USCRB Plan & Implementation
The Plan
The Upper Columbia River spring Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) ESU was listed as endangered under the ESA on March 24, 1999 (64 FR 14307). The Upper Columbia River steelhead (O. mykiss) DPS was listed as endangered on August 18, 1997 (62 FR 43937), and reclassified as threatened on January 5, 2006 (71 FR 834). The 2006 reclassification of the steelhead DPS was invalidated as the result of a decision in U.S. District Court on June 13, 2007 (Trout Unlimited, et al. v. Lohn, No. CV-06-1493-ST). Thus, the present status of the Upper Columbia steelhead DPS is endangered. The plan is also designed to address bull trout (listed as threatened on June 10, 1998).
The Plan is a locally developed guide to be used by federal and state agencies charged with species recovery. In and of itself, the Plan is a non-regulatory document. It is not intended to be, nor may it serve as, a regulatory document forcing landowner action.
Final Recovery Plan
Final Plan Appendices
- Appendix A, Species List (PDF 118KB)
- Appendix B, Description of Spatial Structure and Diversity (PDF 4.8MB)
- Appendix C, Steelhead Analyses (PDF 101KB)
- Appendix D, Local Government Threat Criteria (PDF 205KB)
- Appendix E, Management Programs (PDF 75KB)
- Appendix F1, Analysis of Habitat Actions Using EDT (PDF 754KB)
- Appendix F2, EDT (Excel 31KB)
- Appendix G, Habitat Matrices (PDF 154KB)
- Appendix H, Biological Strategy (PDF 214KB)
- Appendix I, Integration of Recommended Recovery Actions (PDF 85KB)
- Appendix J, All H Analyzer: Introduction (PDF 60KB)
- Appendix J1, AHA Methow Spring Chinook (Excel 2.7MB)
- Appendix J2, AHA Methow Summer Steelhead (Excel 2.7MB)
- Appendix J3, AHA Okanogan Summer Steelhead (Excel 2.7MB)
- Appendix J4, AHA Wenatchee Spring Chinook (Excel 2.7MB)
- Appendix J5, AHA Wenatchee Summer Steelhead (Excel 2.7MB)
- Appendix K1, Economic Benefits (PDF 62KB)
- Appendix K2, Agricultural Impacts (PDF 97KB)
- Appendix L, Prioritizing Framework (PDF 38KB)
- Appendix M1, Implementation Schedule Entiat & Wenatchee (Excel 264KB)
- Appendix M2, Implementation Schedule Methow & Okanogan (Excel 462KB)
- Appendix N, Okanogan County Outreach Efforts (large file -- PDF 10.4MB)
- Appendix O1, January 2005 Draft Comment Matrix (Excel 487KB)
- Appendix O2, April 2005 Draft Comment Matrix (Excel 475KB)
- Appendix O3, June 2005 Draft Comment Matrix (Excel 1.2MB)
- Appendix O4, March 2007 Final Draft Comment Matrix (Excel 1MB)
- Appendix P, Designing a Monitoring and Evaluation Program (PDF 40KB)
Federal Register Notice
Plan Map
The Regional Setting
The Plan is intended to be implemented within the Upper Columbia River Basin, which includes the Columbia River and its tributaries upstream of the confluence of the Yakima River to the base of Chief Joseph Dam. The Upper Columbia Basins consists of six major "subbasins" (Crab Creek, Entiat, Lake Chelan, Methow, Okanogan, and Wenatchee), several smaller watersheds, and the mainstem of the Columbia River.
The Plan emphasizes actions that may lead to delisting of three independent populations of spring Chinook within the region's Evolutionarily Significant Unit (Entiat, Methow and Wenatchee); four steelhead populations (Entiat, Methow, Okanogan and Wenatchee); and recovery of bull trout within the Entiat, Methow and Wenatchee subbasins.
Plan Implementation
Implementation of the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Plan cannot be successful without the help and support of a number of organizations and individuals. The Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Plan implementation structure relies on the existing local groups for project implementation in each of the watersheds - they are referred to as "Watershed Action Teams." Representatives from each of these WATs will work with the regional Implementation Team to coordinate funding sources and implementation schedules across the region as well as coordinating monitoring and adaptive management activities of the plan.