Scientist Gary Wedemeyer said there may be a difference between hatchery and wild fish, but that from a practical standpoint, hatcheries need to be embraced to make up for human overpopulation. The main problem is overpopulation - too many people and not enough wild land. Unless we slow the human population growth or stop it, it's not possible to have enough natural, wild habitat left. He is a retired OSU fisheries professor and program manager for the National Marine Fisheries Service. PATH, or Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses, is a team of 30 scientists appointed by the Clinton administration to resolve uncertainties in the National Marine Fisheries Service interim 1995 Biological Opinion for restoring endangered Snake River salmon.
PATH is charged with analyzing which measures are most likely to restore Columbia Basin salmon.
The Implementation Team, headed by NMFS, gives PATH its priorities. These scientific findings and others are the ammunition that the coalition hopes to use to highlight the holes in current salmon recovery science. First, the goal is to educate the public. Then, the group will consider legislative fixes to what they see as misdirected policies and regulations. The coalition includes OIA, the Oregon State Grange, the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, Oregon Wheat Growers League, Oregon Association of Realtors, Washington State Farm Bureau, Oregon Cattlemen's Association, Citizens for a Sound Economy, Oregon Lands Coalition and Water for Life.