Congress

The Salmon Planning Act (HR 1615)

In April 2005, Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Tom Petri (R-WI) re-introduced the Salmon Planning Act (SPA) in the 109th Congress as a backup plan for Northwest wild salmon and steelhead.

This common sense fact-finding bill has three main sections. First, it calls for a scientific study by the Na tional Academy of Sciences to see if removal of the four Lower Snake River dams is truly needed to recover imperiled salmon. Second, it authorizes several economic studies to examine transportation and energy alternatives and community transitions in the event that dam removal becomes necessary to comply with legal and tribal treaty obligations. Third, the Salmon Planning Act provides the federal agencies provisional authority to plan for the removal of the four Snake River dams if needed to restore our imperiled salmon.

Currently seventy nine members of the House of Representatives have joined the original sponsors of the Salmon Planning Act, Representatives McDermott and Petri. See the list of co-sponsors.

Why does America need a Salmon Recovery Backup Plan?

What was once the greatest salmon fishery in the world is now but a shadow of its former self. Twenty-seven species of salmon and steelhead are listed as endangered or threatened. Like the canary in the coalmine, salmon are an indicator species, which means that when salmon are endangered our rivers are very sick the water is hot and full of letha l levels of chemicals. Now, like the Northwest ecosystem, the Northwest economy is also suffering from these low salmon populations. In addition, the federal government is failing to fulfill its treaty with Northwest tribes to maintain self-sustaining harvestable populations of salmon.

The federal government has a plan to recover the species called the Federal Salmon Plan but so far, the Bush Administration's implementation of the current plan, adopted in 2000, has proven woefully inadequate. Funding levels have been set at one-half of what is needed. And so far, research indicates that less than 30% of the recovery measures have actually occurred. It has been ruled illegal in federal court and the federal government is now finalizing a new version of this plan.

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To view the official language of the Salmon Planning Act (HR 1615) visit the Library of Congress website and search for HR 1615 or just click here. For more information visit the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Find more information in our Library about our work in Congress

The following are major agency websites of interest.

Bonneville Power Administration
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries)
Salmon Recovery.gov
University of Washington Fish Passage Center and River Condition Information
Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority
University of Washington Fish Passage
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northwest Division
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region
U.S. EPA Region 10
U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Pacific Region
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife