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|   Fish &      wildlife Field      Guide   Introduction
About      the      Program and      its science

**Projects:**(see map)
NE Oregon      wildlife      mitigation
Hungry Horse      mitigation
Cle Elum      supplementation      and research
Redfish Lake      captive      broodstock

Sep 2003      doc 2003-14        Request free map-style brochures of this document at .      The Columbia River Basin Field Guide:            Exploring the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program   
 The Big Map (click to enlarge)             

Historically, the Columbia River Basin has supported a rich variety of      fish and wildlife, including abundant runs of salmon and steelhead.      Between 11 and 16 million wild salmon and steelhead returned from the      ocean each year to spawn in rivers and tributaries throughout the 258,500      square miles of the basin. Returning adult fish spawned as far upriver in      the Columbia as the headwaters at Columbia Lake, British Columbia, and      migrated up the Snake River, the Columbia's largest tributary, as far as      Shoshone Falls, 615 miles from the confluence, and more than 900 miles      from the Pacific Ocean.

Wildlife such as deer, elk, moose, bear, song birds, and other small      mammals also populated the basin. Over time, the impact of development,      recreation, logging, mining, agriculture, navigation, and the generation      of hydroelectric power all combined to disrupt the habitat. By the 1990s,      the number of returning fish had declined to about one million annually,      and many wildlife populations had also been affected.
**"The            land was            ours before we            were the land's."**            Robert Frost
The Northwest Power Act of 1980 authorized the states of Idaho,      Montana, Oregon, and Washington to form the Northwest Power and      Conservation Council. The Council gives the states a voice in deciding      their energy future, while also protecting, mitigating, and enhancing the      fish and wildlife affected by the dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.      Through the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish      and Wildlife Program, a portion of the money the Bonneville Power      Administration earns from selling electricity is dedicated to fish and      wildlife projects. It is the **largest regional effort to protect and      enhance fish and wildlife resources in the nation**.

A critical aspect of the project review and selection process is the      use of independent science. The Council conducts a thorough review of      proposed projects, including examination by an 11-member panel of      independent scientists. The panel analyzes proposed projects using the      best scientific knowledge available to determine a project's      effectiveness, and evaluates the results of prior-year funded projects to      measure their success.
  Columbia River Gorge (photo by Stephen Sasser).            Click to enlarge.
The Council, tribes, state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, and      the public also participate in the review and selection process. The      Council then recommends projects for funding to Bonneville to implement      the program. Funding also goes toward examining important scientific and      policy issues. For example, the Council appointed a scientific review team      of experts in artificial production to provide an independent assessment      of the basin's hatchery programs to improve artificial production and      better understand the role such practices should play to recover      endangered fish.

The program now directs approximately $150 million a year to over 200      projects throughout the basin using a wide variety of approaches: land      acquisition to protect and preserve healthy habitats; research to help      rebuild naturally spawning populations; construction, operation, and      maintenance of fish hatcheries; improvements to passage systems to assist      fish movement through and around the dams; restoration efforts to improve      spawning and rearing habitats in tributaries; and resident fish programs      that mitigate the effects of dams while supporting public fisheries.

This brochure highlights four ongoing projects, reviewed by the Council      and funded by Bonneville, to help explain the work being done to restore      an important part of our Northwest heritage. They are representative of      many other projects currently being implemented throughout the basin to      benefit fish and wildlife populations. |
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