At the Council’s June 26, 2009 request, the ISRP reviewed the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Accord proposal titled Monitoring Recovery Trends in Key Spring Chinook Habitat Variables and Validation of Population Viability Indicators (2009-004-00).
The ISRP recommends that the proposal: Meets Scientific Review Criteria (In Part)
- Objective 1, tasks 1.1 through 1.4 including the scoping, coordination, and planning tasks meet scientific review criteria
- Objective 1, task 1.5 and Objectives 2 through 5 do not meet scientific review criteria based on the information provided in the proposal – response requested
The ISRP has stressed the importance of biological effectiveness monitoring and model verification. This proposal addresses both of these issues. Additionally, it focuses on a subbasin (Grande Ronde River) and major population group of spring Chinook that deserve attention. Because this project is both complex and ambitious, care should be taken not to over-promise what can be realistically delivered. The ISRP requests a response to a number of questions regarding the methods used to measure habitat variables. The ISRP also requests a more thorough explanation of how this study will associate improvements in habitat facilitated by restoration projects to improvements in the survival and production of various phases of spring Chinook life cycles in the upper Grande Ronde. In sum, the study objectives and methods are ambitious, and the ISRP requests answers to their questions so they can be confident that this important project will succeed.
