League of Conservation Voters Education Fund: Vote Environment: About The Issues

Clean Water and Salmon

1. What is your plan to ensure that the Northwest's salmon do not go extinct?
Wild salmon are in decline in much of the Northwest. Historically, up to 16 million salmon returned each year to spawn in the Columbia River Basin, but today only about one million fish return. Most of these fish originate from hatcheries, not from the wild. Due to this steep decline, the National Marine Fisheries Service has extended federal protections to wild salmon in nearly every watershed in the state. The decline of wild salmon can be categorized into four general areas: habitat, hydropower, harvest and hatcheries. The major dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers continue to be one of the most serious problems for salmon. Significant reforms are needed in each area if we are to protect our water and save our wild salmon. Improving our water quality is a complementary objective.

For more information contact www.wildidaho.org or www.wildsalmon.org.

Clean Water and Mine Pollution

2. What will you do to ensure that mining does not destroy our water quality?
More than 12,000 miles of rivers in the United States suffer the consequences of mining pollution. Acid mine pollution is created in abandoned mines and in waste rock tailings. The resulting acid pollution must be contained so that it, and the toxic heavy metals it leaches out of rock, does not get into surface and groundwater, damaging water quality and harming wildlife.

For more information contact www.idahorivers.org

Forests

3. Would you favor or oppose protecting all National Forest roadless areas of 1,000 acres or more from development?
The Forest Service recently offered a proposal that would prohibit new roads in 43 million acres of roadless areas within the National Forests. This proposal includes over 9 million acres in Idaho. While this is promising news, several major loopholes remain. The decision on providing protection for an additional 8.5 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest would be deferred until 2004. Roadless areas under 5,000 acres would not be considered for protection until the Forest Plan for the National Forests in which they are located are revised (the typical cycle for Forest Plan revisions is 10-15 years). Logging, recreational development, grazing, off-road vehicle use and some types of mining would not be explicitly prohibited. It is critical that the Forest Service close these loopholes to protect our last remaining wild forests. National Forest lands without roads represent only about 2 percent of the total landbase of the United States, yet they provide clean drinking water, recreation and large open spaces that offer solitude and beauty. These areas often provide important habitat for rare plant and animal species, offer opportunities for monitoring and research, and help stop the spread of invasive species. In addition, the Forest Service would save taxpayers up to $565,000 per year in maintenance costs for new roads, which would not be built. With an $8.4 billion dollar backlog of road maintenance and reconstruction on the current 380,000-mile road system on National Forest lands, we should focus on the current roads rather than building costly new roads into roadless areas.

For more information contact www.wildidaho.org.