Salmon plan may add artificial twist to species protection

In the effort to rebuild the Northwest's iconic salmon runs, the Bush administration has outlined a plan in which artificially produced fish, turned out by the hundreds of millions each year, could help decide whether salmon require continued federal protection.

This is a tectonic shift in the nation's approach to preventing wildlife from going extinct -- and may have broad implications for the future of the Endangered Species Act.

The proposal specifically addresses only Pacific salmon. But in making it, the Bush administration raises wider questions about standards for other endangered species. If hatchery fish can count toward reducing extinction risk, what about zoo populations? What combination of genes and rearing does it take to make an artificially produced animal the same as its wild kin? What, finally, does it mean to be wild or natural?

As copies of the draft policy spread by fax machine and e-mail in recent days, some scientists and environmental advocates said the plan could set a clear precedent allowing federal authorities to declare a wildlife population recovered even if its survival depends in part on continued artificial production....