Appendix D: Provisional Stateme Biological Objectives 



FOR Environmental Characteristics at the Basin Level 



The follow inii is a provisional set 

 oj eiiviroiuueiilal cluiracleristic 

 objectives for the hasiii level. The 

 Council has asked the liulepeuilent 

 Scientific Advisorv lioanl lo review 

 these provisional basin level environ- 

 mental eharaeleristics hy June 2001. 

 The /SAB will report to the Council 

 on the scientific soundness and basin- 

 wide applicability of the environmen- 

 tal characteristics, as well as their 

 utility for further defining biological 

 objectives at the province and sub- 

 basin levels. As part of its review, 

 the ISAB should consider and report 

 to the Council on the applicability of 

 these objectives in the most altered 

 areas of the basin, the hloeked cnvas. 



The Council will make the 

 ISAB 's report publicly available and 

 seek views and comment from inter- 

 ested parties. The Council will con- 

 sider the report of the ISAB and 

 the views and comments of others 

 on the report, and will confirm or 

 revise these basin level objectives for 

 environmental characteristics for pur- 

 poses of providing guidance for sub- 

 basin level planning and further pro- 

 gram amendments. 



Provisional biolofjica! objectives 

 for environniental characteris- 

 tics at the basin level 



Basin level environmental eiiarac- 

 tcristies dcseribe the kinds ot ehanges 

 that are needed across the Columbia 

 basin to achieve the biological per- 

 formance objectives called lor by the 

 program. 



1. Protect the areas and ecolojiical 

 functions that are at present rel- 

 atively producti\e Un hsh and 

 vviidlife popuhitions (e.}^., the 

 Hanford Reach tall chinook; 

 spring chinook in the upper 

 John I)a\ Ri\er) to provide a 

 base for expansion of healthy 

 populations as we rehabilitate 

 degraded habitats in other areas. 



• Protect and enhance habitats and 

 ecological fianction to allow for 

 the restoration of more natural 

 population structures, by allow- 

 ing for the expansion of pro- 

 tluctive populations and by habi- 

 tat restoration actions that con- 

 nect weak populations to stron- 

 ger populations and to each 

 other. Allow for the recovery of 

 depleted and listed populations to 

 at least the point of self-sustain- 

 ability and a low probability of 

 extinction. 



• Protection and expansion of hab- 

 itats and ecological functions 

 should allow for an increase 



in the number, complexity and 

 range of multi-species fish and 

 wildlife assemblages and com- 

 munities, increases in the pro- 

 ductivity, abundance, and life- 

 histoiy diversity of specific fish 

 and wildlife populations are 

 dependent on, and should not be 

 viewed in isolation from, these 

 multi-species communities. 



2. Protect and restore freshwater 

 habitat for ail life history stages 

 of the key species. Protect and 

 increase ecological connectivity 

 between aquatic areas, riparian 

 /ones, fioodplains and uplands. 



• Increase the connections between 

 rivers and their fioodplains, side 

 channels and riparian zones. 



• Manage riparian areas to protect 

 aquatic conditions and tbrm a 

 transition to fioodplain terrestrial 



areas and side channels. 



• Identify, jirotecl and restore the 

 lunctions of key alluvial river 

 reaches. 



• Reconnect restored tributary hab- 

 itats to protected or restored 

 mamslem habitats, especially in 



the area of productive mainstem 

 populations. 



3. Allow patterns of water flow 

 to move more than at present 

 toward the natural hydro- 

 graphic pattern in terms of 

 quantity, quality and fluctua- 

 tion. 



• Habitat restoration may be 

 framed in the context of mea- 

 sured trends in water quality. 



• Allow for seasonal fluctuations in 

 flow. Stabilize daily fluctuations. 



• Increase the conespondence 

 between water temperatures and 

 the naturally-occurring regimes 

 of temperatures throughout the 

 basin. 



• Significantly reduce watershed 

 erosion where human activities 

 have accelerated sediment inputs. 



4. Increase energy and nutrient 

 connections within the system 

 to increase productivity and 

 expand biological communities. 



5. Allow for biological diversity to 

 increase among and within pop- 

 ulations and species to increase 

 ecological resflience to environ- 

 mental variability. 



• Expand the complexity and range 

 of habitats to allow for greater 

 life history and between species 

 diversity. 



• Manage human activities to mini- 

 mize artificial selection or limita- 

 tion of life histoiy traits. 



• Restoring habitat and access to 

 habitat that establishes life his- 

 tor\' diversity is a priority. 



2000 COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN FiSH AND WILDLIFE PROGRAM 



D-1 



