Number: 1995-03
WHEREAS, wild salmon and steelhead of the Pacific Northwest are the lifeblood of healthful watersheds and the culture of Indian tribes, as well as an important part of the American sports and commercial fishing industries; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation has resolved for two decades to advocate the recovery and protection of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia, Snake, Sacramento, Klamath, and other Western river basins; and
WHEREAS, 106 stocks of salmon and steelhead are extinct; and
WHEREAS, the Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society has identified 214 stocks of salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest that are at or have surpassed the biological threshold for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and
WHEREAS, the National Marine Fisheries Service has listed under the ESA three species of salmon in Idaho and one species of salmon in California, and has proposed for listing or is conducting status reviews of several other species of salmon and steelhead; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation is a co-petitioner on many petitions to list salmon and steelhead under the ESA;
WHEREAS, state and federal fisheries agencies face severe difficulties politically and financially to establish or maintain programs that will adequately recover wild salmon and steelhead; and
WHEREAS, salmon and steelhead form a vital economic base of many communities throughout the region and net the economy roughly 60,000 jobs and $1 billion annually in income; and
WHEREAS, increases in the cost of power to save endangered salmon from extinction are estimated to be $1.20 to $2.00 a month per ratepayer, which is within the amount surveyed ratepayers are willing to pay to restore salmon runs; and
WHEREAS, the vigorous effort of grassroots, state, and national conservation groups are essential to ensure that wild salmon and steelhead remain a viable part of the region’s anadromous fish-related recreation, culture, and commerce;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in its Annual Meeting assembled March 18-20, 1995 in Washington, D.C., hereby strengthens its legal, political, and grassroots efforts to recover wild salmon and steelhead; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes federal legislative proposals that would inhibit protecting endangered species, such as moratoria on listings, status reviews, and the designation of critical habitat; or defunding, deauthorizing, or rescinding ESA appropriations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports, as a minimum, the Northwest Power Planning Council’s regional Salmon Recovery Plan, which provides for, among other things, drawdowns of lower Snake River Dams, augmented flows, a halt to transporting juvenile salmon by barge, more involvement of regional fish managers in determining fish migration needs, and the operation of the John Day Dam at a minimum operating pool when salmon migrate in the spring and summer.