Category – Fish and wildlife

NOAA’s 2024 ‘Stoplight’ report shows mixed signals, average forecasted adult returns for salmon and steelhead.

At April’s Council meeting, managers from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game provided forecasts for adult salmon and steelhead returns to the Columbia River Basin in 2025.

At its March 12 meeting, the Council heard additional briefings on the 2014/2020 Fish and Wildlife Program as the deadline nears for state and federal agencies, tribes, NGOs, the public, and more to submit recommendations.

The Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement represents a series of commitments between the federal government and regional entities.

At its January meeting, the Council voted to recommend that Bonneville fund $19M in requests for nonrecurring maintenance of fish screens in FY2025-FY2027.

Staff presented progress on the Fish and Wildlife Program, including tracking positive trends in total abundance in the Columbia River Basin and an increase in salmon and steelhead migrating past Bonneville Dam. 

The Tucannon River – a tributary of the Snake River flowing out of the Blue Mountains – sustains the only remaining population of spring Chinook in the lower Snake, which was listed as threatened under the ESA in 1992.

The Council, the CRITFC, and NOAA invite nominations by January 31 to establish a pool of qualified candidates interested in potential appointment to the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) and/or the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP).

BPA and IDFG reported on the success of the project, with plans for ongoing stewardship.

Representatives from BPA, the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, the Columbia Land Trust, and the Columbia River Estuary Taskforce presented on habitat restoration projects and ongoing research in the estuary.