Paper pub. date
January 2000
ISBN 9780870714726 (paperback)
ISBN 9780870713903 (hardcover)
6 x 9 inches, 384 pages. Illustrated with photographs. Glossary. Index.

The Northwest Salmon Crisis

A Documentary History

Sandy Ridlington and Joseph Cone
Summary
Preview
Reviews

This acclaimed volume offers a key to understanding the historic roots of one of today's most closely watched environmental issues, the fate of salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

The history of the current salmon crisis is long and disturbingly consistent, with concern over declining salmon runs beginning in the 1800s. This book focuses on the human actions--and failures to act--that have helped drive many wild salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest to the brink of extinction.

For this first documentary history of the salmon crisis, knowledgeable observers of salmon history have chosen and commented upon the documents that they feel most clearly reveal the causes and implications of today's crisis. The eighty documents span a period of 140 years and address such issues as habitat, hatcheries, dams, fisheries, Indian fishing rights, and watershed management. Together, these mileposts in the sorry journey of the salmon provide a compelling perspective on an environmental crisis of growing national concern.

Selected by Choice as one of the year's "Outstanding Academic Books."

The Contributors

The contributors bring to the discussion expertise in such areas as natural resource law, biology, tribal and Northwest history, and anthropology. They are Bill M. Bakke, Michael C. Blumm, F. Lorraine Bodi, Joseph Cone, Douglas W. Dompier, Stanley V. Gregory, Robert Kentta, William L. Lang, James A. Lichatowich, William G. Robbins, and Courtland L. Smith.


About the author

Sandy Ridlington is managing editor of Oregon Sea Grant.


Read more about this author

Joseph Cone is the co-editor of The Northwest Salmon Crisis and the author of Fire Under the Sea, which was named one of the top science books of the year by Library Journal and Booklist.


Read more about this author

I. Introduction

The World of Columbia River Salmon: Nature, Culture, and the Great River of the West
By William G. Robbins

II. The Exploration of Nature

Introduction
Crosscurrents: Salmon in the Wild and in Hatcheries
Explorations on the Columbia River (Livingston Stone)
Salmon Fisheries of the Columbia Basin (Marshall McDonald)
Fish and Fisheries (Morning Oregonian reporter
Local Populations and Conservation of Salmon (Willis Rich)
Future of the Columbia Fisheries (Willis Rich)
Artificial Propagation in Oregon (George Staley)
Review of Fish Production Facilities (Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority
Commentary by Bill M. Bakke and Joseph Cone
Hatcheries: An Artificial Salmon
The Fish Supply (John Hittell)
Artificial Propagation of Salmon (Livingston Stone)
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith
The Creed of a Salmon Capitalist
Salmon of the Pacific Coast (R.D.Hume)
Commentary by James A. Lichatowich
The Scramble to Regulate Fisheries
Fish and Game Protector Reports, 1893-1894 and 1895-96
Fish Commissioners Reports, 1887, 1888, and 1891
Regulation of Fishing Gear and Seasons (Henry O. Wendler)
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith

III. Contending with Technology

Introduction
What Happens When the Public Manages Technology
The Effects of the Partial Elimination of Fishing Gear (D.R. Johnson, W.M. Chapman, and R.W. Schoning)
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith
Army Corps and Congress: True Believers in Dams
Army Corps of Engineers Report (1931)
Bonneville Project Act
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Science Ignored for Development
U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries Report
The Mitchell Act
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Developers Consider Costs and Benefits
Army Corps of Engineers Report (1938)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
What the Mitchell Act Promised the Salmon
Agreement to Implement the Mitchell Act
The Fishery Program in the Lower Columbia River (Leo Laythe)
Commentary by Douglas W. Dompier
"We're from the Government and We're Here to Help"
The McNary Dam Authorization
Corps of Engineers Report (1948)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
International and Regional Cooperation Overlooks Salmon
Columbia River Treaty
Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Justice Douglas Decides for Udall and the Clearwater
Udall V. Federal Power Commission (Justice William O. Douglas)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
The Problems with Hatcheries
Are Wild Salmonid Stocks Worth Conserving? (John Dentler and David Buchanan)
Analysis of Supplementation (William H. Miller and others)
Techno-Arrogance and Halfway Technologies: Salmon Hatcheries (Gary K. Meffe)
Commentary by Joseph Cone
A Fisher's Campaign for Conservation
Fiftieth Anniversary Number, Pacific Fisherman (Miller Freeman)
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith
Management of Wood Is Critical to Rivers and Salmon
Salmon Fisheries of the Coastal Rivers (John Gharrett and John Hodges)
Prevent Logging Damage to Streams (Canadian Department of Recreation & Conservation)
Guidelines for Stream Protection (Richard L. Lantz)
Field Guide to Oregon Forest Practice Rules
Land Use Planning (U.S. Forest Service)
Commentary by Stanley Gregory
Does Planning Help?
Pacific Northwest Regional Plan (Roy F. Bessey)
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith

IV. The Indian Experience

Introduction
What the Treaties Promised the Indians
Stevens Treaty Negotiations
Treaty of Medicine Creek
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Supreme Court Upholds Indians' Rights
United States V. Winans (Justice Joseph McKenna)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Judge Boldt Defends Fishing Rights
United States v. Washington, Phase I (Judge George Boldt)
Washington v. Passenger Fishing Vessel Association (Justice John Paul Stevens)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
The Courts Tackle Habitat
United States v. Washington, Phase II
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
An Early Instance of Supplementation
The Great Salmon Mystery (Richard Neuberger)
Commentary by Douglas W. Dompier
Attempts to Foster Supplementation Run Afoul of Politics
Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (1982)
Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (1987)
Commentary by Douglas W. Dompier
The Role of Race in Salmon Policy
The Hutchinson Memo (Samuel J. Hutchinson)
Columbia River Fishery Development Report
Senate Appropriations Hearings
Report on the Lower Snake River Dams
Endangered Species Act Workshop (Howard Raymond)
Idaho Anadromous Fish Plan
Commentary by Douglas W. Dompier
Study of a People and Their Resources
Rogue River Treaty
Notice of Intent to Establish Coast Reservation (Joel Palmer)
Executive Order Establishing Coast Reservation (President Franklin Pierce)
Executive Order Reducing Coast Reservation (Joseph Harlan and President Andrew Johnson)
Annual Report on Indian Affairs J.W. Perit Huntington)
Report on Conditions of Siletz Agency Indians (E.C.Kimble)
Letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs (E.P. Smith)
Looters of the Public Domain (Stephen A. Douglas Puter)
Letter from Siletz Tribal Council (Daniel Orton)
Report on Siletz River (John I. Hodges)
Draft of Termination Act
Siletz Restoration Act
Commentary by Robert Kentta

V. The Accelerating Crisis

Introduction
Should Ecology Restrain the Economy?
Ecology and Economy (Urban and Rural Lands Committee, Pacific Northwest River Basins Commission
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith
A Call for Balance
A Question of Balance (Ed Chaney)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Northwest Power Act: "Fish Coequal with Hydropower"
Northwest Power Act
The 1982 Water Budget
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Hatchery Operations Show Bias
Releases of Juvenile Salmon
Commentary by Douglas W. Dompier
States May Not Horde Natural Resources
Idaho v. Oregon and Washington (U.S. Supreme Court)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Court Defined "Equitable Treatment" of Salmon
Yakima Indian Nation v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
A Shared Resource: The Tragedy of the Commons
Pacific Salmon Treaty
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
New Regional Program Failed to Restore Runs
The Failed Promise of the Fish and Wildlife Program (Natural Resources Law Institute)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Court Says Council Violated Law
Northwest Resource Information Center v. Northwest Power Planning Council (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
The Alarm that Was Heard: The Crossroads Report
Pacific Salmon at the Crossroads (Endangered Species Committee of the American Fisheries Society)
Commentary by Joseph Cone
Wild Fish Receive Special Consideration
Wild Fish Management Policy (Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission)
Commentary by Bill M. Bakke
Snake River Salmon Listed under Endangered Species Act
Endangered and Threatened Species: Final Rule
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
Overhaul of Columbia River Operations Needed
Idaho Department of Fish and Game v. National Marine Fisheries Service(Judge Malcolm Marsh)
Commentary by Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi
What Have Northwest Residents learned?
Oregon Voter's Pamphlets
Commentary by Courtland L. Smith
Invisible Parks for Northwest Salmon: Nowhere to Run
A National Salmon Park (Livingston Stone)
The Program for Anadromous Fishes of the Columbia (Ross Leffler)
Forest Ecosystem Management (Forest Ecosystem Management Team)
Memo to Thomas E. Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution (Willa Nehlsen and others)
Commentary by Joseph Cone

VI. Conclusion

River of Change: Salmon, Time, and Crisis on the Columbia River
By William Lang
Biographical Notes
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index

"...A remarkable collection of relevant, revealing public documents that chronicle the sad saga of declining salmon runs in the region."

--Russell Sadler, syndicated columnist

"A valuable resource for policy makers, scientists, historians, students, and all who care about the future of salmon."

--Environmental Law

"The Northwest Salmon Crisis is a book that can help us understand the origins of a deep-rooted problem, one that applies to every small drainage in our region."

--Jack Nisbet, The Pacific Northwest Inlander
See book review in Tidepool: News for the Rain Forest Coast

Sign Up for Our Newsletter