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Methow Valley News August 3, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage Publisher's Comment ~ by Lee Hicks Is that a big ‘H’ or a small ‘h?’ No surprises here. It’s an election year. Anyone expecting the federal caucus of nine resource-related agencies to recommend breaching four Snake River dams might have forgotten it’s an election year. This is not to argue that breaching the dams makes economic or biological sense, although some scientists think it’s a faster way to recover salmon runs in the Snake. As the new Basin-wide Salmon Recovery Strategy (formerly 4H, then All H plans) suggests, breaching the Snake dams might do little to save runs heading into the upper Columbia. But it may not be just the "hydro" part of the Hs that is getting downplayed in the basin recovery strategy. Regarding harvest management, the plan overview states that harvest rates, "are now so low that further reductions will not yield major benefits." So that’s two "Hs"—or "hs"—that appear to have dropped in priority since the first draft of options trickled out from the federal caucus late last year. As for hatcheries, the plan seems to favor continued supplementation of "wild" fish with hatchery stock. But it points the way to "reform" hatcheries to minimize harm to endangered runs. Perhaps to take the pressure off the agencies, the plan suggests the possibility of letting tribes operate or manage hatcheries to promote non-listed fisheries. Last, there is the habitat component—which brings all the ramifications of the Endangered Species Act and recovery strategies home to the Methow basin. The federal caucus appears to be opting for near-term habitat measures to bear most of the burden of fish recovery. More water in streams, more stream buffers, fish screens, improved passage and land acquisition are all in the strategy. Opinion | Sports |
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