Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Hayes. Ms. Senator and gentlemen, under the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980, there is a mandate to promptly develop and adopt a program to protect, miti gate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including related spawning grounds and habitat on the Columbia River and its tributaries. The act further directs that the program to the greatest extent possible shall be designed to deal with that river and its tributaries as a system. Unfortunately, this act is limited to the development and oper ation of mitigation of hydroprojects. This flaw in the bill may very well abort the major effort and the expenditure in time and money that is now being made by the Northwest Power Planning Council in their efforts to restore the anadromous fish runs to their former abundant state. Historically, the South Fork of the Salmon River supported one of Idaho's largest Chinook Salmon runs, as well as a large run of steelhead trout. Unfortunately, this veritable treasure was located in one of the most highly erodible areas in the State. Before 1950 there were few problems. But by 1965 when timber harvesting was begun on higher slopes and 622 miles of roads had been constructed, largely for timber sales, a catastrophe occured. Arnold and Ludeen estimated that by 1967 accelerated soil ero sion in the watershed above the Cache River had increased sedi ment loads in the river by 350 percent compared to conditions before 1950. This sediment buried Chinook salmon and steelhead trout redds under thick blankets of sand, smothering the fry as they emerged from the egg, and reducing the runs of the salmon and steelhead to a pitiful remnant of their former state. A moratorium on logging and road construction was then imple mented and the streams are recovering. But the Forest Service is going back into this area to very carefully log, they say. The cumulative impact potential for the anadromous fish in this area is disheartening. And if you will read the testimony, you will find my areas of concern.