The Salmon Restoration Plan is a comprehensive, watershed-based strategic plan to restore, monitor, and preserve the watershed ecosystems upon which the salmon depend. Federal and state agencies responsible for dams and hydroelectric projects have initiated measures to manage stream flows for the maximum benefit to fish. Resource assessments, specific watershed action plans, and monitoring programs are also part of the comprehensive package. Although spearheaded by government, primary responsibility for carrying out many of the plan's restoration efforts lies with local businesses, community groups, and residents. Government provides a comprehensive framework, coordinating mechanisms, and legal and regulatory measures, as well as some monitoring and enforcement activities.
Funding comes from both public and private sources.
A first-year report on the plan, issued in May 1998, was mixed but encouraging. Noting the immense challenges involved in the effort, the report praised the establishment of the 81 watershed councils and the fact that more than 1.200 restoration projects had been conducted in the plan's first year, many of them on the initiative of private landowners. Road culvert improvements opened up about 400 miles of streams to the fish. On the down side, the report said that there is still no method for assessing the projects' effectiveness, long-term financing remains uncertain, and communication and cooperation among state agencies is still problematic. In addition, the report said, some sectors of the business community, particularly agriculture, have yet to join the effort.