At the Council’s November 17, 2011 request, the ISRP reviewed a revised version of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation (CTWSRO) Fish Accord Proposal: Habitat Restoration Planning, Design and Implementation within the Boundaries of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Lower Deschutes River, Oregon, #2008-301-00. The proposal describes a program intended to protect, manage, and restore aquatic habitat through planning, design, and implementation of projects directed at factors limiting salmonid and other native fishes’ production within the Warm Springs Reservation’s streams (Warm Springs River and Shitike Creek watersheds). Projects will target four broad limiting factors including habitat complexity and quantity, fine sediment, water temperature, and altered hydrology.
The ISRP has participated in four review iterations with this proposal. The most recent review was released February 18, 2011 (ISRP 2011-4). In that review, the ISRP found that the proposal did not meet scientific review criteria, and in response the CTWSRO substantially reworked their proposal. The ISRP finds that the revised proposal "Meets Scientific Review Criteria (Qualified)." The CTWSRO staff has submitted a better-outlined and somewhat more complete proposal. The proposal does not give details for the majority of restoration actions that would take place under this project but rather identifies a process for prioritizing, implementing, and monitoring work that will be carried out at a number of sites within the Warm Springs Reservation. For the most part, the project meets scientific criteria for the planning phase of the habitat restoration efforts. However, assuring that actions conducted as part of this project meet scientific review criteria will require additional technical input and further scientific oversight.
