Location
Agriculture Leaders Theater, Oregon State University
Start Date
27-6-2013 2:30 PM
End Date
27-6-2013 2:50 PM
Description
As Washington’s population has grown, its salmon have dwindled. In 1991, the federal government declared the first salmon in the Pacific Northwest, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In the next few years, 16 more species of salmon were listed as either threatened or endangered. There are many things that have contributed to the decline of salmon populations including human influences such as habitat loss and fragmentation. Since the mid-1980’s the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has developed a program that focuses on restoring habitat loss through correcting fish passage barriers as well as a regulatory program that minimizes impacts and protects fish species and aquatic habitat. For the last 20 years, WDFW has taken a comprehensive approach to identifying barriers across the landscape. Protocols to identify barriers are a consistent, science based, and published in the Fish Passage Barrier and Surface Water Diversion Screening Assessment and Prioritization Manual. This presentation will give an overview of WDFW’s Fish Passage Program, how priorities are set, and the Culvert Case litigation. This presentation will discuss the impacts of the lawsuit and how the State is proceeding. Lastly, the WDFW’s regulatory program will be discussed and how the permit process is integrated with fish passage activities to have an overall restoration and protection approach to increasing salmon populations.
Session C8: A Comprehensive Approach to Fish Passage: What's Happening in Washington State - A Comprehensive Fish Passage Program: From a Washington State Perspective
Agriculture Leaders Theater, Oregon State University
As Washington’s population has grown, its salmon have dwindled. In 1991, the federal government declared the first salmon in the Pacific Northwest, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In the next few years, 16 more species of salmon were listed as either threatened or endangered. There are many things that have contributed to the decline of salmon populations including human influences such as habitat loss and fragmentation. Since the mid-1980’s the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has developed a program that focuses on restoring habitat loss through correcting fish passage barriers as well as a regulatory program that minimizes impacts and protects fish species and aquatic habitat. For the last 20 years, WDFW has taken a comprehensive approach to identifying barriers across the landscape. Protocols to identify barriers are a consistent, science based, and published in the Fish Passage Barrier and Surface Water Diversion Screening Assessment and Prioritization Manual. This presentation will give an overview of WDFW’s Fish Passage Program, how priorities are set, and the Culvert Case litigation. This presentation will discuss the impacts of the lawsuit and how the State is proceeding. Lastly, the WDFW’s regulatory program will be discussed and how the permit process is integrated with fish passage activities to have an overall restoration and protection approach to increasing salmon populations.
Comments
Julie Henning is the Fish Passage and Screening Section Manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She has been working on fish passage issues for more than 10 years. Prior to her current position, she worked in the Cowlitz River Basin as a fish biologist working on fish issues near hydropower facilities. Julie received her master's degree in fisheries biology from Oregon State University.