Issue Position: Environment - Salmon and Watershed Restoration

Issue Position

Salmon are a valuable economic, cultural, and environmental resource for the Pacific Northwest, and Congressman Blumenauer is a leader in efforts to restore self-sustaining, harvestable populations of salmon to the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Through his previous position on the Water Resources Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he helped secure millions of dollars for salmon habitat restoration projects on Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Estuaries.

Blumenauer encouraged both the Clinton and Bush administrations to keep all scientifically credible options on the table when crafting an endangered salmon recovery plan. He is an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's misguided proposals on Northwest salmon.. He is also a strong supporter of maintaining flows on the Columbia River and its tributaries that allow for the recovery of endangered salmon. Blumenauer fought to keep open the Fish Passage Center, a scientific body that provides data to decision-makers on salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and lamprey throughout the Federal Columbia River system when its funding was under attack. Congressman Blumenauer is also an original co-sponsor of H.R. 1507, the Salmon Economic Analysis and Planning Act, which would authorize the Government Accountability Office and the National Academy of Sciences to review all options for salmon recovery and provide information on what should be done to restore salmon runs.

Congressman Blumenauer has also been a leader in the effort to bring the local Johnson Creek Watershed back from the brink. This watershed was once written off as a dumping ground, and vital fish passage corridors were threatened by development and blocked by culverts. With Blumenauer's support, local jurisdictions began coordinating long term restoration efforts which are now bearing fruit. Culvert removal and in stream restoration has renovated miles of habitat, and salmon are swimming in Johnson Creek once again.

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