Salmon Recovery Plan Process Criticized Idaho Senator Wants States, Tribes Included In Federal Fact-Finding

Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo is concerned that the decision on whether to breach dams to save salmon is being developed by federal agencies behind closed doors, without the involvement of states, tribes or the public.

The agencies say they’re just doing their homework, and getting information on alternatives ready to present to states and others in the fall.

“Once we have the initial results of the biological and economic analyses this fall, the region can decide what alternatives it would like to explore further,” George T. Frampton Jr., the Clinton administration’s top environmental official, told Crapo Wednesday.

Once information is laid out for the public, Frampton said, “No doubt lively debate will ensue.”

Frampton testified Wednesday before the Senate’s Fisheries, Wildlife and Drinking Water subcommittee, chaired by Crapo. Responses to subcommittee questions at Wednesday’s hearing in Washington, D.C., also were sent to reporters.

Crapo, R-Idaho, said he was left unsatisfied by the hearing. “I think we have a very different perspective on the timing at which the public input should be allowed,” he said.

Crapo wants states, tribes and the public involved all along, as the agencies develop their alternatives. But officials from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration all told him they feel their agencies are doing what the law requires.

But Crapo received assurances Wednesday from the National Marine Fisheries Service that the agency will honor requests he submitted that day under the Freedom of Information Act.

Crapo asked for all agendas, minutes, memos and other papers generated as part of the process of preparing for what the agencies call the “1999 Decision” on salmon-recovery alternatives. The agencies have dubbed their group effort to prepare for that decision the “federal caucus.”

“The process needs to be opened immediately,” Crapo said. “It needs to be a collaborative process.”

Any final decision to breach dams on the lower Snake River to save salmon would need congressional approval. But the long process of determining how best to save endangered fish runs is in the hands of federal agencies. States, tribes and federal agencies have been trying to coordinate through a new group, the Columbia River Basin Forum.

Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said he feared that the forum and its efforts would be pushed aside if the agencies come up with their own plans separately.

“When do the states get their legitimate role acknowledged, and when do we become an integral part of this process?” Sen. Crapo asked. “If it is not until after a decision is reached by the federal agencies, then what role does that leave for the states?”

Frampton said the agencies are trying to gather their information about all human activities that affect salmon survival. That means not just hydropower, but also harvest, hatcheries and habitat.

“The federal agencies have been meeting for several months now to do their homework on these issues, and have been working closely with the states and the tribes … to develop alternative solutions to the salmon challenge,” he said.

Frampton said the agencies “have committed to share their analyses and their ideas with the other governments of the region through the Columbia River Basin Forum, and we stand by that commitment. …

“No final federal decisions relating to the future operation or configuration of the federal power system will be made by federal agencies until after the issues are raised and discussed with the other governments through the Forum and other mechanisms.”

At the panel’s hearing those testifying included the federal agency officials; Frampton, who is acting chairman of the Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality; Kempthorne; and representatives of tribes, industry, conservation groups and labor.