Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Focus On Fish, Not Technology, Report Advises Saving Salmon May Require New Approach, New Battle

The methods now used to save the endangered salmon are backward and probably won’t succeed, according to a long-awaited scientific report.

“The focus has been on the technology. The focus has to be put on the fish,” said Richard Williams, chairman of the Independent Scientific Group appointed 18 months ago by the Northwest Power Planning Council.

Williams spoke on behalf of the nine-member scientific group, which released its report Wednesday.

The report looked at current efforts to restore salmon runs in the Columbia River and its tributaries, and suggests a new approach. The scientists studied more than 4,000 documents in compiling their report, but recommended against creating any more studies.

“This is not a call for more research,” Williams said. “There’s adequate information out there, if people can be brought together.”

That’s a big if.

While environmentalists say the report vindicates what they’ve been saying all along, industry experts say after spending billions of dollars already on unsuccessful experiments, ratepayers and taxpayers are unlikely to embrace a new approach.

Planning council member Mike Field expressed concern that the plan might just be the beginning of a new, arduous debate.

“My worry is, can the region come to consensus on how many fish we want to recover?” he asked. “The question is, how much can we afford?”

Williams explained that a scientifically sound approach to salmon recovery would be a holistic one - taking into account biological, social and cultural impacts - that zeros in on restoring habitat in key areas. The first step is to identify the locations and populations that have the greatest opportunity for recovery, he said.

Now, he said, the assumption seems to be that natural conditions that support salmon survival can be circumvented or controlled by humans through technical fixes, such as barging fish.

But, “if you look at salmon abundance numbers, it doesn’t look like we’re making any progress at all,” Williams said.

A natural, free-flowing river would provide the best opportunity for salmon recovery, but most dams are there to stay.

But Williams said some adjustments could be made to mimic natural conditions.

“It would be easy to think the urgency is so dire which it may be - that we should dash off and get started,” Williams said.

The preservation of sockeye and Chinook salmon is the business of several government agencies, including the planning council, but they lack an overarching scientific theory to direct policy.

“We’ve been in a constant planning mode,” said Bruce Lovelin, executive director of the Columbia River Alliance, an industry group. “We’ve also been in a spending mode, and lacking a scientifically based plan.”

The long-awaited plan from the scientific group was expected to provide a foundation for a more efficient, cohesive approach to fishery management.

The council is planning to form an economic group to gauge the costs of alternative recovery plans.

Because the report suggests the need for reservoir drawdowns to restore certain kinds of habitat, the debate could be fierce.

“The report’s clearly a call for early and dramatic changes in the way we manage the river,” said Jim Baker, of the Sierra Club’s Salmon Campaign. He said the report vindicates what environmentalists have been preaching for years.

That doesn’t mean the council and other government agencies will rush to change current management practices. Council chairman John Etchart said a lot depends on how much people are willing to spend.

“Salmon recovery is beyond trivial. It’s costly. It’s disruptive,” he said.

Lovelin agreed.

“What’s being contemplated here kind of dwarfs what’s going on right now in terms of cost and social and economic impacts,” Lovelin said. “River transport for commerce could be curtailed or eliminated entirely to Idaho.”

But Robert Lohn, the director of Fish and Wildlife for the Bonneville Power Administration, was optimistic.

“It’s one of the most important steps forward that we’ve seen in the last two decades,” Lohn said. “There’s a pretty widespread feeling in the region that what we’re doing now isn’t working well … (This is) a debate we need to have and deserve to have as a region.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The report The scientific report is available on-line from the Northwest Power Planning Council’s web page at www.nwppc.org.

This sidebar appeared with the story: The report The scientific report is available on-line from the Northwest Power Planning Council’s web page at www.nwppc.org.