News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 16, 1999
Contact:  Sandi Snell, Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, 360-902-2229

Locke says state salmon recovery plan is essential

OLYMPIA — Washington has a salmon recovery strategy that is a better alternative than federal control over the state’s salmon habitat, Gov. Gary Locke said today.

The governor said today’s listing of seven species of salmon under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) brings the total number of fish species listed in Washington to 16, affecting virtually every county in the state. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced the latest listings this morning, including Puget Sound’s wild chinook, the first ESA listing in the nation to affect a highly populated, major urban area.

The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office has developed a salmon strategy, funding options and legislative proposals that are now before the state Legislature.

"The overriding goal of our strategy is for Washingtonians to restore healthy and abundant runs of wild salmon — and to control our own destiny," Locke said. "It is imperative that the Legislature support a salmon plan if we want to solve this problem ourselves at the state and local level — and not have solutions dictated to us by a federal judge in San Francisco or a federal official in Washington, D.C."


The state needs the Legislature’s help to enact laws that show Washington has a salmon recovery plan of substance — one that spells out changes in forestry and water-use, and includes state funding that will qualify the state for federal funding for salmon protection, Locke said.

"We’ve known this was coming," the governor said about the new ESA listings. "We’ve spent more than a year preparing a salmon restoration plan that provides clean water for everyone as it protects salmon runs that are part of our heritage and a measure of our ability to protect Washington’s environment. Now, it’s time for the Legislature to approve the funding and supporting legislation to implement it," Locke said.

Without the long-term state strategy for salmon recovery, the federal government will impose a plan of its own design. Such a plan would dictate what the state must do to protect fish through land-use regulations and clean-water preservation.

"As I’ve said before, extinction of our salmon is not an option," Locke said. "I’ve never said saving salmon would be easy."

The governor’s Joint Cabinet on Natural Resources worked to develop a comprehensive salmon recovery plan that establishes state and local responsibilities. The proposal commits $201 million in state and federal funding to support the salmon strategy and updates Washington’s century-old water laws to ensure the availability of clean, cool water that salmon must have to survive and that communities need for economic vitality.

The state’s goal is to submit a state salmon strategy to the National Marine Fisheries Service this summer, which would determine if it meets federal requirements under the ESA.

"Remember this," the governor said. "There’s much more opportunity for public input in a state strategy than we’ll ever see in any federal court. Our salmon plan is the product of people who know our state and its natural resources. We don’t want an uncompromising solution that’s set in stone by the courts."

Locke commended the commitment of leaders in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties and their progress on salmon recovery planning.

"We have the plans and the know-how to preserve our salmon runs," the governor said. "Now, we need the Legislature to join us in meeting this important challenge by helping provide the money and tools for local recovery efforts."

At the outset of this year’s session of the Legislature, the governor offered a 1999-01 budget proposal for salmon protection that calls for $136 million in grants to help local governments and tribal governments in their salmon-protection efforts. The grants also would aid volunteer efforts, removal of fish passage barriers, and changes in agriculture practices.

The governor proposed another $33 million to help protect and restore stream flows to provide water for fish and establish limits for pollutants. His budget would make available $22 million in new funds to help make changes in forestry practices and help owners of small forest parcels. Other funding in the state plan would increase enforcement of laws against poaching and destruction of salmon habitat, and support scientific monitoring of the success of the state’s salmon strategy.

The governor also proposed legislation to increase use of reclaimed water, to require more conservation for public water systems, to promote conservation of water used in agriculture, to modify exemptions permitting growth of new wells, to increase civil penalties for water-use violations, and to clear up ambiguities in water rights in public water systems.

"Salmon have been an important part of our state’s culture and economy for a long, long time, and all this work, effort and money to rebuild their stocks may seem at times too much," Locke said. "But if we walk out on this icon of our heritage, we won’t just be letting the federal government walk in. We’ll be turning our backs on a basic responsibility to protect the environment that’s made Washington such a great place to live."

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