Puget Sound ESA Business Coalition's Salmon Recovery Principles

The business community is committed to region-wide recovery planning that is science-based, incorporates economic considerations, and recognizes other state and local government priorities.  We support a two-step approach to salmon* recovery: first, achieve ESA delisting; second, move toward sustainable, harvestable levels of salmon primarily through incentives and voluntary efforts.

The following are principles supported by the Puget Sound ESA Business Coalition:

1. Salmon recovery must be based on local and regional plans that are developed and implemented at the local level.
2. All salmon recovery plans must be based in science, law and the principle of adaptive management.
3. More scientific research is required to determine all of the contributing factors to the ESA listing of salmon, especially in urban and highly altered environments.
4. Recover salmon in the context of the Growth Management Act (GMA) while meeting the Act ‘s identified and intended goals, including an adequate affordable housing supply.
5. Protect salmon through better utilization of existing regulations, ordinances, best management practices and permit requirements rather than creating new regulations or ordinances (except where justified under principles 1-3).
6. Salmon recovery plans must maximize cost/benefit and be consistent with maintaining the economic vitality of the Puget Sound region.
7. Provide fair compensation for property or property rights taken or damaged in order to protect salmon.
8. Establish equitable, comprehensive, broad-based financing schemes to pay for the cost of salmon protection and recovery.
9. Federal and state governments should provide adequate funding and other resources for compliance with salmon habitat requirements under ESA.
10. Federal agencies should streamline the process and broaden the scope of programmatic Section 7 consultation practices for public and private projects and land use activities.
11. Eliminate duplicative or overlapping regulations or oversight in salmon recovery.
12. Management of all harvesting must be controlled and monitored if salmon are to recover.
13. Improved hatchery management practices are critical to recovery of salmon.
14. The business community will participate in watershed plan development and implementation.