environments and addresses anad- 

 romous and resident fish, and \\i id- 

 life. Tiiis initial assessment will rely 

 primarily on existing information 

 already eompiled by fish and wildlife 

 ageneies. water resoiiree ageneies. 

 and other interested parties w ilhin tlie 

 subbasins. 



A template for siibbasin assess- 

 ment has been developed for this 

 program through the ct)llaborative 

 efforts of regional seientists. This 

 template has broad support, and 

 will be accepted for both the plans 

 adopted as part of the fish and wild- 

 life program, for ESA recovery plan- 

 ning activities, and for water quality 

 management plans under the Clean 

 Water Act. 



A full copy of the assessment 

 template is contained in the Technical 

 Appendix. The template has seven 

 separate sections: 



• Background and Introduction 



• Subbasin description 



• Habitat condition and trends, his- 

 toric and current (at a level of 

 detail consistent with the 6"' level 

 habitat unit code, HUC) 



• Synthesis and interpretation (nar- 

 rative descriptions coupled with 

 maps indicating habitats and spe- 

 cies of interest) 



• Summary 



• Assessment validation and 

 monitoring 



• References 



The Council will provide assis- 

 tance and work with the region's fed- 

 eral, state, and tribal fish antl wildlife 

 managers and all other interested par- 

 ties to complete assessments, using 

 this template, for each of the sub- 

 basins by early 2001 . These as.sess- 

 ments will then be made available to 

 local, state, federal, and tribal plan- 

 ners to u.se as a ibundation lor devel- 

 oping the management plan compo- 

 nent of subbasin plans. 



In most subbasins, there 

 are already several 

 programs underway that in 

 some way are involved in 

 watershed planning 

 or restoration. The 

 Council believes that the 

 projects funded under its 

 program should take into 

 account these existing pro- 

 grams and be 

 coordinaf'^^ >«'ith them. " 



The Council is aware that there is 

 a large number of watershed and sub- 

 basin level activities throughout the 

 basin that are using a wide variety 

 of formats for assessments and plan- 

 ning. The Council intends to rely 

 on the information gathered in those 

 activities as much as possible and 

 does not intend this template to 

 undemiine or displace these on-going 

 efforts. However, for purposes of 

 this program it is important to com- 

 pile this information in a consistent 

 fonnat that permits the coordination 

 of Bonneville-funded activities and 

 planning under the Endangered Spe- 

 cies Act and Clean Water Act. 



The Council expects that the ini- 

 tial assessments in some subbasins 

 will encounter significant data gaps 

 requiring additional information. In 

 such eases, the subbasin plan should 

 identify this need, and include the 

 measures necessaiy to meet it. In all 

 cases, it is expected that the body of 

 information on which the assessment 

 is based will continue to grow and 

 that, as a regular part of each project 

 review and funding cycle, the assess- 

 ments and plans will be updated. 



Most of the fish species of interest 

 for subbasin planning move beyond 

 their subbasins of origin for at least 

 some stages of their life cycle. Sub- 

 basin planners will need infonnation 

 and analytical tools that allow them 

 to understand the biological con- 

 straints on their fish populations 

 that stem from areas outside the 

 subbasin, such as mainstem survival 

 rates, ocean and inriver harvest rates, 

 effects of interactions with fish from 

 other subbasins, and ocean condi- 

 tions. The Council will ensure that 

 subbasin planners have access to 

 information of this type. 



4. Inventory of Existing Activities 



In most subbasins, there are 

 already several programs underway 

 that in some way are involved in 

 watershed planning or restoration. 

 The Council believes that the projects 

 funded under its program should take 

 into account these existing programs 

 and be coordinated with them. This 

 coordination will yield a more .scien- 

 tifically and biologically sound fish 

 and wildlife plan and reduce costs. 



Thus, the .second general compo- 

 nent of a subbasin level plan will be 

 a description of the existing fish and 

 wildlife and habitat projects that are 

 occuning, or have occurred, in the 

 recent past in the subbasin. This ele- 

 ment should include: 1 ) all activities 

 that are taking place or are planned in 

 the subbasin and 2) objectives related 

 to protecting, mitigating or enhanc- 

 ing fish, w ildlife, or their habitats, 

 regardless of funding source or man- 

 agement entity. Both implementa- 

 tion and planning aetiv ities should be 

 addressed. The description for each 

 project or activity should include: 



• a description of activity, includ- 

 ing its term, its monitoring and 

 evaluation elements, and its goals 

 and objectives 



• itlentilicalion of management or 

 lead entities for each activity 



• identification of aulhori/ing pro- 

 cess or entity (Northwest Power 



40 



UMBIA RIVER BASIN FiSH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM 



