Salmon and steelhead were once said to exist in every stream they could reach in the Pacific Northwest. The loss of that habitat from dams, logging, urbanization and agriculture is the primary reason the region’s salmon and steelhead populations are now under threat. Until last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) protected virtually all accessible habitat as critical to the survival and recovery of these threatened and endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

However, in a sweeping reversal, the Bush administration is now proposing to eliminate of the vast majority of the protection that salmon and steelhead need to survive, leaving only a fraction of occupied and accessible streams protected as critical habitat. The proposal would limit critical habitat only to streams currently occupied by the fish, leaving out streams that used to be occupied and are necessary to the species’ recovery. The agency is also proposing to withdraw protection from military bases, private timber lands most federal lands and countless other places. Finally, the proposal eliminates protection for important stream side land, where most of the activities that harm fish take place. “We would get down to excluding around 90 percent of the critical habitat that had been identified” in 2000, says Jim Lecky, a NOAA assistant regional administrator.

“Protecting only occupied habitat is like a doctor keeping a patient on life support and calling him cured,” Kober says. “But the new plan certainly is consistent with the Bush administration’s pattern of ignoring both the findings of science and the legal requirements of endangered-species recovery. It adds up to a precedent that could spell doom for endangered species all over the country.”

Now is the only chance to stop this harmful habitat policy before it is adopted. Write the Bush administration TODAY and tell them that extinction is not an option – wild salmon and steelhead need more habitat protection, not less. NOAA is accepting public comments on the proposal through March 14. You can also participate in the following public hearings:

January 11th, 2004: Portland Doubletree Columbia River Hotel, Janzen Beach. 6:30-9:30
January 13th, 2004: Kennewick, Red Lion Hotel, 6:30-9:30
January 18th, 2004: Seattle/Tacoma, Radisson Hotel, SeaTac Airport. 6:30-9:30
January 25th, 2004: Boise, Red Lion Hotel, 6:30-9:30

For information on hearings in California, go to:
http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/news/Hearings_CriticalHabitat_nr.pdf.

For more information contact John Kober at kober@nwf.org or go to www.nwf.org/salmon.