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, o N -J w It is particularly important that the BLM's line-item Management of Lands and Renewable Resources be adequately funded. Section 203(b) of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Cantrol Act as amended directs the. SecretarYQLt--'J-'Ll!lUlsloLto.,.dell.elllJL ao comprehensive ornw~m. far minimizing salt contributlOnsto-the.Colorado River from lands administered by the Bureau of Land 'Management. This is both important and apprapriate because the BLM is the largest manager of ~n the Colorado River Basin (53 million acres of public lands in the Colorado River Basin above Yuma, Arizona) and because salt 10adinQ reductions on BLM-manaoed ranQelands can be done more economicallv than some of the methods available to and projects being Implemented1lYTh-e'- Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Agriculture. In that the Secretary of the Interior is directed by the Act ta give preference to those salinity contral efforts which reduce salinity at the least cost per unit of salinity reduction, e.g. in the most cast-effective manner, the Forum and Council have aggressively urged, and will continue to encouraQe the BLM ta identify, plan and ~evelap additional proiects that will remove, or Qf,event the loading of, a greater tonnage of salts from the River system. S"~ ~ $-~ - As noted in the Forum's testimony, the BLM has chosen to once again modify its budgeting and fund allocation processes to more closely follaw ecosystem and watershed management v- approaches. Wyoming and the other member states of the Forum have been frustrated by BLM's .. .approach of identifying where funds are allocated as opposed to what purposes or how they are used to accomplish specific activities, objectives and benefits. The same difficulty exists with regard to accounting for haw allocated funds have been expended. The BLM is simply IIn~hle at the present time to indicate how much money it is spendinQ or where it is beinQ spent ta achieve salinity control benefits. For this reason, the Forum expressed in its testimony a desire to have the Congress direct the BLM to implement or modifY its existinQ accounting practices to enable the Basin States to understand how much money this agency is directing to carry out its mandate for developing a comprehensive program to minimize salt contributions fram lands it administers. The Council and Forum recognize the major role that the Bureau of Land Management can have in the Colorado River Basin salinity control effort if more attention, effort and focus by the BLM is brouaht to bear on controlling..salt discharges from the federal lands they manage. Great opportunity exists to decrease salt loading from BLM-managed lands to the river system. Wyoming believes that requiring greater accountability on the part of the BLM with regard to its salinity reduction efforts, accomplishments and, obviously, expenditures, is sarely needed. We are sincerely hopeful that your Subcommittee will address this fundamental problem so that in the future we may count upon the BLM as a real partner in the Basin-wide salinity control program. The current mode that seems to be akin to "trust us, we are doing these things but we can't tell you how much we are doing or what it is costing" needs to be replaced with one that includes qUan~:d .~lin;ty reduction objectives and expenditure accountability. We respectfully suggest your u committee may be able to make changes happen that our efforts over the past ten years or so have not. Again, on behalf of the State of Wyoming, I wish to express concurrence with the March 25, 1996 testimany presented by the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum. Thank you for the opportunity to submit and far your consideration of this letter, and I would request that you make it a part of the farmal hearing record on Fiscal Year 1997 appropriations for the Bureau of Land Management. Gordon W. Fassett State Engineer 2