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Species & Habitat Conservation

Current Pacific Region Fisheries Program involvement in aquatic habitat issues varies among its field offices. Every fisheries program employee recognizes the value and importance of being engaged in addressing the need for better quality habitats for fish, especially those listed under the Endangered Species Act. In the past, Fishery Resource Offices engaged in a number of independent and partnership projects to conserve and restore watershed and riparian habitat. Since the Fisheries Program has minimal land-base, most efforts are done in cooperation with other federal agencies, states, Tribes, and private entities.

The Fisheries Program is engaged through the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative, the Fish Passage Program, the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act (FRIMA), and the National Fish Habitat Initiative which has been regionalized through the Western Native Trout Initiative. We have gone one step further by partnering with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Native Fish Habitat Initiative-Pacific Northwest Fund which provides grants for the on-the-ground aquatic habitat improvement projects in Oregon, Idaho and Washington.

In order to focus our efforts, more scientific information on anadromous and resident fish habitat requirements is needed. Sound scientific information, best available management practices, and more emphasis on habitat protection and restoration are important to the conservation and rebuilding of declining fish populations and the recovery of listed fish species.

While the needs for aquatic habitat protection and restoration are many, there is an even greater void in the monitoring and evaluation of completed habitat improvement projects. In order to take a full watershed approach to ecosystem restoration, monitoring and evaluations are necessary to understand the effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts and the impacts of these activities on all aquatic species. FROs and FWOs have extensive experience with monitoring and evaluation of hatchery programs and the accountability of ensuring that improvement projects are increasing populations.

Our goal is to expand the collaboration between the Fisheries Program and our partners to protect, conserve, and restore aquatic habitats that support self sustaining communities of fish and other aquatic resources. We’ve been successful this year in meeting this goal in the following areas:

• Facilitate management of aquatic habitats
• Avoid, minimize, or mitigate impacts of habitat alteration
• Increase quantity improve quality aquatic and riparian habitat on Service lands
• Maintain diverse, self-sustaining fish and other aquatic resource populations
• Restore declining fish and other aquatic resource populations
• Recover fish and other aquatic resource populations