Atlantic salmon decision dangerous

Apparently good science and the economic needs of the Maine people who will suffer mean little to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the Clinton-Gore administration. The Nov. 13 decision to place the Atlantic salmon on the endangered species list was purely political.

This is not about salmon. This is about the Interior Department and the lame-duck Clinton administration caving in to pressures from extreme environmentalists and their threats of nuisance lawsuits.

President Clinton cannot plead ignorance. I spoke with the president personally about the Atlantic salmon issue and its impact on Down East Maine at the spring session of the National Conference of State Legislatures. I felt that he understood when he remarked, “Oh, the economy. It will hurt the local economy.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” I responded, “it will hurt the local economy.” President Clinton asked me what I thought he should do. “Well, Mr. President, you have the ability to release funds from the federal government so we can all preserve and protect the salmon together without listing them,” I told him, expecting that he would listen to a representative of the people who would suffer most from the proposal. He turned me over to an aide who took my information. When I returned to Augusta, I sent a follow-up letter and included the resolution from the Maine Legislature urging his administration not to list the Atlantic salmon. I never heard from them again.

Scientists from the University of Maine have data that contradict the premise of the environmental extremists who seem to have Secretary Babbitt’s ear. The study showed that the federal data does not support claims that the salmon’s unique genetic makeup constitutes a distinct species population.

Our congressional delegation obtained $500,000 federal funding authorization for a six-month National Academy of Sciences study to weigh the conflicting data and come to some scientifically based conclusions. I told the president he could release those funds but his office never got back to me.

Gov. Angus King attempted to get the six-month delay as well. Unfortunately, Secretary Babbitt ignored the will of Maine and issued his fiat on Nov. 13 anyway, based on the political pressures of the environmental extremists.

This decision will have a ripple effect on the entire hard-pressed Down East economy. Aquaculture is doomed and business people will have to locate their fishery pens elsewhere. Blueberry farms are threatened because of possible restrictions on drawing irrigation water from these Endangered Species Act waters … eight of Maine’s prime rivers.

All is not lost. We have one last- ditch chance to overturn this decision. Politics can undo what politics has done. The Maine Legislature’s Rural Caucus met Nov. 15 and discussed the ramifications. They met again on Nov. 22 and I hoped to see Democrats and Republicans united for the common good of Maine working people by urging President Clinton to overturn Secretary Babbitt’s edict.

The Legislative Council, made up of the House and Senate leaders of both political parties plus the House speaker and Senate president, will meet Nov. 29. With support from the Rural Caucus, I will ask them for a bipartisan action in support of the governor’s effort to overturn Babbitt’s edict. Then the issue goes to Washington.

Putting partisanship aside, the Maine congressional delegation – two Republican senators and two Democratic House members – should present a united front on behalf of the people of Maine to lead the fight to reverse Secretary Babbitt’s outrageous decision.

Rep. John Baldacci holds the ace card in the negotiations. He represents the area that will suffer most and he belongs to the same political party as the president and the interior secretary. Baldacci should use his own affiliation with the Democratic Party as the catalyst to appeal to his president and his Cabinet. Now that the elections are passed, I pledge to unite with him in a non-partisan effort for the good of all Maine people. This is his time to carry the gauntlet for us.

We must all work together to fight this because today it’s the salmon rivers but who knows what federal intrusion awaits Maine tomorrow. Will they ignore local desires and arbitrarily impose a North Woods National Park or wild wolves or some other government incursion over local rights?

Richard H. Campbell is Maine’s Assistant House Republican Leader.