COEUR D’ALENE TRIBE TROUT PRODUCTION 

FACILITY MASTER PLAN1

April 9, 2003

Council document 2003-03

 

1

 The master plan was prepared for Bonneville Power Administration by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe (Project 1990-044-02, 

Coeur D’ Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility). You may obtain a copy of the master plan and support documents from 

Bonneville Power Administration's public Web site.

Vol. I - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-2.pdf

Vol. II - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-3.pdf 

and Vol. III - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-4.pdf 

These documents can be viewed or downloaded for printing. If you do not have access to the Internet, please call Nancy 

Webster at 503-230-4511.
2

STAFF ISSUE PAPER

COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE TROUT PRODUCTION FACILITYMASTER PLAN2

April 9, 2003

I. Introduction

The master plan and supporting documents, submitted by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, is intended 

to provide information for a plan to produce adfluvial westslope cutthroat trout for release into rivers 

and streams in the Coeur d’Alene Lake basin on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. This native fish 

restoration facility is for producing sufficient numbers of locally adapted fish to meet the harvest and 

research needs identified by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. It will use the technology that artificial 

production offers, guided by policies articulated in the Northwest Power Planning Council (Council) 

Artificial Production Review (Council document 99-15).

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe is proposing that the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) 

implement the proposal in phases to provide interim fishery benefits while the hatchery program is 

developed and refined based on evaluations of critical uncertainties. 

• Phase 1 allows for immediate harvest opportunities utilizing trout ponds for purchased 

rainbow trout release3, 

• Phase 2 allows for harvest opportunities of released cutthroat trout in reservation 

streams currently lacking fishable populations, 

• Phase 3 calls for the re-establishment of sustainable native cutthroat trout populations 

in natal streams, and 

• Phase 4 represents the ultimate goal of providing sustainable harvest opportunities of 

cutthroat trout on the Coeur d’ Alene Reservation. 

In addition, this effort is in conjunction with habitat restoration in four target watersheds (i.e. 

Lake, Benewah, Evans, and Alder creeks - Project 1990-044-00, Implement Fisheries Enhancement 

Opportunities on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation) and is a prerequisite to realizing Phases 3 and 4. The 

stability of native westslope cutthroat trout populations ultimately depends on effective habitat 

restoration measures currently being implemented by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in cooperation with 

Federal, State, and local partners.

 

2

 The master plan was prepared for Bonneville Power Administration by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe (Project 1990-044-02, 

Coeur D' Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility). You may obtain a copy of the master plan and support documents from 

Bonneville Power Administration's public Web site.

Vol. I - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-2.pdf

Vol. II - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-3.pdf 

and Vol. III - www.efw.bpa.gov/Environment/EW/EWP/DOCS/REPORTS/HATCHERY/A00006340-4.pdf 

These documents can be viewed or downloaded for printing. If you do not have access to the Internet, please call Nancy 

Webster at 503-230-4511.

3

 Phase 1 is addressed under Project 1990-044-00, Implement Fisheries Enhancement Opportunities on the Coeur d'Alene 

Reservation (FY 2001 Project Proposal, Section 5, objective 3).
3

II. Relationship to the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program

The initial measures for establishing a Coeur d’Alene fish production facility for native trout 

were amended into the Council Program in 1987. First steps in this process included a baseline stream 

survey of tributaries located on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation (see 1987 Program Section 903 

(g)(1)(B)).

In 1995, the Council adopted the recommendations of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to improve the 

reservation fishery that were based on the baseline stream surveys. These recommendations included: 

1) Implement habitat restoration and enhancement measures in Lake, Benewah, Evans, and Alder 

creeks; 2) Purchase critical watershed areas for protection of fisheries habitat; 3) Conduct an 

educational/outreach program for the general public within the Coeur d’Alene Reservation to facilitate 

a “holistic” watershed protection process; 4) Develop an interim fishery for tribal and non-tribal 

members of the reservation through construction, operation and maintenance of five trout ponds4; 5) 

Design, construct, operate and maintain a trout production facility5, and 6) Implement a five-year 

monitoring program to evaluate the effectiveness of the hatchery and habitat improvement projects 

(see 1995 Program Sections: 10.8B; 10.8B.1; and 10.8B.20). 

Starting in Fiscal Year 1998, the annual prioritization process for projects funded under the fish 

and wildlife program included a review by the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP), which the 

Council created in response to a 1996 amendment to the Northwest Power Act. During this initial 

review, the ISRP recommended a comprehensive basinwide review of artificial production. The ISRP 

recommended that until completion of that review, the Council “not approve funding for the 

construction and operation of new artificial propagation programs,”

In July 1997, coincidental to the similar recommendation of the ISRP noted above, Congress 

directed the Council, with the assistance of the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (this is a panel 

of 11 scientists who advise both the Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service), to conduct a 

thorough basinwide review of all federally funded artificial production programs and to recommend as 

part of this review 1) a coordinated policy for future operation of artificial production programs and 2) 

means of obtaining such a policy.

Two months later, in September 1997, the Council adopted a policy that built upon the master 

plan element of its program to ensure that 1) new artificial production projects would be considered by 

the Council while the Artificial Production Review6 was under way, 2) ensure these projects would be 

considered in the context of their roles and potential impacts within specific subbasins and 3) receive 

the detailed scrutiny recommended by the ISRP prior to approval. This policy is known as the “threestep review.” It calls for “new production initiatives” to follow a basic development process that has 

three main steps or phases: (Step 1) conceptual planning, represented under the 1995 Program 

primarily by master plan development and approval; (Step 2) preliminary design and cost estimation, 

and environmental (i.e. National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act) review; and 

(Step 3) final design review prior to construction. In adopting the Three-Step Review Process, the 

Council agreed with the ISRP’s recommendation to make use of independent peer review for projects 

as they move through each stage of the process.

 

4

 Phase 1, as describe in the master plan.

5

 The focus of the master plan (Phase 2, 3 and 4).

6

 The Council adopted the Artificial Production Review report (Council document 99-15) at its October 13, 1999 meeting. 

This report contains a set of policies intended to guide the use of artificial production in the Columbia Basin.
4

Linking environmental review and funding commitments to specific phases allowed the project 

sponsor and the Council to move from the conceptual to final design in steps, avoiding over 

commitment of resources at the early stages. The Council found that this step review process provided 

an orderly way to develop complex and large projects and has adopted it as a tool in making 

decisions7. 

On November 15, 1999 the Coeur d’Alene Tribe submitted to Council a master plan, as the first 

step in the three-step review process. The proposed artificial production program was designed to 

produce 10,000 catchable sized rainbow trout for the five catch out ponds and up to 100,000 fingerling 

cutthroat trout for restoration efforts in the target tributaries (i.e. Alder, Benewah, Evans and Lake 

creeks). Broodstock would be collected from each of the four target tributaries. These fish will be 

collected as migrating juveniles and held until adults in order to minimize affects on the natural 

populations. Each year, initially, 100-200 juveniles will be collected from the same sites in the target 

watersheds. These fish will be individually marked and placed into separate raceways. As these fish 

mature they will be used as broodstock. Westslope cutthroat trout will be initially stocked as juveniles. 

It was also proposed that eyed rainbow trout eggs be purchased and raised in the hatchery. When 

ready the rainbow trout would be outplanted into the five catch out ponds. As fish are removed from 

the pond, more will be added with a maximum of up to 2,000 per pond annually.

Council staff prepared an issue paper (Council document 99-17) on the above master plan and 

released it on December 7, 1999. The Council invited comment on the issue paper at the January 12 

and February 1, 2000 meetings and accepted written comments through February 4, 2000. The key 

issues focused on genetic and ecological risk, habitat, basin planning, catch out ponds, ESA listing and 

harvest management. No oral comments were made regarding this project at the two meetings where a 

request was made. The only comment received occurred on February 4, 2000 in written form from 

Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG). Many of issues inherent in IDFG comments were addressed in the 

Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) review associated with their review of the submitted 

master plan (ISRP document 2000-1). 

At the April 5, 2000 meeting in Boise, the Council approved the master plan for the Coeur 

d’Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility. While it approved the master plan, the Council requested a 

report, prior to any other activity associated with the development of preliminary designs, that 

provided a detailed analysis of the yields from the test wells and an analysis on the most cost effective 

and efficient means to provide trout for the catch out ponds. In addition, the Council requested that the 

report clearly address the issues raised in the issue paper (Council document 99-17) and ISRP review 

(ISRP document 2000-1), especially as it relates to the limiting water. 

On February 5, 2001 Council received from J-U-B Engineers, Inc a report entitled Analysis Of 

Well Yield Potential For A Portion of the Coeur D’Alene Reservation Near Worley, Idaho. This report 

was followed by an additional report, from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe on March 28, 2001, that include a 

memo addressing the well analysis report (with additional attachments) and cost effectiveness 

regarding trout for the catch out ponds. The report and additional document were intended to address 

the conditions placed on the project as part of the step approval by Council on April 5, 2000. The 

water report confirmed the complex nature on the dynamics of the hydrogeologic setting of the well 

 

7

 On October 18, 2001 the Council adopted an updated review process called the Major Project Review process that 

incorporating the three-step review process (Council document 2001-29).
5

network in the vicinity of the proposed facility. The report concluded that additional evaluations were 

needed to understand the nature of the proposed ground water system. 

Due to the timing of the water evaluation report submittal and the other elements of the pre-step 

2 submittal (i.e. including the Council’s request regarding the water analysis and rainbow cost 

effectiveness documents prior to any activities associated step 2) the Council recommended that 

direction to proceed to preliminary design (i.e. step 2) be addressed as part of the upcoming provincial 

review.

On June 27, 2001 Council approved funding recommendations for the Mountain Columbia 

provincial review8. The Council concluded that the ISRP’s criticisms, as part of their review of project 

proposals for the Intermountain Province, were so severe that further consideration of the existing artificial 

production proposal would be unsuccessful if returned to the ISRP for review9. The Council decision 

recommended that the Coeur d’Alene Tribe be provided an opportunity to revise the project concept. 

That would be an opportunity to consider the challenges observed for an artificial production approach 

and develop a new conceptual design. This would be a “step one” review (i.e. master plan) in the 

Council process for artificial production projects. 

To accomplish the task of revising the project concept the Coeur d’Alene Tribe formed an 

Interdisciplinary Team comprised of eleven recognized scientists in the fields of hatchery construction, 

hatchery life support systems, fish ecology, and fishery management. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe and 

the team built upon the critical uncertainties raised in the previous master plan review and highlighted 

the importance of research/monitoring and evaluation strategies in the development of a new master 

plan. This “new” master plan and supporting documents were submitted to the Council on January 13, 

2003.

On January 30, 2003 the master plan and supporting documents were submitted to the ISRP for 

their review and comment. On March 17, 2003 the ISRP provided their review to the Council. The 

ISRP concluded that the master plan did not provide a convincing basis for the implementation of this 

project and had not adequately addressed critical issues (ISRP 2003-5)10.

III. Historical and Current Management of Resident Fish in the Subbasin

Salmon and steelhead are extinct from traditional Coeur d’Alene tribal fishing areas because of 

the construction of mainstem Columbia River dams (primarily Grande Coulee and Chief Joseph dams). 

This forced the Tribe to rely on the resident fish resources for traditional fishing activities and 

subsistence. Early information on the historic distribution of resident fish species in the Spokane River 

basin is based largely on written accounts from primarily Euro-American settlers and oral testimony 

from Coeur d'Alene tribal members. The common theme of these accounts was that cutthroat trout 

was the most abundant resident fish species. Subsequent declines in native salmonid fish stocks; in 

 

8

 Since the time of this decision the activities associated with the Coeur d’Alene subbasin have been realigned to the 

Intermountain Province.

9

 The ISRP (ISRP document 2001-4) recommended no funding for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s proposed trout production 

facility (#1990-044-02). The central criticisms are the basis for artificial production assumptions and predation in Lake 

Coeur d’Alene. The project sponsors ask that the Council allow the current proposal to continue in “Three-step” review, 

notwithstanding the ISRP's criticisms

10 http://www.nwcouncil.org/library/isrp/isrp2003-5.pdf
6

particular, westslope cutthroat trout in the Coeur d’Alene basin caused the elimination of traditional 

subsistence fisheries by Coeur d'Alene tribal members.

Westslope cutthroat trout inhabit streams, rivers, and lakes on both sides of the Rocky

Mountain Continental Divide. Distribution east of the divide is limited mostly to Montana but some 

also occur in some headwater systems in Wyoming and Southern Alberta. West of the divide they 

range from Southern BC to the Salmon River basin, Idaho and Oregon. 

These fish can be resident or migratory. Resident forms will spend their entire lives in the 

streams where migratory forms move downstream to a larger river or lake. These migratory forms will 

then move back to natal streams to spawn. Resident fish spawn predominantly in small tributaries with 

the migratory forms spawning in the lower reaches of the same streams. Spawning usually occurs 

from March to July at water temperatures near 10oC. Westslope cutthroat trout are repeat spawners 

consistently up to 24% of the overall spawning population. This is important because repeat spawners 

are usually older larger fish. Most fry emerge from the gravel in late June to early July into the 

streams where the migratory forms may spend up to three years before moving downstream. 

Migratory fish usually spawn for the first time at five years of age.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) have estimated that westslope cutthroat trout 

populations considered as “strong” (greater than or equal to 50 percent of historical potential) remain 

in only 11 percent of the historical range within Idaho. On the Coeur d’Alene Reservation none of the 

populations are considered “strong”. IDFG believe that less than 4 percent of the historical range 

support strong populations not threatened by hybridization. Genetic analyses of the cutthroat 

populations show that relatively pure stocks exist in reservation waters. Only minimal amounts of 

hybridization with rainbow trout have occurred. Some populations show no hybridization at all. Thus, 

it could be theorized even though the populations are not “strong” they are not threatened to a large 

extent with hybridization. Implications here are that if the effect of limiting factors can be reduced 

genetically pure populations would have a chance to recover.

Large and diverse cutthroat trout populations remain in heavily forested upper elevation 

portions of the Coeur d’Alene River basins. However, cutthroat populations in low elevation 

tributaries of Coeur d’Alene Lake have been severely impacted by cumulative impacts of habitat 

ecological community changes

Initial work rated reservation stream habitat according to their potential for westslope cutthroat 

trout. Ten streams were selected for further study based on geographic location, potential for habitat 

improvement, road access, and stream gradient. Physical and biological surveys were conducted on 

the 10 selected streams. These surveys incorporated stream bank and bed stability, riparian condition, 

land use, urbanization, migration barriers, water quality, stream flow, substrate suitability, channel 

modification, relative abundance estimates, and macroinvertebrate densities. These physical and 

biological data were then combined to choose the four streams (i.e. Alder, Benewah, Evans, and Lake 

creeks) that offered the best potential habitat and highest fish populations for further study.

IV. Summary of the Proposed Production Project

The role of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility is mitigation for the loss of 

anadromous fish harvest as a result of elimination/blockage of salmon habitat through construction and 
7

operation of Grand Coulee Dam. Additionally, given the extent of habitat loss from the encroachment 

into the riparian and adjacent lands of tributaries on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation, it is unlikely that 

natural production in a recovered ecosystem would support tribal subsistence, and sports harvest 

interests. This project will address partial mitigation (out-of-place, out-of-kind) for anadromous fish 

losses in the Upper Columbia River basin through a resident fish substitution program11. The Coeur 

d’Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility construction project is one of many ongoing efforts directed at 

mitigating losses attributed to construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.

A. Project management structure and process

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe place a high priority on protecting remaining wild populations from 

significant fishery, genetic, and ecological risks. Thus, research and interim fishery development 

activities will be concentrated in streams that do not currently contain cutthroat trout. Ten critical 

uncertainties have been identified and are an integral part of the master plan. Answers to these 

uncertainties will refine production and release strategies for the hatchery program. The ten critical 

uncertainties are: 1) Efficient practices for producing significant numbers of adfluvial cutthroat trout 

from the hatchery; 2) Accessibility, use, and benefits of adfluvial cutthroat fisheries established using 

hatchery fish; 3) Relationship of resident and adfluvial life history traits in cutthroat trout; 4) Life 

stages and survival rates that currently regulate cutthroat trout population sizes; 5) Habitat and rearing 

density limitations on cutthroat trout production; 6) Constraints in tributaries associated with other 

species, especially including brook trout; 7) Interactions in stream habitats between hatchery and 

naturally-produced fish; 8) Interactions in lake between wild cutthroat, hatchery cutthroat, and 

potential fish predators; 9) Feasibility of using the hatchery to reintroduce resident and adfluvial 

cutthroat into streams where they do not currently exist, and 10) Feasibility of hatchery 

supplementation to increase natural production of adfluvial fish in an existing population.

B. Potential production goals

Based on the production objectives identified by the Tribe, the facility will contribute 65,000 

fingerlings (1.5 inches), 27,000 juveniles (4.0 inches), and either 20,000 adults (8-10 inches) or 17,000 

adults (13 inches) at full capacity. At full production, the Coeur d'Alene trout facility is conservatively 

designed to hold a maximum of 247,200 cutthroat (23,780 pounds) at various sizes and ages. It is 

anticipated that 6 to 8 years will be required to fully develop a cutthroat broodstock and achieve full 

cutthroat trout production. Releases of fish will target specific water bodies for research and harvest. 

Release numbers are based on interim fishery, research, and evaluation objectives. Future release 

numbers will be revised based on results of initial investigations.

 

11 Policies and measures for resident fish substitution are in Sections 10.1 and 10.2 of the Council’s 1995 Fish and Wildlife 

Program. The intent of this policy is to replace losses of anadromous fish in areas now permanently blocked to salmon and 

steelhead with resident fish species.
8

Number of Fish Size/Weight Species/Life Stage Pounds Produced

1,600 12 inch/0.75 lbs CTT/Broodstock 1,200

130,000 1.5 inch/1.2 lbs per 1,000 CTT/Fry 156

55,000 4 inch/22.6 per 1,000 CTT/Fingerling 1,243

24,000 7 inch/111 per 1,000 CTT/Adults 2,664

20,000 8-10 inch/272 per 1,000 CTT/Adults 5,440

17,000 13 inch CTT/adults 13,0801

247,600 23,780

1Produced using grow-out ponds.

Sources of hatchery broodstock will be developed consistent with program fishery and 

conservation goals based on fish availability and a careful benefit risk analysis. Potential alternatives 

include: 1) natural-origin fish that preserve attributes of the wild populations and minimize risks 

associated with straying, 2) sterile triploids that pose little risk of introgression, and/or 3) a hatchery 

stock selected to minimize overlap with natural spawners. 

C. Experimental goals and approach

Effective monitoring is critical to a successful program. Effective monitoring determines 

whether the action completed achieved the objective. The monitoring program as outlined in the 

master plan will be critical to the effective and efficient adaptive management of this phased natural 

and artificial production program and the understanding of the critical uncertainties as it relates to 

these westslope cutthroat populations. Hatchery evaluations are one component of the proposed 

integrated program that also addresses management of resident and adfluvial forms of cutthroat trout 

and evaluations of the habitat restoration program. 

D. Fishery Benefits

Specific objectives and benefits of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Trout Production Facility include:

1. Provide interim fishery opportunities until habitat measures can restore natural cutthroat trout 

populations to productive self-sustaining harvestable levels.

2. Identify factors limiting the viability and productivity of native cutthroat trout populations and 

resolve critical uncertainties in cutthroat biology and population dynamics that currently

constrain preservation and restoration planning. 

3. Experimentally evaluate the feasibility of conservation-based hatchery measures for cutthroat 

trout protection, restoration, and use, including reintroduction and supplementation.

4. Participate as an active and fully vested partner in fish conservation, fishery development, and 

fish management.

E. Site and Facilities

The site selected for the proposed facility is located on the west side of Coeur d’Alene Lake 

and is in tribal waters. The acreage identified for sale is approximately 103 timbered acres with 6,200 
9

feet of lake shoreline. It anticipated that the acreage needed for the proposed facility would be 20 

acres. 

A 5,100 square-foot hatchery building and facilities will be constructed for the production of 

approximately 130,000 cutthroat trout fry. An outdoor isolation/early rearing covered area, containing 

five 4-ft. diameter round tanks, will be used to hold and observe newly recruited wild cutthroat 

fingerling prior to releasing them into the broodstock raceways. Broodstock raceways will be 

constructed for the four targeted life histories. A 120 square-foot incubation room, complete with four 

8 tray vertical incubators, will be located adjacent to the fry rearing area containing fiberglass troughs. 

The fry will be over winter in the hatchery building until ready to be released in the outdoor 

acclimation facilities (3 sites) or one of the four concrete raceways.

The hatchery water supply will be supplied by withdrawal from Coeur d’Alene Lake. The 

pumps will be configured for selective water withdrawal, for temperature control and backup purposes. 

The two pumps have a capacity of up to 3,000 galloons per minute.

For potential future production of 42,000 13-inch cutthroat adults for supplementation efforts, 

the hatchery will require an additional ten fiberglass troughs to produce the required 76,000 1.5-inch 

fry. The additional space within the hatchery building will be used to accommodate fourteen larger 

troughs for the production of 64,000 4.0-inch (year 2) fingerlings. In addition, two grow-out ponds are 

proposed for the final grow-out of these trout over another 12-month period. This future production 

will require a third pump be added for the hatchery water supply. 

Other facilities associated with this proposed site includes well water systems for domestic and 

incubation requirements, a 1200 square-foot shop/feed storage building, backup generators, a three 

bedroom residence, effluent pond and perimeter fence and gate.

Additional facilities will include a small diagnostic lab, office space (kitchen/dining/bunkroom 

area), and a public interpretive area for outreach and educational functions. 

F. Capital Costs

1. Schedule for Development

Based on the production objectives identified by the Tribe, the facility will contribute 65,000 

fingerlings (1.5 inches), 27,000 juveniles (4.0 inches), and either 20,000 adults (8-10 inches) or 17,000 

adults (13 inches) at full capacity. At full production, the Coeur d'Alene trout facility is conservatively 

designed to hold a maximum of approximately 247,200 cutthroat (23,780 pounds) at various sizes and 

ages. Implementation will occur in phases to provide interim fishery benefits while the hatchery 

program is developed and refined based on evaluations of critical uncertainties. The phasing of the 

program does not represent a change in the infrastructure needs of the facility. 

Planning so far has cost $1,049,000 million dollars and includes master plan completion and 

submittal, conceptual engineering designs and costing, staffing to complete necessary work for the 

submission of the master plan and to provide appropriate training for future hatchery personnel, and 

genetic analysis12. Additional planning expenses include costs for compliance with National 

 

12 Includes the cost associated with the current and the previous master plan submittals, but not early baseline surveys 

associated with Project 1990-044-00.
10

Environmental Policy Act, staffing costs, planning costs associated with step 2 and 3 for preliminary 

and final designs, and construction management is estimated at $114,000 in Fiscal year 2004. Cost of 

preliminary and final designs are estimated to be about $270,000. Construction of the Coeur d’ Alene 

Tribe Trout Production Facility is estimated to cost $ 2,902,585 and is targeted for construction in 

Fiscal Year 2005. Annual operation and maintenance costs after all facilities are fully developed 

would cost about $350,000. Monitoring and evaluation is estimated to cost about $300,000 annually. 

Land purchase associated with the facility is estimated to cost $1 million13. These cost figures are 

based on estimates from engineers’ opinion of probable construction costs and the Master plan for the 

project. 

G. Harvest Management

Biological objectives for wild adfluvial cutthroat trout in tributaries of the Coeur d'Alene 

Reservation include rebuilding adult populations to 75-100 percent (i.e. 31,715 to 42,289 returning 

adults) of the optimum level. Numbers of returning adults is based solely on the amount of available 

spawning habitat in the tributaries and not on juvenile carrying capacity. Because the smolt to adult 

survival estimate has not been completed, the escapement estimates are based on total available 

spawning habitat in each of the target tributaries. Adult return estimates are independent of juvenile 

rearing carrying capacity estimates. This is because total number of returning adults is comprised of 

both hatchery and naturally produced fish.

The harvest goal is 35 percent (i.e. 11,101 to 14,808 fish) of the total number of adults 

returning to the target tributaries once the populations have stabilized and it has been determined that 

the trend is increasing. Until the 75 percent objective is met only hatchery fish will be harvested. 

Total allowable tributary harvest will be based on meeting spawning escapement goals and broodstock 

needs. No changes to the limited harvest mixed stock fishery in Coeur d’Alene Lake are anticipated 

until populations of tributary stocks have stabilized and the 75 percent objective has been met.

Harvest of cutthroat trout in the Coeur d’Alene systems has been limited since 2000 by state 

regulation to two fish per day, none between 8 and 16 inches. Biologically, this allows virtually all 

cutthroat to spawn at least once before being legally harvested, and protects the vast majority of the 

catchable sized population from harve st. 

Fisheries in reservation waters are regulated by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. The Coeur d’ Alene 

Tribe has maintained a strict wild fish management policy for traditional fishing areas, primarily on 

important cutthroat trout streams within the Reserva tion. Benewah and Lake creeks have been closed 

to all fishing since 1994. The emphasis is to restore these areas in order to optimize conditions for 

expansion of wild stocks with habitat restoration. However, substantial increases to these populations 

to support any sizable harvest goals are not expected for some time. Evans and Alder creeks are 

currently managed consistent with state regulations. The Coeur d’ Alene Tribe has proposed to 

allowed harvest in select areas concurrent with restoration of hatchery-reared fish runs in readilyaccessible tributaries that do not currently contain significant wild populations of cutthroat trout. All 

hatchery-reared fish will be marked. Liberal bag limits will be established for hatchery-reared fish to 

encourage harvest.

 

13 Estimated cost associated with a 20 acres tract of the 103-acre parcel (assumes total cost of $5million).
11

IV. Key Questions and Issues

The Council invites comment on any aspect of the issue paper and master plan. Particular 

emphasis is encouraged on the following questions:

1. The Coeur d’Alene Tribe undertook an intensive planning process using existing knowledge of 

the habitat and native fish stocks. The planning process involved the revising an earlier rejected 

master plan in favor of a new master plan crafted by an Interdisciplinary Team. This new master plan 

focuses and elaborates on a native fish restoration hatchery, as a sole alternative for producing 

sufficient numbers of locally adapted fish to meet harvest and research needs of the Coeur d’Alene 

Tribe.

Have the issues and concerns raised by the Council and the ISRP regarding the old master plan 

been adequately addressed? Are the risks associated with no action equal or greater than what might be 

expected from the proposed project? Are there other lower risk alternatives the Coeur d’Alene Tribe 

should consider that would meet their management goals? 

2. Genetic Risk

Is there a significant increase in genetic risk(s) to the existing distinct population groups of 

native westslope cutthroat from the proposed program? Are there actions, in addition to those 

proposed in the master plan that could be taken to reduce the risk(s)?

Are the 10 critical uncertainties listed in the master plan adequate to address the earlier 

concerns raised by the Council and the ISRP?

3. Habitat Restoration

Is the habitat capability in the target streams sufficient, as it exists or due to restoration 

activities, to complement the proposed artificial production program as outlined in the master plan? Is 

the timing complementary?

4. Subbasin Planning

The Council anticipates that subbasin plans will be deve loped for the basins in the Columbia 

River. These plans will be consistent with Artificial Production Review purposes, policies, and 

recommend actions. Should a decision on this master plan be delayed until the Council has approved 

the subbasin plan, guided in part by the approved plan’s goals and objectives?

Oral comments on this issue paper can be made at the Council’s May 6-7, 2003 meeting in Walla 

Walla, Washington, and at the Council’s June 10-12, 2003 meeting in Boise, Idaho. Written comments 

will be accepted through June 13, 2003. Comments should be mailed to Mark Walker at the Council’s 

central office in Portland, Oregon, and reference Council document 2003-03. Based on comments 

received by that date, Council staff will develop a list of alternative actions that will be considered by 

Council. At the August 12-13, 2003 meeting, the Council will consider whether to approve the master 
12

plan and preliminary designs (step 2) for facilities associated with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe Trout 

Production Program

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