Upper Columbia Spring Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Bull Trout Recovery

1Introduction

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a final rule listing the Columbia River and Klamath River populations of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) as threatened under the ESA on June 10, 1998 (63 FR 31647). The USFWS considers the Columbia River population as one of five distinct population segments (DPS) (i.e., they meet the joint policy of the USFWS and NOAA Fisheries regarding the recognition of distinct vertebrate populations). The USFWS issued another final rule coterminously listing the bull trout in all DPSs as threatened on November 1, 1999 (64 FR 58910). This recovery plan addresses the recovery of bull trout in the Upper Columbia Basin, encompassing the basin upstream of the confluence of the Yakima River to Chief Joseph Dam, including the mainstem Columbia River and all of its associated tributaries. This geographic area is referred to as the Upper Columbia Recovery Unit in the Bull Trout Draft Recovery Plan (USFWS 2002). Bull trout in the Upper Columbia constitute one portion of the total Columbia River population.

The Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board (UCSRB)⁹ developed this plan for the recovery of endangered spring Chinook and steelhead and threatened bull trout in the Upper Columbia River Basin (commonly called the Upper Columbia Region or Upper Columbia Basin). This plan is an outgrowth and culmination of several conservation efforts in the Upper Columbia Basin including efforts related to the ESA, state-sponsored recovery efforts, subbasin planning, watershed planning, and tribal recovery.

Watershed planning began when the 1998 Washington State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2514, codified into RCW 90.82, to set a framework for addressing the state’s water resources issues. In 2001, HB 1336 amended the law. Currently RCW 90.82 states:

The legislature finds that the local development of watershed plans for managing water resources and for protecting existing water rights is vital to both state and local interests. The local development of these plans serves vital local interests by placing it in the hands of people: Who have the greatest knowledge of both the resources and the aspirations of those who live and work in the watershed; and who have the greatest stake in the proper, long-term management resources. The development of such plans serves the state’s vital interests by ensuring that the state’s water resources are used wisely, by protecting existing water rights, by protecting instream flows for fish and by providing for the economic well-being of the state’s citizenry and communities. Therefore the legislature believes it necessary for units of local government throughout the state to engage in orderly development of these watershed plans.

The purpose of the 1998 Watershed Management Act (WMA) is to provide a framework for local government, interest groups, and citizens to identify and solve water-related issues collaboratively in each of the 62 Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) of Washington State. Water quantity is a required element of the plan, with water quality, stream flows, habitat, and storage as optional elements to be included.

Recently, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC; formerly the Northwest Power Planning Council) adopted a revised Fish and Wildlife Program for the Columbia River Basin with the intent that the program will be more comprehensive than, but complimentary to, regional, state, county, and tribal efforts. Their revised program calls for an ecosystem-based approach for planning and implementing fish and wildlife recovery. This effort resulted in subbasin plans. Pertinent information from both subbasin plans and watershed plans formed the basis for much of this recovery plan. Other species, including resident, migrant, and anadromous species are expected to benefit from this plan.

1.1Definition of a Recovery Plan

This document is designed to be a roadmap showing a possible path to the recovery of salmonids in the Upper Columbia. While it contains much of the available science, it is not intended to be the definitive method or means of recovery. This plan is to be used to guide federal agencies charged with species recovery in their actions. In and of itself, this plan is a non-regulatory document. As such, it is not intended to be nor may it serve as a regulatory document forcing landowner action. Any such regulatory actions deemed necessary as a result of this document must be accompanied by a clear legislative mandate to that end.

The plan may be used to inform state and local agency planning and land use actions, but it may not be deemed to place requirements on such entities. The goal of this plan is to offer options for future action to ensure the survival of species. No mandate on state or local agencies may be construed from this plan, and the plan may not be cited as creating a need for new regulatory actions at the state or local level unless clear legislative authority is first adopted.

This plan is limited to address listed salmonid species. If any threatened or endangered species were introduced into an area where it has been designated as extirpated, this population would be treated as an experimental population (ESA Section 10(j)), which would not increase ESA liabilities for landowners.