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A Safety Net for Salmon

Pacific salmon have never had it easy. Sure, the fish begin life gently enough, wiggling around in sun-dappled creeks and pools with their brothers and sisters. When they are bigger, they set off downstream to the ocean, where they'll grow up.

But after a few years in the ocean, life gets tough. Something in their nature tells them that it's time to go home. Salmon find their way back to the mouth of the river that carried them to the ocean. Then they swim upstream in a fierce, wrong-way struggle to their birthplace. Some travel hundreds of miles! They jump against the currents and waterfalls that once carried them out to sea. After they reach their birthplace, females lay eggs to continue the circle of life. Then the salmon die of exhaustion and old age. What a way to go!

As if that journey weren't challenging enough, the people who share the salmon's habitat have made life even harder. Pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction threaten salmon species with extinction. Only 100 years ago, the rivers of Washington State and Oregon were just jumping with salmon. But in most places, fishermen today catch one-third fewer Chinook salmon than they did in the early 1900s. Now the government has decided to get serious about rescuing these silvery symbols of the wild Northwest.

Save The Salmon: It's The Law
Last week the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced that nine kinds of salmon and related fish would be protected under the Endangered Species Act. One of those, the Upper Columbia Chinook salmon, is now listed as endangered. The other eight fish are considered threatened.

The 26-year-old Endangered Species Act is one tough environmental law. When a species is protected under the act, industry can be barred from using land where the endangered animal might be found. Ordinary citizens also face strict rules about using protected habitat.

But there's no way to keep people away from the salmon habitats, and that makes protecting the salmon really tricky. At least 5 million people, including those in the big cities of Portland and Seattle, live near the Columbia and Willamette river systems, where threatened salmon swim. No use of the Endangered Species Act has ever affected so many people.

The new rules will change the way people farm, fish, harvest timber, build homes, use water and chemicals, and work. Restoring salmon populations to healthy levels will be an upstream struggle for everyone in the area. But so far, Northwesterners say they are up for the challenge.

"The salmon are an important part of our lives," said Seattle Mayor Paul Schell last week. "We understand that preserving our environment has a direct impact on our quality of life and our economy."

Will All This Effort Be Worth It?
Over the next two months, public officials, Native American leaders, businesses and environmental groups will come up with plans for meeting the law's requirements. The NMFS must approve these plans, but some groups are already taking steps to help the salmon. They want to get a head start on the far-reaching and costly changes that will be needed.

Rollie Schmitten, director of the NMFS, hopes that the people of Washington and Oregon will continue to support efforts to save the salmon, even when it means making expensive changes in how folks live and work. He says that in the end, their personal sacrifices and higher taxes will pay off. "Humans and salmon can peacefully coexist and even enhance each other's quality of life," says Schmitten.

After all, both species thrive on the same things: clean water, green shade trees and a safe place to come home to.

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A Salmon's Life Cycle

Ready To Hatch - The fish lay their eggs in the shallows of streams.

Go, Fish! - Young salmon, called smolts, head downstream to the ocean.

All Grown Up - In the ocean, salmon grow to full size. Some weigh 100 pounds.

Return Trip - Salmon make a grueling upstream swim to their birthplace.

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