S. HRG. 106–780 HOW TO PREVENT SALMON SPECIES FROM DISRUPTION OR EXTINCTION HEARING BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SPECIAL HEARING Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 66–484 cc WASHINGTON : 2000 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont SLADE GORTON, Washington FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky TOM HARKIN, Iowa CONRAD BURNS, Montana BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama HARRY REID, Nevada JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HERB KOHL, Wisconsin ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah PATTY MURRAY, Washington BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota LARRY CRAIG, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois JON KYL, Arizona STEVEN J. CORTESE, Staff Director LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director JAMES H. ENGLISH, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES SLADE GORTON, Washington, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CONRAD BURNS, Montana HARRY REID, Nevada ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HERB KOHL, Wisconsin BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California Professional Staff BRUCE EVANS GINNY JAMES LEIF FONNESBECK CHRISTINE DRAGER PETER KIEFHABER (Minority) Administrative Support JOSEPH NORRELL CAROLE GEAGLEY (Minority) (II) CONTENTS Page Opening statement of Senator Slade Gorton ......................................................... 1 Opening statement of Senator Patty Murray ........................................................ 5 Statement of Representative Norman Dicks ......................................................... 7 Statement of William Ruckelshaus, Chairman, State Salmon Recovery Fund- ing Board .............................................................................................................. 9 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 Statement of the Washington Salmon Collaboration, March 15, 1999 ........ 16 Statement of Doug Sutherland, county executive, Pierce County, WA ............... 22 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 Statement of Jerry E. Clark, deputy director for regional programs, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ............................................................................. 24 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 26 Statement of Ron Sims, county executive, King County, WA .............................. 27 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 29 Statement of Jim King, consultant, Private and Municipal Planning Services ................................................................................................................. 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 Statement of Paula Mackrow, executive director, North Olympic Salmon Coa- lition ...................................................................................................................... 42 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44 Statement of Peter Heide, director, forest management, Washington Forest Protection Association .......................................................................................... 47 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 49 Statement of Jack Kaeding, executive director, Fish First .................................. 50 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 Statement of Joan Burlingame, coordinator, Friends of Rock Creek Valley ...... 53 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 55 Statement of James Waldo, lead facilitator, Hatchery Scientific Review Group .................................................................................................................... 63 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 65 Statement of Peter Bergman, director, biological services, Northwest Marine Technology ............................................................................................................ 67 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 69 Statement of Billy Frank, chairman, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commis- sion ........................................................................................................................ 70 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 71 Statement of Jeff Koenings, director, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife .................................................................................................................. 72 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 74 Statement of Frank Urabeck, member, Northwest Marine Trade Association .. 76 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 77 Statement of Daniel Diggs, Assistant Regional Director for Fisheries, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior ............... 86 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 89 Statement of Frank L. Cassidy, Jr., chairman, Northwest Power Planning Council .................................................................................................................. 90 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 93 Statement of Victor W. Kaczynski, scientist ......................................................... 97 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 99 Statement of Representative Jay Inslee ................................................................ 108 Statement of Will Stelle, regional administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service ................................................................................................................... 112 (III) HOW TO PREVENT SALMON SPECIES FROM DISRUPTION OR EXTINCTION THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES, COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Redmond, WA. The subcommittee met at 12:15 p.m., at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 4330 148th Avenue, NE, Hon. Slade Gorton (chairman) pre- siding. Present: Senators Gorton and Murray. Also present: Representatives Dicks and Inslee. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SLADE GORTON Senator GORTON. Good afternoon, and welcome to a hearing on part of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sub- committee on the Interior. I appreciate the time that many of you are taking, many of you from considerable distances, to attend this, in some respects, summit on Washington State salmon recovery ef- forts. As the chairman of that Interior Subcommittee, I’m delighted to Chair the hearing and welcome Senator Murray. I believe we’ll have Congressman Dicks with us relatively soon. And we hope that Congressman Inslee will be with us a little later on in the after- noon, reflecting the broadened bipartisan view of the importance of the issue before us. I want to express my appreciation to the Redmond Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for allowing us to have this meeting here in its hall. The men and women of that organization have dis- tinguished themselves through honorable service to our country and continue to carry on the legacy and service to their community. We’re pleased to be their guests this afternoon. Today’s hearing will center on a subject of importance to every- one in the Pacific Northwest—how to prevent salmon species from disruption or extinction. On March 16, the Seattle Times printed an article on the front page with the headline, ‘‘Are we any closer to saving the salmon?’’ That is a question on the minds of many Washington residents, myself included. A little more than a year has passed since the National Marine Fisheries Service listed the Puget Sound Chinook and several other salmon and steelhead species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. That even served as a wake-up call for citizens across Western Washington. (1) 2 Last year I chaired a field hearing at the Sea-Tac Airport at which local, State, Federal, and tribal representatives discussed