<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:blue;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>FISHERIES PRESERVATION</span></font></b></strong><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>New rules shift salmon policy</span></font></b></strong><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Critics say scientists were ignored; species
protection uncertain.</span></font></b></strong><font size=4><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><strong><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Sacramento</span></font></b></strong></st1:City></st1:place><strong><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Bee -
5/2/04 </span></font></b></strong><font size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>By Les Blumenthal, staff writer</span></font></b></strong><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on"><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'>WASHINGTON</span></font></st1:State></st1:place><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'> - In tentatively concluding there is
little difference between wild and hatchery salmon, the Bush administration
rejected the findings of independent scientists and, instead, opted for a
fundamental shift in long-established policy that could affect federal
protections for up to 25 West Coast runs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The
administration's move, outlined in a one-page confidential memo reviewed by the
White House Council on Environmental Policy, represents a major victory for
agricultural interests and developers who had fought the listings of salmon and
steelhead runs under the Endangered Species Act. It was a major setback for
environmentalists, who charge the White House manipulated an earlier court
decision for political purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The
proposed policy, still in draft form, comes at a time of record or near-record
runs on rivers and streams. Most returning fish, in some cases 90 percent or
more, are hatchery-raised and not wild. Despite more than $700 million spent
annually on the most extensive effort ever to recover an endangered species,
improved ocean conditions rather than man-made fixes are generally credited for
the healthy runs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Hatcheries
have played a key role in supplementing wild runs since the 1930s, when the
federal government embarked on an ambitious program to build massive
hydroelectric dams. The dams flooded spawning habitat and interfered with
migrating fish.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Until
now, only wild salmon and steelhead have been considered when deciding on
federal protection.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"Ultimately,
this is an attempt to bypass the Endangered Species Act and delist as many stocks
as they can," said biologist Ransom Myers of Dalhousie University in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Halifax</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Nova
Scotia</st1:State></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Myers was
one of six scientists appointed to an independent advisory panel by federal
officials to look at whether wild and hatchery-bred salmon are genetically
similar. Myers and other members of the panel said officials of the National
Marine Fisheries Service were not pleased when the panel concluded there were
significant differences.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"Any
science that contradicted them was not welcome," Myers said in a telephone
interview. The scientists, he said, basically found that "you can't
replace wild salmon with hatchery salmon. It's like saying <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Chihuahuas</st1:State></st1:place> and wolves are the same."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Other
members of the scientific panel were also critical of the administration.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"The
current political and legal wrangling is a sideshow to the real issues,"
Robert Paine, a biologist at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Washington</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, said in an
earlier statement. "The science is clear and unambiguous - as they are
currently operated, hatcheries and hatchery fish cannot protect wild
stocks."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The
advisory panel said the tens of millions of hatchery fish released into Western
rivers each year are well-fed and larger than wild ones. But Myers said the
hatchery fish are also genetically inferior, and staking the survival of all
salmon on those bred in captivity would be a mistake.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Administration
officials sought to downplay the impact of the new policy.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"People
are jumping to conclusions about what this says," said Jim Lecky,
intergovernmental program adviser to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">National</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Ocean</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries programs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Of the 26
federally protected salmon and steelhead runs on the West Coast, all but one -
Southern California steelhead - will eventually be reviewed in light of the new
policy, Lecky said. Fifteen of the runs have been challenged by various groups;
of those, NOAA-Fisheries is under court pressure to decide quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"This
doesn't necessarily mean they will be delisted or reclassified," Lecky
said. "We don't know how many will actually be affected."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The memo
outlining the proposed new policy, a copy of which was obtained by the News
Tribune, concluded hatchery fish that are genetically "no more than
moderately divergent" from wild ones will be considered when deciding
whether a run should receive federal protection. The phrase "moderately
divergent" was not defined.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>But the
memo also said federal officials will recognize the "necessity" of
conserving wild salmon populations and the ecosystems salmon depend on.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Lecky
conceded the policy, if finally adopted, would be controversial. Asked about
White House involvement, Lecky said top environmental officials in the White
House routinely review such policy changes.</span></font><font size=4><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>Byron Leydecker<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>Consultant, California
Trout, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><i><font
size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:#999999;font-style:italic'>PO Box</span></font></i></st1:Street><i><font
color="#999999"><span style='color:#999999;font-style:italic'> 2327</span></font></i></st1:address><i><font
color="#999999"><span style='color:#999999;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><i><font size=3
color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:#999999;font-style:italic'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></st1:City><i><font
color="#999999"><span style='color:#999999;font-style:italic'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></st1:place><i><font
color="#999999"><span style='color:#999999;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>415 383 4810 ph<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>415 519 4810 ce<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#999999" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#999999;font-style:italic'>415 383 9562 fx<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#3366ff" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#3366FF;font-style:italic'>bwl3@comcast.net<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color="#3366ff" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#3366FF;font-style:italic'>bleydecker@stanfordalumin.org
(secondary)<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><u><font size=3 color="#3366ff" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#3366FF;font-style:italic'>http://www.fotr.org<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>