Where We Are Now

The Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan (SRSRP) was submitted to NOAA in December 2005. In December 2006, NOAA published the plan in the Federal Register along with a supplement that summarizes and identifies the plan's strengths and weaknesses.  The Snake River Salmon Recovery Board (SRSRB) will work with NOAA to implement the plan. The Plan defines the Region’s desired implementation structure including roles, functions and relationship to the lead entity and watershed planning units.   In the SRSRP, the SRSRB has identified the metric it intends to use as a “surrogate” for SRSRP validation. This metric is the number of juvenile offspring produced per adult that leave the Region on an annual basis. As the SRSRP is implemented, the SRSRB expects this number to increase.  The SRSRB has recently began developing a pilot monitoring plan identified as the Intensively Monitored Watershed (IMW).  The IMW strategy is designed to both strengthen smolt monitoring as well as identify habitat practices which provide the most fish benefit.  The SRSRB has focused on habitat restoration actions identified in the plan  including, removing imminent threats, conducting active restoration, and habitat protection.   The board has prioritized these actions in a manner consistent with the priority areas and actins specified in the plan.  In 2008, the board focused on the following actions for guiding projects:  Remove imminent threats, conduct projects which increase and maintain instream flows, conduct projects that maintain and increase stream channel complexity in priority restoration and protection reaches, conduct projects that protect and restore riparian habitat and floodplain function, or reduce fine sediment entering priority reaches.