TO THE EDITOR:





I read with great interest the article about the BPA audit and fish project


management.


(The Oregonian Feb 7, 1998.) The problems with BPA fish project funding are


well known to those working to rebuild wild, native salmon runs in the


Columbia Basin.  It is no mystery why the wild salmon runs continue to


decline.  It is because very little of the money spent goes to recovery of


wild salmon runs.  The single largest spending commitment has been to new


hatcheries.  Hatcheries raise hatchery salmon not wild salmon.  The lowest


amount of spending goes to maintaining and protecting biological diversity


in the basin.


        In 1997 I worked with economoists at BPA to find out how much was


being spent on wild, native salmon recovery.  I found out the BPA fish


budget is not constructed to find out the answer to that question.  It was


not long before the staff I was working with were told by their supervisor


to no longer work with me on the question.  I went to the head of the fish


program at BPA, Bob Lohn, to get permission to continue the work.  He told


me that he needed direction form the Power Planning Council.   I then asked


the Power Council to ask BPA for a cost accounting for wild salmon recovery


in the BPA budget. The Power Council said it would make the request but did


not take action.  The BPA budget is still not organized so that one can find


out how much is being spent on wild salmon recovery.  If the Power Council


and BPA are not interested in tracking the funding allocation for wild


salmon recovery, then accountability for wild salmon rebuilding is


impossible to determine.


        The fish agencies and tribes have a cozy insiders deal with the


Power Council and BPA to fund only those projects the fish agencies  want


funded.  These


same fish agencies have refused since 1994 to carry out wild salmon rebuilding


measures contained in the Power Council's program.  This program was adopted


with full public involvement, but he Power Council and BPA have been


unwilling to make sure wild salmon projects were completed.  Even with


recommendations from a  independent scientific review panel to carry out


wild salmon measures there has been no progress. 


        Wild, native salmon in the Columbia Basin cannot be recovered as


long as the fish agencies and tribes, the Power Planning Council and BPA are


unwilling to direct money toward recovery actions and  as long as  a cost


accounting for wild salmon recovery is not available to hold these agencies


accountable.





Bill M. Bakke, Director


Native Fish Society


Southwest Portland


977-0287