Washington, D.C. – Federal agencies have spent more than $3.3 billion on salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia River basin, according to new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress’s investigative arm. The report also raised concerns about the effectiveness of the spending, stating, “there is little conclusive evidence to quantify the extent of their [recovery actions] effects on returning fish populations.”

“There is really no evidence that this massive federal investment has been effective at all,” said Autumn Hanna, Policy Analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog organization. “We are sending billions of dollars down the river with no clear results and no accountability for how these agencies spend our money.”

Of the $3.3 billion dollars the GAO estimates was spent on salmon, $590 million of that went to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers programs to barge and truck fish around the dams and “improve” fish passage at the dams with expensive, elaborate screen and bypass systems.

“Barging and trucking are not effective salmon recovery tools and will not help declining fish populations. Boat rides for fish and ‘fish-friendly’ turbines don’t make fiscal or scientific sense,” continued Hanna. “These technological fixes will not save salmon from extinction. Continuing to federally fund this taxpayer boondoggle creates a massive long-term burden on the treasury.”

GAO reports 11 different federal agencies are working on Columbia Basin salmon recovery. During the GAO’s study, several agencies reported weaknesses in the federal recovery effort, including lack of a unified implementation and funding plan for federal salmon recovery efforts, among other things.

“The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The federal agencies need a coordinated plan to effectively implement the federal salmon recovery measures. Bureaucratic bungling wastes money and harms salmon. For example, we funded 50% of federal salmon efforts and they only implemented 25% of the plan,” concluded Hanna.

Contact: Keith Ashdown
(202) 546-8500 x110