At the Council’s May 25, 2011 request, the ISRP reviewed a revised proposal for the Yakama Nation’s Project, Rock Creek Fish and Habitat Assessment (#2007-156-00). The proposal states that its "primary goal is to gather information on the anadromous salmonid populations' (steelhead, fall Chinook, and coho) status within the subbasin. Information will be collected on the abundance, growth, genetics, diseases, habitat condition, and movement of salmonids in Rock Creek, a unique watershed of the middle Columbia River." An earlier proposal was submitted and reviewed as part of the Categorical Review for Research, Monitoring and Evaluation and Artificial Production projects (ISRP 2011-44B, pages 201-202).
The ISRP concludes that the revised proposal does not meet scientific review criteria. The proposal remains difficult to evaluate for scientific content because the objectives continue to be vaguely articulated, the descriptions of methods are extremely sketchy or not present, and previous results (for example, those from the 2008 Annual Report) are not sufficiently discussed and incorporated. See the attached memo for details.
