Clean Water and Salmon

What is your plan to ensure that the Northwest's salmon do not go extinct?

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• Clean Water and Salmon • Forests • Transportation

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.orcouncil.org or www.wildsalmon.org.

Forests

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 nearly 1.6 million acres in Oregon. 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.onrc.org.

Transportation

Do you support or oppose efforts to repeal the 1971 Bicycle Bill, which requires 1% of monies spent on new road projects and major renovations go towards bicycle and pedestrian facilities?

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Legislature are looking for ways to cut the state's transportation budget to drive more money to road maintenance and construction. One of the proposals is to repeal Oregon's landmark Bicycle Bill, and divert money currently dedicated to providing transportation choices to road upkeep. A large amount of the money spent on bicycle facilities in the state has happened since a successful 1995 lawsuit against the City of Portland that required them to comply with the Bicycle Bill. Despite this, some in ODOT and the Legislature are advocating cutting the $4 million annually dedicated to pedestrian and bicycle projects.

For more information, contact the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, www.bta4bikes.org or Karen Frost at 503-226-0676

What is your position on allowing local governments to impose system development charges for schools, police, libraries, fire stations, and transit?

System development charges are fees paid by new development to recover part of the cost of providing new infrastructure. State law limits such fees to stormwater, water, sewer, transportation and parks impacts. The Governor's Task Force on Growth recently found each new home requires $30,000 to $50,000 in new infrastructure, only a small portion of which can be recovered by local governments. This creates an economic incentive for inefficient growth on city edges, instead of reinvestment in existing communities. It also sets up a situation where growth must lead to either increased taxes or decreasing service. By fairly recovering the costs of growth, cities can better maintain high-quality services while growing.

For more information, contact 1000 Friends of Oregon, www.friends.org, or Evan Manvel at 503-497-1000.

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