Salmon Strategy
Page 2: Salmon Stock Status Mapping
Page 3: The Development of Regional Priorities
The Development of Regional Priorities
Not all parts of the landscape are equally important for the production of salmon. Both natural factors, such as the relative steepness of slopes, and man-made factors, such as the presence or absence of dams, influence a basin's capacity to provide a nourishing habitat.
The full report, The Development of Regional Priorities for Salmon Restoration in the Coastal Watersheds of the Pacific Northwest, is available on this site.
To determine which watersheds would benefit most from habitat restoration efforts and expenditures, we developed a prioritization matrix for the coastal basins of Washington and Oregon. California does not perform basin surveys and therefore lacked the necessary data for inclusion in this effort. This assessment provides a broad-scale regional overview, highlighting the importance of individual basins according to a common baseline that goes beyond the scope of state agencies.
Our prioritization matrix evaluated three specific parameters for each watershed: the carrying capacity based on historical levels of production, the capacity for restoration based on the presence or absence of human influences upon the system, and the current production as an indicator of habitat health.
An estimation of historical production levels — by analyzing local cannery records from the 1880s to the 1920s — is a method of establishing the innate capacity of each basin to provide a habitat for salmon. Lichatowich and Nicholas (1992) developed this methodology and applied it to a survey of watersheds in Washington; our study adopted their approach and extended it to Oregon.
The map at right is the result of these calculations: it prioritizes the watersheds in which habitat restoration efforts are likely to be most effective. The result is a rather even distribution of basins from north to south, with the Stillaguamish in Washington and the Siuslaw in Oregon ranking highest.
Our basis for the restoration of these identified watersheds, a strategy that we believe to be crucial to the survival of salmon stocks, is the establishment of anchor habitats.
The full report, The Development of Regional Priorities for Salmon Restoration in the Coastal Watersheds of the Pacific Northwest, is available on this site.
