§460ss — Title 16 Conservation | U.S. Code

Summary

Congress finds that the Klamath and Trinity Rivers are protected by state and national Wild and Scenic programs because they support important migrating fish. Those fish are needed for Native American subsistence and ceremonies, ocean commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and the local economy. Flooding, dams, diversions, hydropower, past mining, logging, and road building have caused more sediment, lower flows, and worse water quality, which has greatly reduced fish habitat. Conflicts between federal, state, and local agencies, weak enforcement of fishing rules, and poor management have made conservation harder. Klamath-Trinity fall chinook salmon are down 80 percent from historic levels, and steelhead have also fallen sharply. The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has prepared a Klamath Basin Fisheries Resource Plan. The Klamath Salmon Management Group and local users have created a framework for coordinating harvest management. Congress says a new basin management authority made of that group plus user representatives is needed to ensure long-term coordinated management and enough fish reach spawning areas. The Secretary now can only run a restoration program in the Trinity Basin and needs more authority to work with state and local governments to restore migrating fish to optimum levels in both basins.

Title 16, §460ss

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress finds that—

(1)the Klamath and Trinity Rivers have been placed under the California and National Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems to protect their outstanding anadromous fishery values;

(2)the Klamath and Trinity Rivers provide fishery resources necessary for Indian subsistence and ceremonial purposes, ocean commercial harvest, recreational fishing, and the economic health of many local communities;

(3)floods, the construction and operation of dams, diversions and hydroelectric projects, past mining, timber harvest practices, and roadbuilding have all contributed to sedimentation, reduced flows, and degraded water quality which has significantly reduced the anadromous fish habitat in the Klamath-Trinity River System;

(4)overlapping Federal, State, and local jurisdictions, inadequate enforcement of fishery harvest regulations, and ineffective fishery management have historically hampered fishery conservation efforts and prevented the Federal Government and the State of California from fulfilling their responsibilities to protect the rivers’ anadromous fishery values;

(5)the Klamath-Trinity fall chinook salmon populations have declined by 80 percent from historic levels and steelhead trout have also undergone significant reductions;

(6)Klamath River Basin Fisheries Resource Plan has been developed by the Secretary acting through the Bureau of Indian Affairs;

(7)the Klamath Salmon Management Group, a group of agencies with fishery management responsibility, has established, in cooperation with the users of the Klamath-Trinity River Basin fishery resources, a sound framework for the future coordination of fishery harvest management;

(8)a new Klamath-Trinity River Basin Management authority, composed of the Klamath Salmon Management Group and representatives of users of the fishery resources of the Klamath-Trinity River Basin, is needed to ensure more effective long-term coordination of the Klamath-Trinity River fisheries under sound conservation and management principles that ensure adequate spawning escapement; and

(9)the Secretary has the authority to implement a restoration program only in the Trinity River Basin and needs additional authority to implement a restoration program in cooperation with State and local governments to restore anadromous fish populations to optimum levels in both the Klamath and Trinity River Basins; 11 So in original. The semicolon probably should be a period.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

section 8 of Pub. L. 99–552, as added by Pub. L. 100–653, title VI, § 604, Nov. 14, 1988, 102 Stat. 3830, provided that: “This Act [enacting this subchapter] may be cited as the ‘Klamath River Basin Fishery Resources Restoration Act’.” Salmon Plan and Study Pub. L. 109–479, title I, § 113(b), Jan. 12, 2007, 120 Stat. 3602, as amended by Pub. L. 117–328, div. S, title II, § 203(b), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5270, provided that: “(1) Recovery plan.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Jan. 12, 2007], the Secretary of Commerce shall complete a recovery plan for Klamath River Coho salmon and make it available to the public. “(2) Report.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement Ac[t] [Dec. 29, 2002], and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Resources [now Committee on Natural Resources] on—“(A) the actions taken under the recovery plan and other law relating to recovery of Klamath River Coho salmon, and how those actions are specifically contributing to its recovery; “(B) the progress made on the restoration of salmon spawning habitat, including water conditions as they relate to salmon health and recovery, with emphasis on the Klamath River and its tributaries below Iron Gate Dam; “(C) the status of other Klamath River anadromous fish populations, particularly Chinook salmon; and “(D) the actions taken by the Secretary to address the most recent National Research Council recommendations regarding monitoring and research on Klamath River Basin salmon stocks.”

§460ss Findings

Summary

Title 16, §460ss

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

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