Ecological Pro 



The program organizes the 

 more tlian 50 suhhasins of 

 the Columbia Ri\er Basin 

 into I I ecological provinces, which 

 are groups of adjoining subbasins 

 with similar climates and geology. 

 Because each province has its own 

 distinct environment and fish and 

 wildlife populations, each will have 

 its own vision, biological objectives, 

 and strategies. Those elements will 

 be adopted in a later rulemaking. 

 The pro\ ince level visions, objec- 

 tives, and strategies will be consistent 

 with those adopted at the basin level. 



A. Geographical 

 Structure 



The Columbia River is an inte- 

 grated biophysical system, but 

 the basin is too large and complex 

 for us to understand or manage as a 

 single entity. At the same time, man- 

 aging each piece as an independent 

 entity risks losing appreciation for 

 the interaction between components 

 and their collective perfoimance as 

 a system. For this reason, the Coun- 

 cil is adopting an ecologically based 

 structure for the Columbia River eco- 

 system that emphasizes the interrela- 

 tionships of the parts, including the 

 Canadian portion of the basin to the 

 extent information is available. 



Within the Columbia River eco- 

 system, the scientific foundation 

 defines areas with distinct ecological 

 character that it temied ecological 

 provinces (Figure I). Ecological 

 provinces are distinct subdivisions 

 of the landscape containing ecologi- 

 cally related subbasins. The prov- 

 inces are distinguished primarily on 

 patterns related to hydrology, clmiate 

 and regional geology. 



These physical patterns relate 

 to biological population patterns as 

 well. Populations within a province 

 are more likely to be related to other 

 populations within that province than 

 to populations in other provinces. 

 Life history and other characteri.stics 



"...the Counci g 



an ecol^ 

 structure for the Columbia 

 River ecosystem 

 emphasizes the 

 interrelationship, 



parts, including the 

 Canadian portion of the 



basin to the extent 

 information is available." 



should group into patterns that reflect 

 physical habitat structure. 



Each province consists of a set 

 of adjoining watersheds with similar 

 ecological conditions and tributaries 

 that ultimately connect, flowing into 

 the same river or lake. These 

 provinces are thus appropriate units 

 around which to organize and evalu- 

 ate recovery objectives and efforts. 



For our purposes, a subbasin can 

 only be in one province; boundaries 

 do not cut across subbasins. Hydro- 

 electric dams, including the major 

 dams on the Columbia and Snake 

 rivers, are also considered to be 

 within provinces. 



Based on patterns of terrestrial 

 vegetation, the headwaters of a sub- 

 basin are often distinct from the 

 lower reaches and have been put 

 mto separate areas in other schemes. 

 However, for purposes of planning, it 

 makes little sense to split subbasins. 

 Instead, we treat each subbasin as an 

 integral component of a set of related 

 subbasins forming a province. Table 

 1 displays the provinces and subba- 

 sins of the Columbia River Basin. 



B. Province Visions, 

 Objectives, and 

 Strategies 



The Council has not yet adopted 

 specific visions, objectives, or 

 strategies for ecological provinces. 

 Before otTering more specific guid- 

 ance at the province level, the Council 

 believes that it is important to com- 

 plete a preliminai"y assessment at the 

 province level, identifying the attri- 

 butes, needs, and opportunities that 

 are unique to each province. That 

 as.sessment is expected to be com- 

 pleted by early 200 1 . Upon comple- 

 tion of subbasin planning, the Council 

 expects to amend into the program 

 appropriate visions, objectives, and 

 strategies for the provinces. 



Biological objectives at the prov- 

 ince scale guide development of the 

 program at the subbasin scale. It is 

 likely that there will be some iteration 

 among biological objectives at the var- 

 ious scales as infomiation is devel- 

 oped. However, the Council intends 

 to develop a provisional set of objec- 

 tives at the province scale to provide 

 planning guidelines for subbasin plan- 

 ning. These may be revisited in the 

 future to reflect the experience gained 

 in planning at the subbasin level. 



Biological objectives at the prov- 

 ince level will be used to 1 ) "size" 

 the program and describe the amount 

 of change needed across the prov ince; 

 2) help detennine cost effectiveness 

 of program measures; and 3) provide 

 the basis for program accountability 

 and the monitoring, evaluation and 

 research associated with this program. 

 The biological objectives at the prov- 

 ince level are not intended to be 

 prescriptive or regulatoiy in nature. 

 Instead, they provide guidance for 

 planning at the subbasin level. 



C. Ocean 



For plannuig purpo.ses under this 

 program, the Council also recog- 

 nizes the N(Mlli Pacific Ocean as a 

 geographic unit that should be con- 

 sidered in research, monitoring, and 

 evaluation actions. 



2000 Columbia rivei 



Fish and w 



35 



