Lee Metcalf: “we have a critical issue in the West, the salmon rehabilitation in the Columbia River. A model has been developed, a…”

“we have a critical issue in the West, the salmon rehabilitation in the Columbia River. A model has been developed, a computer model called the FLUSH Model. It has been developed and accepted for this rehabilitation plan. Because public policy is based on this model and public policy will be spent on this, using this model to rehabilitate the Columbia River, I requested the details on which the FLUSH Model is based. I have been trying to get the details, the assumptions, and all of the information upon which it was based. We are about to begin spending $200 million to $300 million of public money on salmon rehabilitation, but information on the FLUSH Model is not forthcoming. At a hearing before the Committee on Resources, I asked Rollie Schmitten, Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, about this, if he could get this information for me. He agreed that the Committee on Resources must have this information, but despite his good faith efforts, and that is Rollie Schmitten, Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, despite his good faith efforts, despite my repeated requests to several entities, including the Wasington and Oregon Departments of Fisheries and others, the Committee on Resources still does not have any details on the FLUSH Model. I think that is unacceptable. Instead, my request and the other requests have been met with delays and excuses, silly arguments that the model may not be usable, or it might be misunderstood.”