the federal h\ dmpower system as 

 identified in Table 1 1-4. which is 

 included in the Appendix to this pro- 

 gram. This mitigation is presumed 

 to cover all construction and inun- 

 dation losses, including annualized 

 losses. In addition, for each wildlife 

 agreement that does not already 

 pro\ ide for long-tenn maintenance 

 of the habitat. Bonne\ilie and the 

 applicable management agency shall 

 propose for Council consideration 

 and recommendation a maintenance 

 agreement adequate to sustain the 

 minimum credited habitat values for 

 the life of the project. 



• Allocation of Habitat Units 



Habitat acquired as mitigation 

 for lost habitat units identified in 

 Table 1 1-4 must be acquired in 

 the subbasin in which the lost 

 units were located unless other- 

 wise agreed by the fish and wild- 

 life agencies and tribes in that 

 subbasin. 



• Habitat Enhancement Credits 



Habitat enhancement credits 

 should be provided to Bonneville 

 when habitat management acti\ - 

 ities funded by Bonneville lead 

 to a net increase in habitat 

 value when compared to the level 

 identified in the baseline habitat 

 inventory and subsequent habitat 

 in\entories. This determination 

 should be made through the peri- 

 odic monitoring of the project 

 site usmg the Habitat f \aluation 

 Procedure (HEP) methodology. 

 Bonneville should be credited for 

 habitat eniiancement effoils at a 

 ratio of one habitat unit credited 

 for every habitat unit gained. 



• Operational Losses 



An assessment should be c^)n- 

 ducted of direct operational 

 impacts on wildlife habitat. Sub- 

 basin plans will serve as the 

 vehicle to provide mitigation for 

 direct operational losses and sec- 

 ondary losses. Annualization 



8. Ocean Conditions 



"Better understa^ ; 



the conditions s. „.. 



face in the ocbp 



suggest which factors will 



be most critical to 



survival, and thus give 



insight as to which actions 



taken inland will be 



the most valuable. " 



will not be used in detennining 

 the mitigation due for these 

 losses. However, where opera- 

 tional or secondary losses have 

 already been addressed in an 

 existing wildlife mitigation 

 agreement, the tenns of that 

 agreement will apply. 



Implementation Guidelines 



Project selection will be guided by 

 subbasin plans incorporatmg wild- 

 life elements. The subbasin plans 

 will reflect the cuiTcnt basin-wide 

 vision, biological objectives and 

 strategies, and will also outline 

 more specific short-tenn objectives 

 and strategies for achiev ing specific 

 wildlife mitigation goals. The plans 

 will act as work plans for the fish 

 and wildlife managers and tribes, 

 with an emphasis on fully mitigating 

 the construction and inundation and 

 direct operational losses by a time 

 certain, and will be revisited reg- 

 ularly as part of the pro\ incial 

 re\ iew cycle. Mitigation programs 

 should provide protection of habitat 

 through fee-title acquisition, conser- 

 vation easement, lease, or manage- 

 ment plans for the life of the project. 



Primary strategy: Identify the 

 effects of ocean conditions on anad- 

 romous fish and use this infomia- 

 tion to evaluate and adjust inland 

 actions. 



The Council considers the ocean 

 environment an integral component 

 of the Columbia River ecosystem. 

 Freshwater and marine env ironments 

 are not independent from one another 

 and are linked via large-scale atmo- 

 spheric and oceanographic processes. 

 The Council recognizes that these 

 environments are utilized differently 

 by different salmonid species and 

 may serve different purposes. 



The ocean is not a constant envi- 

 ronment. Variations in ocean con- 

 ditions occur over relatively short 

 periods of a few years, as well as 

 over longer-temi cycles measured in 

 decades. Within any time period, 

 geographic variation in conditions 

 can be pronounced as well. As a 

 result, salmon populations are con- 

 stantly fluctuating, and may pass 

 through decade-long cycles of abun- 

 dance, followed by equally long 

 cycles of scarcity. 



While we cannot control the 

 ocean itself, we can take actions 

 to assure that the salmon of the 

 Columbia River Basin are well pre- 



1?^ 



-1 



2000 Columbia river Basin Fish and Wildlife Pr 



31 



