The Northwest Salmon Crisis

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.

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."

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

"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."