Columbia River Basin Salmon and Steelhead: Federal Agencies' Recovery Responsibilities, Expenditures and Actions-05-Sep-02


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	Thursday September 5, 2002 Columbia River Basin Salmon and Steelhead: Federal Agencies' Recovery Responsibilities, Expenditures and Actions Source: United States General Accounting Office Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Efforts Results In Brief Go directly to the full report (this large pdf file may take 2 minutes to load) Eleven federal agencies are involved with salmon and steelhead recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin. NMFS, as the lead agency, is responsible for preparing a recovery plan and consulting with other federal agencies to determine whether the agencies' planned actions will jeopardize listed salmon and steelhead populations. In addition to NMFS, the federal agencies involved in the recovery effort include the following: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, which operate the Columbia River Basin dams that salmon and steelhead must pass, and the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets the electric power created by water flowing through the dams' turbines. The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manage natural resources, which include habitat for salmon and steelhead, for multiple purposes, such as timber, grazing, fish, wildlife, and recreation The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, which carry out various actions, such as setting water quality standards, performing research, working with landowners, and protecting tribal fishing rights, all of which, directly affect salmon and steelhead populations. At least 65 groups, such as committees and task forces, have been formed to coordinate recovery efforts between the federal agencies, as well as with states, tribes, local governments, and other interested entities. The 11 federal agencies estimate they expended almost $1.8 billion (unadjusted for inflation) from fiscal year 1982 through fiscal 1996 and about $1.5 billion (in 2001 dollars) from fiscal year 1997 through fiscal 2001 on efforts specifically designed to recover Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead.1 The $1.5 billion expended in the last 5 fiscal years consists of $968 million that federal agencies spent directly and $537 million that the federal agencies received and then provided to nonfederal entities, such as states and Indian tribes. Four federal agencies accounted for about 88 percent of the $968 million that the federal agencies expended in the last 5 fiscal years. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expended about $590 million primarily on projects such as improving the passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead at the dams. o The U.S. Forest Service expended about $106 million primarily on ESA consultations and projects, such as habitat improvement, land acquisition, watershed restoration, in-stream habitat improvement, and improving passage at culverts and small dams that block salmon and steelhead passage. The Fish and Wildlife Service expended about $97 million primarily on salmon and steelhead hatcheries. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation expended about $62 million primarily on recovery projects such as water acquisition, augmenting existing water sources, and habitat acquisition. In addition to the $1.5 billion, the 11 federal agencies estimated that they expended $302 million (in 2001 dollars) in the last 5 fiscal years on modifications to mission-related projects that benefited, but were not specifically directed at, salmon and steelhead, such as erosion control to improve crop productivity and wildlife habitat, which also improves stream flows and reduces sedimentation in spawning habitat. Federal agencies have undertaken many types of recovery actions and, although these actions are generally viewed as resulting in higher numbers of returning adult salmon and steelhead, there is little conclusive evidence to quantify the extent of their effects on returning fish populations. Recovery actions that have been taken include projects such as constructing fish passage facilities at dams; research studies, such as determining the presence or absence of toxic substances that cause diseases in fish; monitoring actions, such as surveying spawning grounds; and others, such as ESA-required consultations. The data to quantify the effects of these actions on fish populations are generally not available because of a number of factors, including large yearly natural fluctuations in returning adult salmon and steelhead, changing weather and ocean conditions, and the length of time it takes for project benefits to materialize. However, federal agency officials are confident that their recovery actions are having positive effects and have resulted in higher numbers of returning adult salmon and steelhead than would have occurred otherwise. We provided the agencies involved in salmon and steelhead recovery efforts with a draft of this report. The agencies, with the exception of Bonneville, generally agreed with the information in the report. Bonneville raised concerns about the completeness of our report asserting that it did not discuss the source of funds used to cover salmon and steelhead recovery efforts. We revised our report to reflect Bonneville's concerns. 1Funds used for salmon and steelhead recovery are seldom specifically identified and, because each agency has a different accounting system, we asked agency officials to provide actual numbers whenever possible and estimates when specific numbers were not available. Because the 11 agencies provided us with a combined dollar estimate of expenditures for fiscal years 1982 through 1996, we did not adjust these estimates to account for inflation. The remaining data supplied for individual fiscal years 1997 through 2001 have been adjusted to the constant base of 2001 dollars. Read the full report (this large pdf file may take 2 minutes to load)