The fate of our native Pacific salmon runs are at a crossroads. If we continue on the current road we will soon harvest these runs to extinction. If we head in a new direction, we have the opportunity to restore our native salmon runs. Which path would you choose?

James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has provided us with an opportunity to blaze a new trail toward salmon recovery. His recommendations are to focus more heavily on correcting the negative impact that hatcheries and harvest are having on native salmon runs. Specifically, the government's two new objectives are to end outdated hatchery programs and stop harvest levels and practices that impede recovery of wild, endangered and threatened salmon. This is the most important thing that anyone has done in 130 years to stop the overharvest of these fish and recover native runs.

Unfortunately, many people are interpreting this to mean that dams are off the hook, habitat will be ignored and that all hatcheries will close. On the contrary, Connaughton emphasized that the progress made by the hydropower system needs to be sustained and enhanced. Habitat is still a priority and hatcheries that increase harvest without impeding recovery will remain.

Dams not the only problem

We all know that dams aren't good for fish and that habitat needs to be improved. However, if dams cause the majority of the problem, then why do rivers without dams have the same low salmon return rates as those with dams? The answer is nonselective overharvest.

We have a precedent for the effects of overharvest. Wild runs have disappeared from Europe, most of Asia and the Northeast. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Pacific salmon runs are currently 5 percent of historical levels. The Klamath Basin is a vivid example of that statistic.

Connaughton proposed a collaborative approach to reducing the harvest levels of threatened and endangered wild salmon. Over the next 12 months, the federal government will work with Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the treaty tribes and Canada to find the most appropriate and effective solutions.

Until now hatcheries and overharvest, two of the largest obstacles impeding the recovery of wild salmon, have been ignored. Connaughton's focus on these two issues is not at the expense of hydro and habitat. We must continue to work diligently on removing all four of these barriers to salmon recovery if we are to succeed.

Reducing harvest is a bitter pill considering the economic impact on commercial fishermen, tribes, and others who depend on salmon. It's a pill we need to swallow, however, if we are ever going to recover this resource. The alternative to these short-term difficulties is more profound and infinite: extinction.