Contacts: Brian Gorman             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          Janet Sears              Feb. 26, 1998
          Rob Jones

The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing to protect under the Federal Endangered Species Act more than a dozen salmon and steelhead populations in Washington, Oregon, and California that are heading towards extinction, officials with the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

A final decision on all these populations will be made next year.

The populations formally proposed today for protection range from sockeye salmon in tiny Ozette Lake in Washington's rugged Olympic Peninsula to chinook salmon in the state's heavily urbanized Puget Sound.

"Our West Coast salmon and steelhead face an uncertain future, but extinction is not an option," said Terry Garcia, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and deputy administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "NOAA's highest priority in the next year is to build strong partnerships leading to conservation initiatives that save these salmon runs and foster sustainable use of these species and their habitats. This is an opportunity for the states to work with us in crafting recovery solutions."

"Today's announcement is the beginning of the final stages of the listing process for salmon and steelhead populations begun more than a decade ago. By this time next year, we will have completed the evaluation of all the salmon populations, and we will turn full time to the business of recovery," said Garcia.

The health of salmon varies widely, according to the fisheries service. Puget Sound chum, for example, are at historic high levels with more than a million fish returning annually to spawn in recent years. They are not being proposed for listing.

By contrast, the population of Columbia River chum, one of the species proposed for listing today, has tumbled from annual returns of 500,000 to as few as 1,500 recently.

With initiatives to save the fish being forged in Washington and Oregon, Garcia cautioned state, tribal, and local governments not to focus simply on trying to avoid having the federal government list these fish under the Endangered Species Act.

"Several points deserve emphasis," said Garcia. "First, today's proposal is just a proposal. We have much hard work to complete over the next year to ensure that any final assessments are on target. We intend to work closely with state and tribal biologists in the interim to review the these designations and the prognosis for each of them."

"As we move into recovery planning for all the listed coastal stocks, we intend to work with all parties and the tribes to formalize a role for them in the crafting of a recovery strategy, using as the basic building blocks the state conservation efforts like that of the Oregon Coho Plan," said William Stelle, head of the fisheries service's Northwest Region in Seattle.

Stelle added, "Finally, the fundamental point is that our salmon populations are sick because our watersheds are sick. We won't recover salmon until we recover the health of the watersheds, which are their home. It is the heart of the problem, and the toughest part of the challenge."

Federal protection under the ESA is proposed for:

Ozette Lake sockeye, Hood Canal summer chum, Puget Sound chinook, upper Columbia spring chinook, middle Columbia steelhead, lower Columbia chum, lower Columbia chinook, Snake River fall chinook, upper Willamette chinook, upper Willamette steelhead, and southern Oregon/California Coast chinook, Central Valley spring chinook and Central Valley fall chinook.

Under the Endangered Species Act, a species likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future is categorized as endangered; one likely to become endangered is categorized as threatened.

Factors affecting the health of these fish vary from place to place, but typically include dam construction and operation, over harvesting, certain hatchery practices, and land-use and water-development projects that degrade water and river conditions key to salmon survival.

"These proposals should serve as a message to all of us that the status quo is simply unacceptable," Garcia added.

The fisheries service will review public comment on the proposals and any new scientific information before its final decisions are made in 1999. Written comments can be sent to Garth Griffin, NMFS Protected Resources Division, 525 NE Oregon St., Portland OR 97232-2737.

The fisheries service will also be going to local communities to collect people's comments at public hearings.

Additional specific information describing this proposal, including maps and fact sheets, is available on the fisheries service's Northwest Region website at www.nwr.noaa.gov. The Federal Register notice containing this proposal is available at the Government Printing Office's website at www.gpo.gov.