Making Progress

for Salmon and Steelhead

Columbia River Basin Salmon Runs Are Improving

The Citizen Update is a publication 

of a group of Northwest federal 

agencies that work together to protect 

Columbia River Basin salmon.

caucus Federal

Federal, state, tribal and local actions are 

helping to protect salmon and steelhead in 

the rivers and streams of the Columbia River 

Basin. Nature has given the fish a boost with several 

years of good ocean conditions and adequate rains 

and snowmelt. Together, these actions and conditions have brought about record numbers of fish.

With cooperation from the ocean, we would 

expect upward trends for the fish to continue. But 

history tells us ocean conditions are cyclical; we 

must be ready for the next low point in the cycle. 

The region needs to keep up its aggressive efforts to 

sustain the fish through tough times, so when good 

ocean conditions come around again the fish will be 

ready. Our aim is to move the overall trends up, so 

the fish are not only out of danger but can continue 

to be an important part of the Northwest culture 

and economy.

Habitat restoration and enhancement actions provide the fish more clean, cold water and sufficient 

gravel beds for spawning. Irrigation diversions, 

road culverts and small dams are being modified or 

removed to open habitat areas so fish can thrive.

We are making fish passageway improvements at the 

mainstem dams so young fish can get past the huge 

dams safely, and adult fish can continue to successfully find and use the fish ladders on their return 

from the ocean.

We are improving hatchery management to boost 

populations and protect wild fish. Federal agencies 

and funding support over 50 hatchery populations 

in the Columbia Basin, providing the backbone for 

commercial, sport, and tribal fisheries. Hatchery 

and Genetic Management Plans will soon be completed for every federal 

hatchery in the basin 

to identify reform 

actions that will help 

listed stocks. We are 

implementing “safety 

net” programs for Snake 

River sockeye and other 

salmon populations currently at very low levels. 

Some good news is that, 

after study of extinction 

risk for Snake River 

salmon and steelhead, we’ve learned there are no 

populations at serious additional risk of extinction 

or requiring new safety net programs.

Dramatic returns in 2000 allowed the first spring Chinook 

fishery to open since 1973. Each year since then, fishers have 

enjoyed a harvest.

Citizen Update

November 2004, Issue 13

A publication of the Federal Caucus, Columbia River Basin Fish

In FY 2003, 19 streams and 12 rivers, totalling 436 miles, 

benefitted from the funding of 33 water transactions.

Improvements to aid fish 

survival past the dams are a 

central feature of the Federal 

commitment to salmon.

10-year Average

2001

2002

2003

700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000

300,000

200,000

100,000

0

Spring

Chinook

Fall Steelhead

Chinook

Summer

Chinook

Bonneville Dam adult fish counts 2001-2003

compared to a 10-year average
2 Citizen Update

We need to better address predation on young salmon, which can 

be a severe setback for salmon 

restoration efforts. Federal 

agencies are exploring ways to 

manage Caspian tern colonies by 

dispersing the colonies to areas 

where young salmon would not 

be such a big part of their diet. 

We are looking at ecologically 

sound options for managing 

other birds such as cormorants 

that prey heavily on young 

salmon, as well.

We are also intensifying the 

program for harvest of northern 

pikeminnow, a non-native species of fish that feeds on young 

salmon in the rivers. In 2004 

alone, over 265,000 pikeminnow 

were removed. This program 

recently received high marks 

in a study by the Pacific States 

Marine Fisheries Commission. 

These actions will benefit all of 

the fish migrating through the 

hydrosystem, not just those listed 

under ESA.

New technologies can provide 

better ways to help fish pass the 

dams. For example, engineers 

and biologists are working on 

a way to improve juvenile fish 

survival when they pass dams on 

their way to the ocean.

At Lower Granite Dam, a spillway weir provides a more natural 

and efficient passage route for 

juvenile fish. This “fish slide” 

weir allows juvenile salmon to 

travel near the water surface of 

the forebay (area above the dam) 

to the tailrace (area below the 

dam) via spillways. Tests indicate the fish slide is four to five 

times more efficient at attracting 

juvenile salmon and steelhead 

than traditional spill, effectively 

passing more fish with less water. 

Additionally, fish don’t hesitate or delay as long before passing the structure, making them 

less vulnerable to predators and 

allowing them to stay closer to 

their natural migration timeline. 

Survival over the weir is as good 

as or better than with traditional 

spill, in which the fish pass under 

a spillway gate. Economically, 

fish slides are appealing because 

they require less spill; water not 

spilled can be used for power 

generation. Another fish slide 

will be installed and tested at Ice 

Harbor Dam in 2005, and similar 

ones are envisioned for other 

dams over the next ten years.

The Columbia River estuary is 

getting deserved attention as 

regional partners work together 

to open up areas that have been 

diked, and to restore wetlands 

and shallow-water areas. These 

estuary habitats are important to 

many species of young salmon 

for resting and feeding as they 

prepare for a three- or four-year 

adult life in the ocean.

These collaborative, wideranging actions will benefit 

salmon throughout their life 

cycle and enable them to make 

the most of good ocean conditions and restored habitat. 

We will continue to leverage 

improvements in science and 

technology, using our improved 

understanding of the fish and 

what affects them as they make 

their remarkable journey from 

stream to ocean and back again.

Preliminary tests 

show that “fish slides” 

can be 4 or 5 times 

more effective in fish 

passage per unit of 

flow than existing 

gates.

Tern predation on juvenile salmon is 

down roughly 40 percent after 9,000 

pairs of Caspian terns nesting in the 

Columbia River estuary were relocated. 

Terns were unharmed.

From 2000 to 2003, 

over 27 percent of 

returning Yakima 

River spring Chinook 

were the result of 

hatchery production at 

the Yakama Tribal Cle 

Elum Supplementation 

and Research Facility.

Spillway Weir in Operating Position

Spillway

Deflector

Spillway Gate

Dam

Spillbay

Spillway

Crest

Spillway

Weir

Forebay

Pool

Tail Water

Stilling Basin 

Flow

Flow

There’s More to be Done
Citizen Update 3

What is a Biological 

Opinion All About?

The Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) is very specific 

about possible harm to 

threatened species, including the 

salmon and steelhead the law 

protects in the Pacific Northwest. 

It requires any federal agency 

proposing to do anything that 

might affect an ESA listed species—such as issuing a permit to 

someone else, spending money 

on a project, taking a direct 

action—to ensure that the action 

will not unduly harm protected 

species. The agency must also 

seek the expert opinion of the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS) or NOAA Fisheries 

about the effects of the action. 

USFWS or NOAA Fisheries will 

issue a Biological Opinion (BiOp) 

to the “action agency” evaluating 

the proposed action. 

The primary goal of a BiOp is 

to ensure that the action is not 

likely to jeopardize the species’ 

continued existence or unduly 

modify its designated critical 

habitat. The bottom line: a BiOp 

prevents unacceptable harm to a 

listed species. USFWS and NOAA 

Fisheries have hundreds of BiOps 

in place in the Columbia Basin, 

for large and small actions, covering a small locale or a substantial region.

For salmon and steelhead 

in the Columbia River 

Basin, the BiOp issued by 

NOAA Fisheries in 2000 on the 

Federal Columbia River Power 

System (FCRPS) has been the 

center of attention. It focused 

on the proposed action by the 

federal “Action Agencies”—

Corps of Engineers, Bureau of 

Reclamation and Bonneville 

Power Administration—to 

operate the system. In the 2000 

BiOp, NOAA Fisheries recommended additional actions to 

avoid jeopardy to listed fish, in a 

“reasonable and prudent alternative” (RPA).

In 2003, Judge James Redden 

of the Oregon Federal District 

Court ordered NOAA Fisheries 

to revise its 2000 FCRPS BiOp 

because actions of non-federal 

entities it relied upon were not 

certain to occur and provide 

desired biological benefits.

In revising the BiOp, NOAA 

Fisheries reviewed an “Updated 

Proposed Action” (UPA) from the 

Action Agencies and determined 

it would not jeopardize listed 

species. The UPA replaces the 

RPA the Action Agencies agreed 

to implement following issuance 

of the 2000 Biological Opinion. 

The UPA continues the momentum of the actions the agencies 

have planned and completed 

to date. In practice, the level of 

protection for these fish is undiminished.

The UPA also reflects legal 

consequences of the Judge’s 

ruling regarding specificity. For 

example, the proposed habitat 

actions provide greater certainty 

and sharper focus by targeting specific biological needs, 

or limiting factors, for each of 

the listed stocks. The Action 

Agencies provide specific commitments to protect and enhance 

riparian areas as well as improve 

passage, including three and six 

year targets to measure accomplishments. The UPA will also 

measure the Action Agencies’ 

performance in meeting specific 

goals to achieve improved fish 

survival and passage through 

each of the dams, and implementation plans will ensure that the 

most successful and efficient 

measures are utilized to achieve 

these goals.

Like other biological opinions 

that are issued across the nation 

for federal projects, this BiOp 

evaluation focuses specifically on 

the Action Agencies’ proposed 

action— operation of the dams 

—and the impact on listed species: 

salmon and steelhead. Because 

the dams were built before the 

fish were listed under ESA, NOAA 

Fisheries is evaluating the dams 

as part of the pre-existing conditions, or environmental baseline. 

In so doing, NOAA took baseline 

condition of the hydro system and 

current status of listed species 

into account. They determined 

that any adverse impact to salmon 

by the dams over the next few 

years will not jeopardize listed 

species because specific and 

substantial planned improvements by the federal agencies will 

ensure increased fish passage and 

survival for the long term. These 

improvements are in addition to 

the substantial effort that will 

continue to be funded through 

federal agencies to account for 

the dams and their impacts, such 

as the Lower Snake River Fish 

& Wildlife Compensation Plan 

and the Northwest Power and 

Conservation Council’s Fish and 

Wildlife Program.

Revised BiOp for the FCRPS Enhances Federal 

Commitments
4 Citizen Update

How Do Biological 

Opinions Fit in with 

Recovery? 

Biological Opinions are one 

part of the ESA process. 

Another is the development of recovery plans. ESA 

requires recovery plans for every 

listed species. A recovery plan 

has to describe specific management actions, establish objective, 

measurable criteria for when a 

species no longer requires protection and can be removed from 

the ESA list, and estimate the 

time and cost to carry out these 

measures. The plan helps to identify what various entities should 

be doing to promote self-sustaining populations of the species.

The protections established in 

a BiOp are an important foundation for long-term recovery of 

a listed species, but recovery 

will clearly require additional 

improvements that go beyond 

the actions that merely avoid 

jeopardy. The Action Agencies 

are in fact proposing several 

“conservation measures” in the 

BiOp beyond the required action, 

that will contribute to recovery. 

For example, BPA proposes to 

improve riparian habitat and 

improve instream flows for 

Upper Columbia steelhead in 

the Okanogan subbasin, and 

Reclamation proposes to improve 

spawning and rearing habitat in 

several areas through technical 

assistance to local partners.

NOAA Fisheries plans to 

develop draft recovery plans 

on salmon and steelhead for 

regional review in 2005, working closely with locally supported subbasin planning efforts 

through the Northwest Power and 

Conservation Council. Recovery of 

listed salmon and steelhead stocks 

remains a fundamental commitment of the federal agencies.

For More Information

For more information on 

the Federal Caucus, the 

FCRPS Biological Opinion 

or Columbia River Basin fish and 

wildlife recovery, please visit the 

Federal Caucus web site at www.

salmonrecovery.gov. This web 

site also includes information 

about the FCRPS BiOp annual 

implementation plans and progress. You can also find previous 

issues of Citizen Update, and 

Internet links for related activities and documents. You can call 

the Federal Caucus toll free at 

1-888-921-4886, or email us at 

federalcaucus@bpa.gov.

The mailing address is

Federal Caucus

C/o BPA-P

P.O. Box 3621

Portland, OR 97208

Working Together 

Toward Success

To make a difference, 

recovery plans require the 

support and involvement 

of local citizens, municipalities, 

private landowners, and state, 

tribal and federal agencies to succeed. Many groups throughout 

the Northwest are working hard 

to ensure their efforts are coordinated to restore the region’s 

natural resources to sustainable 

and healthy levels.

When all is said and done, we 

want our children, and their children, to experience a Northwest 

with abundant fish runs and a 

fish-friendly Federal Columbia 

River Power System. Our economy and our way of life depend 

upon the river and on healthy 

salmon populations.

Crims Island in the Columbia River, where comprehensive actions and partnering 

with others will help restore estuary habitat.