As a consequence of these and other factors, twelve stocks of Columbia Basin salmon are now listed as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act. They are not alone. The Columbian White Tailed Deer, coastal cutthroat trout, and the bald eagle are among twenty-two species that depend on the estuary habitat and appear on the federal list of threatened and endangered fish and wildlife. Many other species not yet listed are showing declining populations due, in large part, to the reduction in available habitat and the elevated levels of contaminants that settle out in the shallow waters of the estuary. For example, populations of smelt and sturgeon have plummeted in recent years.
Species affected by toxic contamination include mink and river otter.
In its highly degraded state, the estuary is ill-equipped to handle the additional insult of channel deepening. Twelve stocks of salmonids, bald eagle, and Columbian white-tailed deer are listed as federal endangered species in the portions of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers proposed for channel deepening. Many aspects of the project will run counter to current efforts to protect salmon and other species. The noise and activity of disposal operations coupled with the loss of upland habitat will harass fish and wildlife at the same time as it severely alters the quality and availability of habitat. In order to achieve the new channel depth, the Corps must blast bedrock from the river bottom, a process that will kill and harass fish.