At the Council’s June 25 request, the ISRP reviewed the Shoshone Bannock Tribes Accord proposal titled ESA Habitat Restoration Project (2008-903-00). This new proposal is intended to "inventory, assess, plan, and implement necessary actions to ameliorate the effects of hydromodification, reduce sediment delivery, restore riparian function, improve stream temperatures, and improve passage for all life stages of anadromous and resident fish in priority areas of the Salmon River Subbasin."
The ISRP requests a response that provides the information needed to reach a final recommendation on the project.
The ISRP notes that the ESA Habitat Restoration Project (ESA-HRP) proposal is a good start, and it is clear that the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal staff enjoys excellent working relationships with other organizations engaged in habitat restoration in the Salmon River subbasin. This project has the potential to benefit fish populations in the Upper Salmon River (UPS) and Middle Salmon-Panther Creek (MSP). With the addition of site-specific details with respect to implementation strategies, focal species benefits, and monitoring of restoration actions, this project should contribute to significant habitat improvement in two heavily altered watersheds.
However, more information on the relationship with other projects (especially a clear description of what this project would deliver that existing habitat restoration efforts in the area cannot achieve) and some elaboration of the RM&E component are required to fully assess the technical merit of this proposal.
In sum, in addition to the numerous specifics identified in the comments below, a response should:
provide site-specific details regarding implementation strategies, focal species benefits, and monitoring of restoration projects
include additional discussion regarding the specifics of using a more targeted, science-based approach to assessing sediment and stream temperature as possible limiting factors, and then ameliorating them
clarify the relationships and hopefully synergies that this new project would create with existing projects
The ISRP requests that these issues be addressed in a revised proposal augmented by a point-by-point response to the ISRP’s concerns, indicating as appropriate where a concern was addressed in the revised proposal.
