This ISRP report covers the:
- Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring Program (ISEMP) (Project #2003-017-00)
- Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program’s (CHaMP) (Project #2011-006-00)
- Action Effectiveness Monitoring of Tributary Habitat Improvement (AEM)
In sum, the ISRP appreciates the hard work that has gone into ISEMP and CHaMP. Together, these companion projects have achieved major gains in the collection of habitat data, the elucidation of relationships between fishes and their habitats, and the effectiveness of tributary habitat restoration actions. The ISRP also appreciates that both ISEMP and CHaMP are works in progress, and that their organization, analytical tools, and data archiving will evolve as learning occurs. Without ISEMP and CHaMP, it is likely that uncoordinated habitat monitoring will continue and learning from our successes and failures will be hindered. The AEM plan provides a useful general framework for stratifying action effectiveness monitoring, but more details are needed, especially with regard to the integration of the AEM approach into ISEMP and CHaMP objectives.
Assuming AEM will collect data compatible with the CHaMP/ISEMP programs, these three efforts should provide valuable information on the productivity gains that can be achieved through habitat actions. This understanding has been lacking for the Columbia Basin, and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and has likely severely hampered the effectiveness of restoration efforts over the last thirty years.
See the report for the ISRP’s detailed recommendations and comments.
The ISRP will present their review findings at the Council’s April 9, 2013 meeting in Spokane and to the Federal Caucus on March 19, 2013, NOAA offices, Portland.
