Healthier Ecosystems
Restoring Healthy Pacific Salmon Populations
"Today, there are a lot fewer salmon in the waters.
And the mission has got to be to fight the decline. The mission has
got to be to make sure that we understand that without the salmon
in the Columbia and Snake Rivers that this would be a huge loss to
this part of the world. That’s part of what the focus of my
short discussion is today, is to let you know that we understand in
this administration that we want to work with the local folks to revitalize
the salmon runs. The good news is that salmon runs are up. And that’s really positive.
And we just need to make sure we keep that momentum."
President George W. Bush
Remarks on Salmon Restoration
Burbank, Washington, August 22, 2003
In November 2001, the Administration began implementing new actions
to improve salmon protection and recovery efforts, including a comprehensive
public review of its salmon hatchery policies and increasing its support
for local recovery efforts, while maintaining current protections
for listed salmon species. The President’s FY 2005 budget includes
more than $600 million for Columbia River system salmon, through the
Department of Energy/Bonneville Power Administration, the Army Corps
of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments
of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce. This amount includes discretionary
funding of $342 million, a $15 million increase over 2004.
His budget request also provides $100
million for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund to assist states, tribes, and
local governments with thousands of projects that benefit Pacific coastal salmon in Washington, Oregon,
California, Idaho, and Alaska. This represents a $10 million increase
over 2004. Restoration of endangered salmon stocks is important
for environmental quality, Native American communities, commercial
and recreational fishermen, and the economic vitality of the Pacific
Northwest. The Bush dministration is making salmon recovery a
top priority in the Columbia River Basin. The Bureau of Reclamation
initiated planning for several habitat enhancement projects in
several sub-basins of the Columbia system and purchased 427,000
acre-feet of water in the upper Snake River to enhance flows for
fish migration.
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