Statement of Michael D. Crapo
Chairman, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Drinking Water
Environment and Public Works Committee
Hearing on Columbia River Basin Salmon Recovery,
The 1999 Decision and the Four-H Paper
June 23, 1999

Good afternoon and welcome. Today, the Fisheries, Wildlife and Drinking Water Subcommittee will take up the issue of Columbia River Basin Salmon Recovery efforts, the 1999 Decision and the Four-H Paper.

In November 1991, the first Snake River species—sockeye salmon--was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. It is disheartening that nearly eight years later, 12 stocks of Columbia Basin salmonids are listed, and we still have no plan in place for recovering this Pacific Northwest icon.

I can say that we've done such a good job of creating working groups, and methods for analyzing data, and engaging in process--but the process has become the product.

One of those processes, the Four-H Paper, is the focus of today's hearing. After I first learned of the Four-H Paper, I raised concerns about it at a recent Energy Committee Hearing in Hood River, Oregon. It was astonishing that, although we were only months away from the 1999 Decision date, a new process had been undertaken, as NMFS Regional Director Stelle put it, to ensure that the federal agencies did their homework in preparing for the decision.

It has been four years since the National Marine Fisheries Service issued its Biological Opinion (March 1995) and set out to develop a long-term recovery plan by December 1999.

But it isn't the eleventh-hour establishment of this working group that causes me the greatest degree of concern. I have encountered stakeholders from both sides of the debate, tribal of finials and states who have shared their apprehensions about the way in which the Federal Caucus has conducted meetings regarding the Four-H Paper.

I understand that they have been meeting in private, and that they have declined to share substantive information associated with the development of the paper. Furthermore, the Federal Caucus has precluded the public from participating in or providing input to the process, and finally, there are no plans for independent peer review of this of the Caucus's activities and work product..

With so many ongoing processes related to salmon recovery, one might wonder why this particular process would raise so much concern. It has become clear from conversations with Federal Caucus staff that the Four-H Paper is synonymous with the terms "conceptual recovery


Columbia River Basin Salmon Recovery, the 99 Decision and the 4H Paper

Background

Snake River sockeye salmon were listed as an endangered species in November 20, 1991, and Snake River spring/summer and fall chinook salmon were listed as threatened in April 1992. Presently, there are 24 stocks of Pacific salmonids listed.

Once a species is listed, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must, under section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act, consult with other federal agencies to ensure that their actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the species. In fulfilling this requirement, NMFS issued a Biological Opinion for the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System along the Columbia and Snake Rivers in March 1995. The Biological Opinion (BO) called for immediate improvements in adult salmon survival, using changes in flow, spill, and transportation. NMFS also developed an interim plan for increasing juvenile salmon that employed barging or trucking the smolts past the dams, with the objective of developing a long-term recovery plan by December 1999.

As the agency responsible for dam operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began developing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the management of the four lower Snake Dams. The Anadromous Fish Appendix completed by NMFS this spring is part of the EIS, and provides a supplemental analysis on the likely effects of dam breaching on salmon and steelhead stocks in the Snake River Basin. The Appendix concludes that while dam breaching is the most risk averse strategy for increasing survival of anadromous fish, the data is inconclusive about whether dam breaching would, in fact, bring back salmon and steelhead to fishable populations. At the same time, the Corps, in conjunction with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration began writing a Biological Assessment on the impact of the Federal Columbia River Power System. The BA will provide necessary information to NMFS as it finalizes its 1999 BO, also known as the 99 Decision.

The Decision and its Components

The documents discussed in the background section will affect the Final 99 Decision, although they are not the only documents in progress that will be considered in the decision on salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin. The following work products will contribute to the 99 Decision:

Final Report of the Multi-Species Framework Project; Final Snake River EIS (Army Corps of Engineers); Final Four-H Paper (federal agencies); Final Biological Assessment on the Federal Columbia River Power System (Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Bonneville Power Administration); and a Biological Opinion (National Marine Fisheries Service, Fish & Wildlife Service) for the Federal Columbia River Power System..

Of these, only two are new processes that have been undertaken to address gaps in information and analysis. These are the Four-H Paper by the Federal Caucus and the Multi-Species Framework Project.

The Federal Caucus is comprised of nine federal agencies involved in Columbia River Basin salmon recovery efforts (National Marine Fisheries Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management). In February of this year, the Federal Caucus began meeting to develop the so-called Four-H Paper. The Federal Caucus undertook the Four-H Paper to address what they viewed as inadequate analysis on three of the four Hs: habitat, hatcheries and harvest. At an April 6, 1999 Energy Committee hearing in Hood River, Oregon, Northwest Regional Director Will Stelle explained that the Federal Caucus needed to do its homework on the other Hs in order to prepare for the 99 Decision.

Due to the complex life cycle of anadromous fish, literally hundreds of factors and conditions can affect their survival. Habitat refers to stream, estuary and ocean conditions, including predation. Hatcheries rear millions of smolts each year, but in recent years, scientists have begun to look at issues of quantity and quality. Harvest includes both sport and commercial fishing. The Four-H Paper has been referred to by Federal Caucus staff as "a conceptual recovery plan" and "the federal consensus."

States, tribes, interest groups and citizens have expressed concern with the development of the Four-H Paper. They argue that it is being discussed behind closed doors, its contents remain unknown, it is unclear whether the process will remain closed or whether public input will be sought, and the Federal Caucus has no plans to pursue independent scientific review of the document.

The Multi-Species Framework Project was created by the Northwest Power Planning Council out of concern that an ecosystem-based approach, in which management decisions recognize the interrelated parts of the Basin's natural system, was not being developed. Seven alternatives for the Columbia Basin are being analyzed ranging from the breaching of the four lower Snake Dams plus the John Day Dam, to no modification of the current system configuration. The biological, social and economic effects of each of the alternatives will be analyzed. Although the states, tribes and federal agencies are participating in developing the alternatives and methods of analysis, the federal government has no statutory responsibility to consider the findings of the Framework. Non-federal partners have expressed concern with the uncertainty that the Framework's final report may not figure into the final 99 Decision.

Schedule

Public Involvement co-sponsored by Framework/federal agencies......Summer
Refine Framework Alternatives and Analysis............Summer
Final Report on Framework alternatives...............August



Draft Four-H Paper........................Fall
Draft Biological Assessment.....................Fall
Draft Snake River EIS.....................Fall



Final Four-H Paper........................Winter
Final Biological Assessment.....................Winter
Final Snake River EIS.....................Winter



Final Biological Opinion.....................Spring (2000)

Focus of the Hearing

Given the concerns by state governments, tribes, salmon advocates, and the agriculture, resource and business communities, it is the subcommittee's intent to gain information about the activities of the Federal Caucus, and, more specifically, the Four-H Paper. Additionally, it is the subcommittee's objective to obtain information about the status of 99 Decision as well as the numerous components that will contribute to the overall, final decision.