For more information:

Roy Sampsel, Manager, Framework Project 503-820-2349

Peter Paquet, NPPC 800-452-5161

851 S.W. Sixth Avenue
Suite 1100
Portland, Oregon, 97204

The goal is to develop a science-based decision-making framework for Columbia River fish and wildlife recovery efforts in the region. It is an inclusive effort, involving state, tribal and federal governments and interested citizens. The framework is being developed in response to the advice of two panels of independent scientists who recently studied fish and wildlife recovery efforts, and recommended that they will succeed only if they go beyond the needs of individual species and account for diverse species. This implies a broader perspective than can be provided by the legal mandate of the Endangered Species Act.

To begin the work of developing a new recovery framework, regional, federal and tribal governments created the Multispecies Framework Project. On October 16, the Framework Project sent a letter to some 1,500 interested persons soliciting concept papers describing general approaches to fish and wildlife recovery in the Columbia River Basin. The deadline for submitting concept papers is November 6. The papers will be reviewed at a public workshop in Portland November 17-19.

The workshop, which will be facilitated by Dr. Ulysses Seal of the World Conservation Union, has four specific purposes:

1. To familiarize participants with the multi-species framework process generally - the goals of the process, the schedule, and expectations for various products.
2. To discuss methods for analyzing policy alternatives.
3. To outline policy alternatives and discuss them in light of the analytical methods. What kinds of information will be needed to facilitate analysis? Are there gaps in analytical methods?
4. If by the end of the workshop there is commitment to proceed with the analytical process, the final objective is to discuss further schedules and products.

If the decision is to proceed, here's what would happen next:

• A group of ecological scientists would use ecological principles to analyze existing fish and wildlife species and habitats in the Columbia River Basin. The scientists would describe where these species are located, in what condition, how they interact and what kinds of environmental conditions would be needed to restore robust populations.
• The ecological scientists then would review the policy approaches developed based on the concept papers and the discussion at the Framework Workshop and assess the implications each has for fish and wildlife recovery. A group of social scientists would analyze the policy alternatives in economic, social and cultural terms.
• Finally, policy alternatives would be revised in light of these analyses, and a report would be submitted, probably by next spring and perhaps refined through next summer.

The spring 1999 report would inform the National Marine Fisheries Service's 1999 decision on how to improve the survival of endangered salmon in the lower Snake River - breaching the four federal dams or leaving them in place. The spring report and further refinement would be useful to the Northwest Power Planning Council as it considers revisions to its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The report also could help government agencies that must comply with the federal Clean Water Act, and state and tribal entities faced with decisions affecting the Columbia River.