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Because this program was dev~loped in cooperation with so mcq1.Y people from throughout the Pacilic Northwest, we have great confidence in it. It reflects not only our best scientific knowled,ge of the salmon C!nd Its complex lifE(, but 'also the unique values and perspectives of our people. ~ '- A LOri 9 , t e r m COMMITMENT -t 0 \ S a I, m 0 n S. aVin. g the salmon.. of the Colpmbia River Ba.Sin is neither a recent,.n.or merely a regional: concern. It has peen a long-term corrurritment of the United States, Canada and the sover- eign :(ndian nations of the Pacific Northwest.' . Nearly 150 ydrrsago, the U.S. government negotiate~Ureatieswith many of the Northwest's tribes to secure for the United StatesmilliollS-of acr~s of trib.;llland. These treaties guarant~ed tribes the right to, fish, hunt and harvest the foods that provided them both physical and spiritu- alsustenance. These treaty rights have been consistently reaffirmed in federal court challenges. Federal and Northwest state legislation has als6 supported protection of and rebuilding ef- forts for Columbia River salmon: since.the first decades of this century. These llaws called fQI'lim- iting harvests of salmon, a.s well as hatcheries and other efforts to increa~esalmonproduction. In 1980, Congress passed the Northwest Power Act~ which included the directive to "protect, mitigate and enhance" Columbia Basin fish and wildlife, particularly the salmon, "which are of significant importance to the social and economic well-being of the Pacific Northwest and the Nation." ';fhe Act !?pecifically ordered fe.deral agencies that manage, operate or regulate both . federal and n9n-federaldams in the Columbia River Basin to provide ':equitable treatment" for ' fish and wildlife with the'other purposes for which the dams are operated. . In 1985, the United States and C,anada signed a treaty cominitting these two nations to reduc- ing salmon fishing in the oceap. and rebuilding salmon populations in both countries. Salmon from the Columbia River Basin,which.arecritical to the viability of both countries' fishing econ- omies, received particular attention in that treaty.' . In 1991 and 1992, the Naponal Marine Fisheries Service de~lared three Columbia River. Basin sairrJ,on runs to be threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act is one of the most rigorous pieces of legislation ever enacted to protect natural resources. . " !' . , W~ . . Regional fishery councils creafedarouilp the nation to oversee fisheries for the area between three miles and 200 miles off the U.S. coasts.