take is permissible for most Federal habitat projects, including floating on the upper Salmon River; while up to 86 percent direct mortality of juvenile salmon, is permissible in the hydropower system.
In other words, aggressive regulatory measures are being taken against activities least limiting fish, while relatively passive measures are being taken against those most limiting fish.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game views the extreme restrictions on floating resulting from U.S. Forest Service consultation with NMFS as biologically inappropriate and economically and socially unfair. They view the current restriction on the use of floatboats in salmon spawning habitat as unnecessary given the minimal or nonexistent effects of floating on salmon that they have observed.
The NMFS and U.S. Forest Service facile resort to the precept that floatboating disturbance leads to salmon mortality, if taken to its logical extreme, could allow these agencies to close the upper Salmon River and the entire Sawtooth National Recreational Area to recreational use altogether. Clearly, this was not Congress' intent when it established the Sawtooth National Recreation Area to, among other things, ''provide for the enhancement of recreational values.''
Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. James may be found at end of hearing.]
STATEMENT OF ROBERT A. MAYNARD, PERKINS COIE, LLP
Mr. MAYNARD. Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to speak with you today.
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My name is Robert A. Maynard. I am an attorney practicing here in Boise, Idaho with the Perkins Coie law firm. I have given you my background in my written statement. I have practiced law in the environmental/natural resources arena for many years. My experience includes Endangered Species Act issues and working with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.
A good bit of my recent private practice is focused on habitat conservation agreements which are negotiated between private landowners and the Services under Section 10 of the ESA. I have also been working with many people with concerns about something called essential fish habitat, which is a NMFS program based on some 1996 amendments to a statute known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
NMFS's responsibilities and actions regarding essential fish habitat are quite relevant to NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Act, or ESA, responsibilities. I want to focus on this connection in my remarks.
H.R. 4335, to me, seems clearly directed at decreasing complexity and potential for conflicts between agencies in implementing the ESA. Currently, completing consultation under Section 7 and other procedures under the ESA can be quite time consuming. The complexity and time involved can be greater when both NMFS and the Fish and Wildlife Service have ESA jurisdiction regarding a particular project or program.
We have this overlapping jurisdiction in the Columbia and Snake River basins, as you have all mentioned. For instance, NMFS's responsibility for salmon stocks and Fish and Wildlife Service responsibility for bull trout. We have got that just north of here in Bear Valley. I have mentioned some other examples in my written statement.
Conflicts between agencies and substantial delays in completing these processes can be very costly to the government, businesses, and citizens.
So consolidating ESA administrative responsibilities in the Department of Interior, as proposed in H.R. 4335, could simplifiy ESA implementation and increase its cost effectiveness. However, this would not necessarily eliminate the Department of Commerce's involvement in salmon and other fish and wildlife issues.
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For example, the Department of Commerce and NMFS would continue to have substantial responsibilities with respect to salmon under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Under this statute or by virtue of fisheries expertise, NMFS could be expected to remain a consulting or cooperating agency in National Environmental Policy Act and other procedures carried out by Federal action agencies such as the Forest Service for various activities with the potential to impact salmon habitat.
On this point, the ''essential fish habitat'' program is particularly important. The Magnuson-Stevens Act primarily concerns management of commercial marine or ocean fisheries in offshore waters. There are several regional fishery management councils that oversee that with the help of NMFS.
The essential fish habitat—or EFH is the acronym I use—amendments to the statute provide for the councils to identify essential fish habitat for fish species included in their fishery management plans.
Federal agencies are thereafter required to consult with NMFS regarding federally funded or authorized activities which may adversely affect this identified EFH. There are some further provisions for commenting on State or Federal actions and recommending habitat conversation measures. Council-managed fish species include Pacific salmon.
NMFS EFH regulations and draft recommendations to fishery management councils take an extremely broad approach to identifying EFH and activities with the potential to adversely affect EFH. Thus far, it appears that virtually all habitat is being proposed for identification as essential.
For example, draft recommendations define EFH for Pacific coast salmon to include all fresh water habitat currently or historically accessible to salmon in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California, as well as coastal waters along the west coast.
The NMFS regulations state that EFH will always be greater than or equal to ESA aquatic critical habitat for any council-managed fish species listed under the ESA. The regulations furthermore set out an elaborate consultation process which can be compared to the ESA Section 7 consultation process.
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And this brings me to my basic point with respect to ESA implementation and H.R. 4335.
In the event that NMFS ESA jurisdiction over salmon species is removed, NMFS could still be administering a consultation process as cumbersome as the Section 7 process over a geographic area as broad or broader than the reach of the ESA. So the process could be quite redundant with respect to activities to which the ESA applies.
In my written statement, I have included the concern that many people in affected businesses and industries have about this approach that they consider unnecessarily broad, costly, and really counterproductive to implementing the Magnuson-Stevens Act and fish protection in general.
There has been concern expressed in the Senate Appropriations Committee's report about NMFS exceeding the intent of Congress under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
And to close, I would simply state that an effort to consolidate the ESA functions in the Department of the Interior and increase cost-effectiveness of ESA implementation should also address NMFS ESA jurisdiction and actions under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. If problems that are arising with EFH implementation are not dealt with, potential cost savings and other efficiencies of ESA consolidation may be substantially reduced.
Thank you.
Mr. POMBO. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Maynard may be found at end of hearing.]
STATEMENT OF MARK LIMBAUGH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PAYETTE RIVER WATER USERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
Mr. LIMBAUGH. My name is Mark Limbaugh. I am a fourth-generation Idaho farmer. And I am also the Watermaster on the Payette River system in Idaho. I deliver over 150,000 acres of irrigation water, both natural flow and stored water, under State water law. And today I am representing the Payette River Water Users Association, an association that represents those 150,000 acres and farmers that own and operate those acres as their executive director.
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First of all, I would like to enter into the testimony, if there is no objection, Mr. Chairman, the testimony of Mr. Sherl Chapman, the Idaho Waters Users Association Executive Director, and also Mr. Dewitt Moss, a member of the Committee of Nine and a known fish expert in Idaho.
Mr. POMBO. Without objection, thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Chapman may be found at end of hearing.]
Mr. LIMBAUGH. Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today.
Currently, under NMFS implementation of the Endangered Species Act, our Idaho water rights are under attack. Idaho currently provides between 2 and 2.8 million acre-feet of water to fish down the lower Snake River under the current NMFS flow augmentation flow targets program.
Currently, however, the United States Bureau of Reclamation, under the direction of the Corps of Engineers and NMFS, is st