C. Biological 

 Objectives 



The biological objectives describe 

 the conditions that are needed to 

 reach the \ ision. consistent with the 

 scientific principles. The program 

 fiilfills the vision by achieving these 

 objectives. 



I. Overarching Objectives 



The Northwest Power Act directs 

 the Council to develop a program 

 to "protect, mitigate, and enhance" 

 fish and wildlife of the Columbia 

 River and its tributaries, including 

 related spawning grounds and habitat 

 affected by the development and 

 operation of the federal hydrosystem. 

 In the vision, the Council has stated 

 four overarching biological objec- 

 tives for this program. They are: 



• A Columbia River ecosystem 

 that sustains an abundant, pro- 

 ductive, and di\erse community 

 offish and wildlife. 



• Mitigation across the basin for 

 the adverse effects to fish and 

 wildlife caused by the develop- 

 ment and operation of the hydro- 

 system. 



• Sufficient populations of fish 

 and wildlife for abundant oppor- 

 tunities for tribal trust and treaty 

 right harvest and for non-tribal 

 harvest. 



• Recovery of the fish and wildlife 

 afTected by the development and 

 operation of the hydrosystem that 

 are listed under the Endangered 

 Species Act. 



The Council recognizes that 

 achieving these broad objectives is 

 not the sole responsibility of this fish 

 and wildlife program nor the Bonn- 

 eville Power Administration. Com- 

 plementary actions by other govern- 

 mental agencies and funding sources, 

 including Canadian entities where 

 appropriate, as well as the support 

 and participation of the citizens of the 



Northwest, will be needed for these 

 objccti\es to be fully achieved. Con- 

 sequently, the focus of the pri)gram 

 is limited to fish and wildlife affected 

 by the de\elopment. operation, and 

 management of the hydrosystem. 



2. Basin Level Biological 

 Objectives 



Biological objectives describe 

 physical and biological changes 

 needed to achieve the vision, based 

 on the information we now have 

 and thereby fulfill the vision. Biolog- 

 ical objectives have two components: 

 ( I ) biological performance, describ- 

 ing responses of populations to hab- 

 itat conditions, described in tenns 

 of capacity, abundance, productivity 

 and life history diversity, and (2) 

 environmental characteristics, which 

 describe the environmental condi- 

 tions or changes sought to achieve 

 the desired population characteristics. 

 Where possible, biological objectives 

 are intended to be empirically mea- 

 surable and based on an explicit sci- 

 entific rationale. Objectives at the 

 basin level are more qualitative, but 

 objectives should become increas- 

 ingly quantitative and measurable at 

 the province and subbasm levels. 

 These basinwide objectives will help 

 detennine the amount of change 

 needed across the basin to fulfill the 

 vision. They will also help determine 

 the cost effectiveness of program 

 strategies, and provide a basis for 

 monitoring, evaluation and account- 

 ability. 



The Council will establish spe- 

 cific biological objectives at the 

 pro\ ince level and in subbasin plans 

 identifying the changes needed in 

 characteristics of the environment 

 and target populations. The program 

 provides the l\)llo\\ing biological 

 objectives at the basin level. 



Objectives for Biological 

 Performance 



The Council recognizes that 

 significant losses of anadromous 

 fish, resident fish, and wildlife 

 and their habitats have occurred 

 as a result of the development 

 and operation of the hydrosys- 

 tem. To be consistent with the 

 Power Act, these losses estab- 

 lish the underlying basis for 

 population objectives for the 

 program as a whole. Collec- 

 tively, specific biological objec- 

 tives should represent what is 

 considered to be mitigation for 

 losses under the program. 



Anadromous Fish Losses 



The Council recognizes that 

 the scientific basis for biological 

 objectives is not certain and will 

 shift over time as our know ledge 

 improves. Further, we expect to 

 learn a great deal through the 

 process of developing subbasin 

 plans. The Council intends to 

 review, and if necessary, revise 

 these objectives in the course 

 of adopting subbasin plans in a 

 subsequent amendment process. 

 On an interim basis, until subba- 

 sin plans identify actual targets, 

 the Council adopts the follow- 

 ing regional objectives for anad- 

 romous fish: 



• Halt declining trends in 

 salmon and steelhead pop- 

 ulations above Bonneville 

 Dam by 2005. Obtain the 

 information necessary to 

 begin restoring the charac- 

 teristics of healthy lamprey 

 populations. 



• Restore the widest possible 

 set of healthy naturally 

 rcprt)ducing populations oi' 

 salmon and steelhead in 

 each rele\ant pro\ ince by 

 2012. Healthy populations 

 are defined as having an 80 

 percent probability of main- 

 taining ihcmseh es for 200 

 years at a le\cl that can 



16 



;jMBiA RIVER Basin Fish and wildlife Program 



