[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 18, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19388-19391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9545]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 040795A]


Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Notice of 
Availability of a Proposed Recovery Plan for Review and Comment; Public 
Hearings

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability; public hearings.

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SUMMARY: NMFS has developed its Proposed Recovery Plan for the Snake 
River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Snake River fall chinook 
salmon, and Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 
tshawytscha). It is available upon request. NMFS seeks public comment 
and has scheduled 11 public hearings on this Proposed Recovery Plan.

DATES: Comments on the Proposed Recovery Plan must be received by July 
17, 1995, if they are to be considered during preparation of a final 
recovery plan. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for dates and times of 
public hearings.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the Proposed Recovery Plan should be 
addressed to Recovery Plan Coordinator, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, 525 NE Oregon Street, Portland, OR 97232 telephone: 503-230-
5400. Written comments and materials regarding the Proposed Recovery 
Plan should be directed to the same address. See SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION for locations of public hearings.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Jones, Recovery Plan 
Coordinator, (503-230-5420).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Salmon are culturally, economically, and symbolically important to 
the Pacific Northwest. Columbia River chinook populations were at one 
time acknowledged to be the largest in the world. Prior to the 1960's, 
the Snake River was the most important drainage in the Columbia River 
system for producing salmon. But in the 1990's, Snake River salmon 
struggle to exist. Snake River salmon have declined to such low levels 
that protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) is needed to prevent their extinction (56 FR 
58619, November 20, 1991; 57 FR 14653, April 22, 1992; 59 FR 42529, 
August 18, 1994; and 59 FR 66784, December 28, 1994). In the 1800's, 
there were approximately 1.5 million Snake River chinook salmon; by 
1994, only 1,800 adults returned to the Snake River. Snake River fall 
chinook salmon numbered over 72,000 50 years ago, but only 400 adults 
were counted at Lower Granite Dam in 1994. As many as 4,400 Snake River 
sockeye salmon could be found 40 years ago, but last year only one 
returned to Redfish Lake.
    The ESA requires that the agency responsible for a listed species 
develop and implement a recovery plan for its conservation (defined by 
the ESA as recovery to delisting) and survival, unless it is determined 
that such a plan will not promote the conservation of the species. 
Accordingly, NMFS appointed the Snake River Salmon Recovery Team (Team) 
to assist in the development of the recovery plan for the Snake River 
salmon. In May 1994, the Team submitted its final recommendations to 
NMFS. NMFS used these recommendations to formulate the Proposed Snake 
River Salmon Recovery Plan.
    The conservation of natural salmon and their habitat has not been 
afforded balanced consideration in past resource allocation decisions. 
Natural salmon are those that are the progeny of naturally spawning 
parents. Development in the Pacific Northwest has often proceeded with 
the assumption that improved technology or management would mitigate 
impacts on natural salmon stocks. The Region's reliance on uncertain 
mitigation schemes (as opposed to fundamental conservation strategies) 
has been a very costly approach, both for natural salmon and the 
public.
    However, recent efforts have concentrated on conserving natural 
salmon and their habitats. There is new emphasis being placed on 
natural fish escapement, improved migration conditions for juveniles 
and adults, increased riparian area protection, and equitable 
consideration of natural fish in resource allocation processes. This 
focus differs from previous management and represents important 
progress [[Page 19389]] toward recovering listed Snake River salmon, 
restoring Columbia Basin ecosystem health, and benefiting other species 
presently in serious decline.

Summary of the Proposed Recovery Plan

    The goal of the Proposed Recovery Plan is to restore the health of 
the Columbia and Snake River ecosystem and to recover listed Snake 
River salmon stocks. Many of the recommended actions will directly 
benefit other species such as other salmon stocks, sturgeon, and bull 
trout. Implementation of the Proposed Recovery Plan should also 
conserve biodiversity, a factor that is essential to ecosystem 
integrity and stability. Many of the actions in the Proposed Recovery 
Plan have been used to formulate reasonable and prudent measures in 
current section 7 consultations.
    The Proposed Recovery Plan discusses the natural history and 
current status of Snake River salmon. It also addresses known and 
potential human impacts, and displays the costs directly attributable 
to recovery. In addition, the Proposed Recovery Plan identifies 
delisting criteria and biological objectives, and proposes the tasks 
required to meet them. Tasks are identified in the areas of 
institutional structure, tributary ecosystem, mainstem and estuarine 
ecosystem, harvest management, and artificial propagation.
    NMFS' approach to Snake River salmon recovery places highest 
priority on ameliorating the primary factors for the species' decline 
and eliminating existing impediments to recovery. The Plan does this by 
proposing actions that offer immediate benefits, and refining those 
actions over time to ensure the most efficient use of limited 
resources. This strategy incorporates an adaptive management process; 
it allows actions to be added, deleted, or refined as important 
scientific information and analyses becomes available.

Institutional Structure

    NMFS believes (as did the Team) that an improved decision-making 
process is necessary to restore Columbia Basin ecosystem health and 
ensure Snake River salmon recovery. Such a process will also protect 
and improve habitat through the adaptive management process, prevent 
further listings, and conserve other fish and wildlife. To achieve 
these goals, NMFS will appoint, convene, and chair a Recovery 
Implementation Team that will represent state, tribal, and Federal 
policy leaders and thereby ensure effective coordination, teamwork, and 
communication among all entities having responsibility for Snake River 
salmon recovery. To ensure that salmon recovery actions remain 
scientifically based, NMFS will also consider appointing and convening 
Scientific Advisory Panel and technical committees to provide 
scientific and technical support to the Recovery Implementation Team.

Delisting Criteria

    The Team's and NMFS' recovery requirements and delisting criteria 
for ESA-listed Snake River Basin salmon are very similar and fall into 
two major categories: (1) Remedying the environmental (and other) 
factors that have reduced the stocks to levels that are in danger of 
extinction; and (2) rebuilding populations to levels where there is 
evidence of improved productivity, even when considering the potential 
impacts of severe stochastic environmental events (e.g., protracted 
drought, oceanic El Nino effects, etc.). Both of these categories must 
be achieved in order to consider delisting. To determine rebuilding 
levels above, NMFS proposes to use cohort replacement rates and numeric 
delisting criteria.
    The cohort replacement rate describes the rate at which each 
subsequent cohort, or generation, replaces the previous one. When this 
rate is exactly 1.0, a population is neither increasing nor decreasing. 
If the ratio remains less than 1.0 for extended periods, a population 
is in decline, and could continue into extinction--a risk that led 
originally to listing Snake River salmon. For population rebuilding, 
the cohort replacement rate must be greater than 1. For delisting to be 
considered, the 8-year geometric mean cohort replacement rate of a 
listed species must exceed 1.0. For Snake River spring/summer chinook 
salmon, this goal must also be met for 80 percent of the index areas 
available for estimating cohort replacement rates.
    For sockeye salmon, the numerical escapement goal is an 8-year 
(approximately two-generation) geometric mean of at least 1,000 natural 
spawners returning annually to Redfish Lake and 500 natural spawners in 
each of two other Snake River Basin lakes. The numerical escapement 
goal for Snake River fall chinook salmon is an 8-year geometric mean of 
at least 2,500 natural spawners in the mainstem Snake River annually. 
Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon have two numeric delisting 
criteria; both must be met for delisting to be considered. The first 
numerical escapement goal for Snake River spring/summer chinook salmon 
is an 8-year geometric mean corresponding to at least 60 percent of the 
pre-1971 brood year average redd counts for 80 percent of the available 
index areas. The second numerical escapement goal for spring/summer 
chinook salmon is an 8-year geometric mean equal to 60 percent of the 
1962-67 brood year average count of natural spawners past Ice Harbor 
Dam (goal is equal to 31,440).

Tributary Ecosystem

    Land and water management actions, including water withdrawals, 
unscreened water diversions, stream channelization, road construction, 
timber harvest, livestock grazing, mining, and outdoor recreation have 
degraded important salmon spawning and rearing habitats. To protect 
tributary ecosystem health, NMFS proposes a three-part approach: (1) 
Protect remaining high quality habitat by ceasing activities that would 
degrade ecosystem functions and values that listed fish need, (2) 
restore degraded habitats, and (3) provide connectivity between high 
quality habitats. Federal lands and Federal actions should bear, as 
much as possible, the burdens of recovering listed salmon species and 
their habitat. However, non-Federal lands constitute approximately 35 
percent of the Snake River salmon critical habitat. Therefore, an 
ecosystem approach that emphasizes integrated Federal and non-Federal 
land management is needed. To achieve this, all stakeholders in a 
subbasin or watershed are encouraged to participate in management 
partnerships. The Proposed Recovery Plan also proposes actions that 
will reduce the loss of listed species at water withdrawal sites, 
rebuild salmon populations by providing adequate instream flows and 
improving fish passage at barriers, reduce losses of listed salmon 
associated with poor water quality, and reduce impacts on salmon 
resulting from recreational activities.

Mainstem and Estuarine Ecosystem

    In the mainstem and estuarine ecosystem, salmon face problems 
associated with their downstream and upstream migrations. The journey 
through the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers has become more hazardous, 
since eight hydroelectric dams were built and their reservoirs created. 
Each dam delays juvenile fish in their transition to the ocean 
environment and exacts additional losses. Seventy percent of the 482 
miles between the mouth of the Columbia River and Lewiston/Clarkston on 
the Snake River has been converted from free-flowing river into 
reservoirs. This change has [[Page 19390]] slowed the rate of 
downstream travel for smolts and increased the amount of habitat 
favorable to predator species. Hatchery fish and exotic species compete 
with and prey on the listed salmon in the mainstem ecosystem.
    NMFS examined various approaches to improving the downstream 
survival of juvenile Snake River salmon (as well as that of other fish 
that migrate through the corridor). The actions considered include 
improving inriver and dam passage conditions, improving collection and 
transportation systems for juvenile migrants (especially under adverse 
river conditions), and drawing down reservoirs.
    NMFS proposes to proceed on a long-term adaptive management 
approach that will depend upon a combination of improved inriver 
migration conditions, improved transportation, and major structural 
changes at dams. The Proposed Recovery Plan recommends a major decision 
point when sufficient adult survival information is available in 1999. 
In the interim, all necessary studies, planning, design, and 
environmental documentation for drawdowns should be completed. At the 
same time, inriver migration conditions should be improved to the 
maximum extent possible using techniques such as increased flows, 
increased spill, physical improvement of the dams, and aggressive 
surface bypass development and testing. Significant improvements should 
also be made in transportation operations. The overall approach is to 
proceed on a path that implements measures in the short term that are 
most likely to increase survival while at the same time enhancing our 
ability to isolate and address major causes of mortality in the future. 
The listed and unlisted fish also need improvements in their upstream 
passage conditions. To accomplish this, the Proposed Recovery Plan 
prescribes actions such as installing extended length screens, 
operating turbines at peak efficiency, extending the period during 
which the juvenile bypass system is in operation, implementing a gas 
abatement program, remedying water pollution problems, developing 
emergency auxiliary water supplies for adult fishways, and decreasing 
water temperatures.
    To minimize predation and competition problems in the migration 
corridor, the Proposed Recovery Plan contains actions to control 
predation by squawfish, birds, marine mammals, and non-native fishes 
such as smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish. Measures are 
also proposed to reduce American shad populations in the Columbia River 
because they both prey on and compete with juvenile salmon.

Harvest Management

    Snake River salmon are not directly targeted for harvest, but they 
are incidentally caught by commercial, recreational, and tribal 
fisheries in the ocean and in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Incidental 
harvest of Snake River sockeye salmon and Snake River spring/summer 
chinook salmon is minimal. However, fall chinook salmon are caught 
incidentally in commercial and sport fisheries from Southeast Alaska to 
California, in nontreaty inriver sport and commercial fisheries, and in 
treaty fisheries above Bonneville Dam. In each of these fisheries, 
listed Snake River fall chinook are mixed with a number of other 
natural and hatchery-origin stocks. At present, these fisheries are 
managed through a complex system of interrelated forums.
    The Recovery Plan proposes to amend the existing inriver harvest 
management rules so that they incorporate explicit management criteria 
to protect Snake River salmon. To minimize the number of fall chinook 
caught in ocean fisheries, NMFS proposes to implement a management 
strategy that is consistent with the Pacific Salmon Commission's 
objective of meeting adult chinook goals by 1998. These goals are 
established for a number of stocks and are based on a chinook 
rebuilding program that was fully implemented in 1984. This approach 
takes a broad view of stock protection and focuses on the coastwide 
status of chinook stocks, including those from Puget Sound, the 
Washington and Oregon coast, and the Columbia River, all of which are 
under review for listing under the ESA.

Artificial Propagation

    Artificial propagation in the Columbia River Basin has contributed 
successfully to ocean and inriver commercial, sport, and tribal 
fisheries. In some cases, hatchery production has slowed the decline of 
natural salmon populations or helped preserve them. However, effects 
from intensive hatchery production (such as supporting harvest rates in 
excess of what the natural populations can withstand, using natural 
fish for hatchery broodstock, and causing introgression into natural 
gene pools) have also contributed to the continued decline of some 
natural salmon populations. Ecological interactions between hatchery 
fish and natural fish such as competition, predation, displacement, and 
disease transfer need to be minimized.
    The Proposed Recovery Plan proposes to conserve remaining Snake 
River salmon gene pools through captive broodstock, supplementation, 
and gene bank programs. It also proposes to protect listed species from 
excessive genetic introgression, minimize impacts on listed salmon 
resulting from interactions between Columbia River Basin hatchery 
salmon and natural salmon, improve the quality of fish released from 
hatcheries, reduce predation and competition interactions between 
listed salmon and steelhead and hatchery trout, restore listed chinook 
by reintroducing them to historic habitat, and conduct research for the 
purpose of optimizing production and conserving natural populations.

Incremental Costs of Recovery Actions

    The Proposed Recovery Plan discusses only those incremental costs 
specifically resulting from actions designed to achieve recovery under 
the ESA. It does not include the economic and social effects 
attributable to other authorities and responsibilities. NMFS intends to 
develop a more complete estimate of the direct costs of the proposed 
recovery tasks and a better description of the time required to carry 
out these tasks. There will be opportunity to comment on this 
supplemental cost and schedule information before NMFS issues a final 
recovery plan.
    In addition to the direct cost information, NMFS and the Team are 
keenly aware of public interest regarding the potential indirect and 
socioeconomic costs and benefits of recovery efforts for Snake River 
sockeye and chinook. The decline of the currently listed stocks and 
other fisheries in the Columbia River Basin has imposed substantial 
losses upon the fishery dependent communities and economies of the 
Pacific Northwest. Implementation of a broad-based recovery effort for 
Snake River salmon will also inevitably result in some social and 
economic costs to the Pacific Northwest. Some recovery actions are 
relatively limited in geographic scope and economic impact, while other 
actions could trigger changes in the regional economy.
    In light of this interest, NMFS asked economists from the 
University of Washington to reconvene the Snake River Salmon Economic 
Technical Committee, review the Team's recommendations, and develop an 
economic analysis of the Team's recommended actions. This analysis is 
described in the February 1995 report, ``Economics of Snake River 
Salmon Recovery; a Report to the National Marine Fisheries Service,'' 
which will be distributed with the Proposed Recovery Plan. NMFS and the 
Team [[Page 19391]] believe that this report is a thorough economic 
evaluation of the Team's recommendations.
    No such similarly detailed economic evaluation has yet been 
conducted for the tasks and objectives contained in this Proposed 
Recovery Plan. However, many of the Team's recommendations are similar 
to those NMFS proposes, and the relationship of the Team's 
recommendations to the NMFS Proposed Recovery Plan tasks is discussed 
at the end of each chapter or section of this plan. Readers of the 
Proposed Recovery Plan are encouraged to review Economics of Snake 
River Salmon Recovery; a Report to the National Marine Fisheries 
Service.'' A more complete economic analysis of the NMFS Proposed 
Recovery Plan is under development and will be made available upon 
completion.

Public Comments Solicited

    NMFS intends that the final recovery plan will take advantage of 
information and recommendations from all interested parties. Therefore, 
comments and suggestions are hereby solicited from the public, other 
concerned governmental agencies, the scientific community, industry, 
and any other person concerned with this Proposed Recovery Plan. Areas 
on which NMFS would particularly like to receive input include the 
sections on institutional structure and economics.

Public Hearings

    The public hearings are scheduled as follows:
    1. May 15, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Lewiston, ID.
    2. May 17, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Boise, ID.
    3. May 18, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Stanley, ID.
    4. May 23, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., LaGrande, OR.
    5. May 24, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Richland, WA.
    6. May 25, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Astoria, OR.
    7. May 31, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Portland, OR.
    8. June 6, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Seattle, WA.
    9. June 8, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Ketchikan, AK.
    10. June 9, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sitka, AK.
    11. June 17, 1995, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Columbia Falls, MT.
    The hearings will be held at the following locations:
    1. Lewiston--City Community Bldg., 1424 Main, Lewiston, ID .
    2. Boise--Interagency Fire Center Auditorium, 3905 Vista Ave., 
Boise, ID 83705.
    3. Stanley--Stanley Community Center, Stanley, ID 83278.
    4. LaGrande--Eastern Oregon State College, LaGrande, OR 97850.
    5. Richland--Richland Federal Bldg., 825 Jadwin Ave., Richland, WA 
99352.
    6. Astoria--Columbia River Maritime Museum, Astoria, OR 97103.
    7. Portland--Federal Complex Auditorium, 911 NE 11th Ave., 
Portland, OR 97232.
    8. Seattle--NMFS, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake 
Blvd., East, Seattle, WA 98112.
    9. Ketchikan--Civic Center, 888 Venetia Avenue, Ketchikan, AK 
99901.
    10. Sitka--Centennial Building, 330 Harbor Drive, Sitka, AK 99835.
    11. Columbia Falls--Columbia Falls High School, 610 13th Street, 
Columbia Falls, MT 59912.

    Dated: April 12, 1995.
Patricia Montanio,
Acting Director, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine 
Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 95-9545 Filed 4-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F