Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/349

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PUBLIC LAW 98-000—MMMM. DD, 1984

PUBLIC LAW 98-541—OCT. 24, 1984

98 STAT. 2721

Public Law 98-541 98th Congress An Act To provide for the restoration of the fish and wildlife in the Trinity River Basin, California, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, FINDINGS

1. The Congress finds that— (1) the construction of the Trinity River division of the Central Valley project in California, authorized by the Act of August 12, 1955 (69 Stat. 719), has substantially reduced the streamflow in the Trinity River Basin thereby contributing to damage to pools, spawning gravels, and rearing areas and to a drastic reduction in the anadromous fish populations and a decline in the scenic and recreational qualities of such river system; (2) the loss of land areas inundated by two reservoirs constructed in connection with such project has contributed to reductions in the populations of deer and other wildlife historically found in the Trinity River Basin; (3) the Act referred to in paragraph (1) of this section directed the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Secretary") to take appropriate actions to ensure the preservation and propagation of such fish and wildlife and additional authority was conferred on the Secretary under the Act approved September 4, 1980 (94 Stat. 1062), to take certain actions to mitigate the impact on fish and wildlife of the construction and operation of the Trinity River division; (4) activities other than those related to the project including, but not limited to, inadequate erosion control and fishery harvest management practices, have also had significant adverse effects on fish and wildlife populations in the Trinity River Basin and are of such a nature that the cause of any detrimental impact on such populations cannot be attributed solely to such activities or to the project; (5) a fish and wildlife management program has been developed by an existing interagency advisory group called the Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Task Force; and (6) the Secretary requires additional authority to implement a basin-wide fish and wildlife management program in order to achieve the long-term goal of restoring fish and wildlife populations in the Trinity River Basin to a level approximating that which existed immediately before the start of the construction of the Trinity River division.

SECTION

Oct. 24, 1984 [H.R. 1438]

Conservation. Fish and fishing. Wildlife.