Evan Frost is Staff Ecologist with the Greater Ecosystem Alliance. For more info on efforts to protect the Columbia River Basin, contact the Columbia River Bioregion Campaign Science Working Group, 41 South Palouse Street, Walla Walla, Washington 99362

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) can no longer claim ignorance about the regrettable state of native fisheries and aquatic ecosystems in the Inland Northwest. The agencies' own comprehensive report, unveiled in December and titled "The Integrated Scientific Assessment for Ecosystem Management in the Interior Columbia Basin," confirms that past logging, livestock grazing, and road building are the primary reasons why native Northwest fisheries are now in serious trouble.

Drawn from the work of 300 agency scientists and resource specialists, the Integrated Scientific Assessment describes current ecological conditions on 144 million acres of land in eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, and parts of Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. The Assessment and other soon-to-be-released scientific reports were completed as part of a massive study and management planning process initiated by President Clinton in 1993. Two upcoming draft environmental impact statements, one for federal lands in eastern Washington and Oregon and the other for Idaho and portions of Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming will together modify existing land management plans for 35 national forests and 17 BLM districts.

The Integrated Scientific Assessment, at over 800 pages, though overly lengthy, does provide some important nuggets of information and frank acknowledgment of the ecological damage that land overuse has brought to the region. Following is a summary of findings from the report, relating to the condition of fisheries and aquatic ecosystems.

The number of aquatic species has declined throughout the region, and the status of fishes is very different today than it was historically. Some native species and distinct populations have already gone extinct, and many others are at risk. Of the seven key resident and migratory salmonid species that were examined in this study, all have declined significantly in the Inland Northwest over the last century. Strong populations still persist on less than one-third of their historic range, and for two species, steelhead and stream-type Chinook, less than two percent remain. Road building and accompanying logging are two of the primary factors responsible for dramatic fish declines.

Roads have been the primary source of fine sediment discharged into Inland Northwest streams, which suffocates fish eggs and young, destabilizes stream channels, and fills in important pool habitats. The majority of the Columbia Basin currently has "high to extremely high" densities of roads. Because existing roads were generally built to low standards, and are not being maintained due to declining budgets, mass erosion and damage to aquatic habitats is increasing.

Logging, grazing, road building and other human disturbances have dramatically reduced streamside vegetation and pool habitats over the last 40 to 60 years. Streamside vegetation helps moderate water temperatures, reduces erosion, and provides large woody debris for healthy streams. Pools also provide rearing habitat for juvenile fish, resting places, and safe zones during floods, drought, and extreme temperatures. Protective buffers of at least 300 feet on either side of fish-bearing streams will be necessary in order to prevent further degradation and loss of aquatic habitat.

Of 164 watersheds in the Interior Columbia Basin, 800,000 to 1,000,000 acres (only 10 percent) are recognized as having high aquatic integrity (in other words, still resembling natural, fully-functioning ecosystems). Most Inland Northwest rivers are so degraded that their populations of native species are nonexistent and/or at risk of extinction.

Aquatic habitat conditions remain best in areas that have experienced the least human-caused disturbance. Most of the areas exhibiting high aquatic ecological integrity and still sustaining strong populations of salmonids fall within wilderness, roadless areas and areas with relatively low road density. These isolated strongholds are very vulnerable to degradation from logging, road construction, and other forms of development. Habitat fragmentation has placed many native fish populations at moderate to high risk of extinction.

The system of over 1,000 large dams in the Columbia Basin has resulted in adverse changes in water temperatures, timing and level of peak flows, barriers to fish migration, reductions in riparian areas, and changes in other physical attributes. Ten times as much water is withdrawn for irrigation as for public water systems, industrial use, and hydroelectric power generation combined. The water resources of most rivers in the Columbia Basin are already over-appropriated for various human uses.

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