Habitat
Land Use Programs
The Recovery Plan is built on the assumption that regulatory programs protect habitat baseline conditions, conservation programs protect what regulatory programs cannot, restoration programs improve upon baseline conditions, and that monitoring of programs will identify successes and areas where more effort is necessary. It is essential that these assumptions are reviewed and adapted over time.
Watershed Assessments and Habitat Strategies
Watershed assessments build on Recovery Plan priorities and provide more detailed restoration and conservation project guidance and strategies for protecting, reconnecting and improving freshwater and tidal habitats. Some assessments and strategies include prioritized project concepts and designs, while others provide more generalized guidance and recommendations.
Restoration and conservation organizations are encouraged to review assessments and strategies, and to select concepts and designs for implementation. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you have questions about assessments, recommended actions, or if you are considering starting a new assessment or strategy project.
The Salmon Recovery Funding Board Monitoring Program supports habitat restoration monitoring through its Habitat Project Effectiveness Monitoring and Intensively Monitored Watersheds programs.
- Habitat Status and Trends Monitoring Plan
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This plan provides the framework for monitoring habitat status and trends across the region, including water quality under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs. While the NPDES elements have been implemented, funding has not yet been secured for region-wide habitat status and trends monitoring.
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- Intensively Monitored Watersheds
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The Intensively Monitored Watershed (IMW) programs are designed to study habitat and fish response to stream restoration at watershed and population scales. One IMW study is based in the Lower Columbia region, in the coastal subbasin of Mill, Abernathy and Germany creeks. This study site is part of a network of IMW studies across the Pacific Northwest.
- Lower Columbia IMW Treatment Plan Update
- Management Implications from Pacific Northwest IMWs
- Lower Columbia IMW Handout: Fall 2024
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- Land Use Programs
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A pilot assessment of land use programs in the East Fork Lewis River watershed found a lack of alignment between land use programs and salmon recovery priorities as well as limited data to fully assess program effectiveness. Continued assessment of land use programs and land cover is supported by the High Resolution Change Detection program. Land cover and change data are summarized at land use and riparian scales in the Lower Columbia Land Cover Report.
- Lower Columbia Land Cover Report
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- Watershed Assessments and Habitat Strategies
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This report details the approach and outcomes of a fish passage barrier inventory and prioritization project for the lower Columbia River Lead Entity. Barrier priorities reflect regional salmon and steelhead recovery priorities, and are designed to inform field assessments and fish passage project development based on estimates of watershed connectivity, habitat quantity, and habitat quality at population scales.
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This report outlines a conservation and restoration strategy for the Upper Cowlitz River, Cispus River and key tributaries upstream of the Cowlitz Basin Hydrosystem to support reintroduction of spring Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and winter steelhead.
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The appendices for the Upper Cowlitz and Cispus Habitat Strategy report: Information Sources and Annotated Bibliography (Appendix A), EDT Applications (Appendix B), Ecological Indicator Rating Criteria (Appendix C), Landscape Unit Conditions Summary (Appendix D), and Habitat Action Tables and Maps (Appendix E).
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This white paper was developed with support of the Technical Advisory Committee. It summarizes climate change impacts to salmon and steelhead habitat and includes recommendations for how habitat projects can account for climate change in terms of project types and strategies.
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This white paper was developed with support of the Technical Advisory Committee. It summarizes literature on salmon and steelhead use of tidal and estuarine habitats, and identifies questions to consider when developing and evaluating habitat projects in those areas.
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This report documents a habitat restoration assessment for over 20 river miles of the Wind River and its key tributaries in the Columbia River Gorge.
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This report documents a habitat restoration and conservation assessment for the lower 15 river miles of the East Fork Lewis River.
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This report documents a habitat restoration assessment for the lower 2.5 river miles of the Kalama River.
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This report documents a habitat restoration assessment for the lower four miles of Woodard Creek in the Columbia River Gorge.
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This report documents a habitat restoration assessment for the lower Cowlitz River mainstem and its floodplain as well as key tributary confluences from the Cowlitz River confluence with the Columbia River upstream to Mayfield Dam (river mile 52). Additional appendices can be requested.
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Appendix A (Project Descriptions) from the Lower Cowlitz Restoration Report. Additional appendices can be requested.
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