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<h3><strong><b><font size=4 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black;background:silver;font-weight:normal'>1/26</span></font></b></strong><strong><b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;background:silver;font-weight:normal'>/06 </span></font></b></strong><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'> </span></font><strong><b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'>- </span></font></b></strong><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>  Yesterday at the </span></font><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'>Salmon 2100
Conference </span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>in
Portland, Oregon </span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;
font-weight:normal'>James Connaughton</span></font><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'>, chairman of the </span></font><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'>White House Council on
Environmental Quality</span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:
Arial'> announced the Bush administrations new </span></font><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'>Salmon Policy</span></font><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>.  Saying it makes little sense
to eat imperiled salmon, the Bush administration revealed plans to cut back the
catch of wild Northwest salmon and shut down hatcheries that churn out
competing but inferior fish.  Connaughton stated, "Our goal is to
minimize and, where possible, eliminate harvests of naturally spawning fish,
which provide the foundation for salmon recovery.  It's the right thing to
do."</span></font> <strong><b><font size=5 color="#660000" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#660000'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></strong></h3>

<h3><strong><b><font size=5 color="#660000" face=Arial><span style='font-size:
18.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#660000'>Administration pitches new salmon
policy</span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></h3>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/">http://www.klamathbucketbrigade.org/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>By JEFF BARNARD<br>
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Wednesday,
January 25, 2006<font color=black><span style='color:black'> </span></font></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span
  style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>PORTLAND</span></font></st1:City><font
 face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'> <font color=black><span
 style='color:black'>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ore.</st1:State></span></font></span></font></st1:place><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'> <font color=black><span
style='color:black'>-- Conceding that using hatcheries to supplement dwindling
salmon populations is harming wild salmon species in some cases, the Bush
administration plans to move away from the practice in favor of a more direct
solution: Catch fewer fish. </span></font></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on
Environmental Quality, announced the new policy Wednesday at a meeting of
salmon scientists, many of whom have concluded that wild Pacific salmon will
become extinct this century without big changes in how the harvest is managed. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>"Our goal is to minimize and, where possible, eliminate the
harvest of naturally spawning fish that provide the foundation for
recovery," Connaughton said in an interview with The Associated Press
before his speech. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Scientists have long criticized hatcheries as producers of salmon
that dilute the gene pool, spread disease and compete with wild fish for food
and habitat, while being less able to survive in the wild. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Connaughton did not say how much the administration wants to
reduce the wild salmon harvest or how many of the 180 federal, state, tribal
and private salmon hatcheries in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Columbia</st1:PlaceName><font
 color=black><span style='color:windowtext'> </span></font><st1:PlaceType
 w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place></span></font><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'> <font color=black><span style='color:black'>it wants
closed. He said change will require the collaboration of regional federal
regulators, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></span></font>
<font color=black><span style='color:black'>, <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
 w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State></span></font> <font color=black><span
style='color:black'>, Washington and Indian tribes. </span></font></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"We
cannot improperly hatch and we cannot carelessly catch the wild salmon back to
recovery," Connaughton said.  </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Salmon, an enormous part of the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific
 Northwest</st1:place></span></font> <font color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:black'>'s economy and culture before and after
European settlement, have been severely reduced by a combination of human
factors, from overfishing and development to hydroelectric power dams. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Since 1991, 26 populations of salmon have been listed as
threatened or endangered. None has been judged healthy enough to be delisted.
Restoration efforts and technological fixes to dams have run up a bill of $6
billion over the past 10 years. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Connaughton, President Bush's top environmental adviser, outlined
the new policy at the Salmon 2100 Conference, where scientists gathered to
consider new ways to prevent the extinction of wild salmon. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>--- </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>On the Net: </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>Salmon 2100: <a
href="http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/projects/salmon2100.htm"
title="http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/projects/salmon2100.htm">http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/projects/salmon2100.htm</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

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