West Coast Salmon & Tourist Industry Lobbies Congress to Save Salmon Habitat

From: Environment News Service <www.ens-newswire.com

Salmon Dependent Businesses to Congress: We're Losing Billions

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20, 2005 (ENS) - Hundreds of West Coast business people are disillusioned with the federal government's failed salmon recovery plans and they are in Washington this week to tell their elected representatives to "stop wasting billions of dollars in taxpayer money on failed technologies, and to realize the multi-billion dollar economic potential that is being squandered by declining salmon populations."

People representing nearly 1,100 salmon dependent businesses are asking Congress to support them by signing onto the Salmon Planning Act (H.R.
1615).

The Salmon Planning Act would initiate a series of studies to explore the economic benefits of salmon and steelhead recovery, examine the cost of removing four federal dams on the Lower Snake River and examine accompanying investments to benefit farmers and electric ratepayers.

Dam removal has long been seen by most scientists to be the best and surest way to recover wild salmon and steelhead on the Columbia and Snake rivers, proponents say. They cite NOAA Fisheries documents that state the dams are allowed to kill as many as 86 percent of the young salmon that are making their way to the ocean.

"It is a gross fiscal irresponsibility," said Jim Norton, Middle Fork River Trips, a river and fishing guide out of Boise, Idaho. "We pay billions of dollars into a system that has destroyed the most robust salmon economy in the world, and pay billions of dollars more for increasingly absurd recovery schemes that will never bring salmon back to the Pacific Northwest."

The signers come from hundreds of commercial and sportfishing related businesses that benefit directly from healthy salmon runs, and also include outdoor and recreation companies that see huge increases in business when fishing is good. They include outdoor clothing outfitters, hotels, and restaurants in and around rural and river communities on the West Coast.

"Not only is it our responsibility to protect and enhance rural economies, good fishing and places in the outdoors for families to enjoy, it also makes good business sense," said Dave Knutson of Chaco, Inc., a manufacturer of river sandals. "When you look at the marginal value that these dams provide to the region and the ineffective result of current strategies to restore salmon and steelhead, you soon realize that a free-flowing lower Snake River is the answer."

With a restored fishery, Washington, Oregon and Idaho could see almost $6 billion dollars in economic benefit from sportfishing alone, the coalition says, citing recent studies.

Commercial fishing could bring in an additional $500 million per year and as many as 25,000 new family wage jobs, according to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"The federal government's disregard for the value of these fish and the health of the rivers to the people of the Northwest and beyond is hurting thousands of businesses around the country, including those that make up the Outdoor Industry, an eight billion dollar and growing industry," said Gareth Martins, designer and manufacturer of Osprey technical backpacks with a 15 year history in rural southwest Colorado. "Congress needs to put federal salmon policy on the right track by passing the Salmon Planning Act now."

So far this spring, return of salmon is dismally low. Fisheries have closed this year as soon as they were opened. Boats remain docked, guides are idle and millions of dollars destined for river communities now and in coming months aren't going to be coming this year.

"The federal government is spending $500-600 million per year to continue actions on the Columbia and Snake rivers, which have a 20 year history of failure," said Dr. C. Mark Rockwell, D.C. with the Northern California Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers, a federation of fly fishing clubs from the U.S. and abroad.

"This is the single, largest waste of taxpayer funds that I have ever experienced in fishing restoration work," said Rockwell. "Supporting the Salmon Planning Act will help stop this waste and direct commonsense efforts, which have a much greater chance of being effective for the fish and cost effective for the American taxpayers."

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