Summary
Subbasin plans will be reviewed and adopted as part of the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (Program), and will help direct Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) funding of projects that protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife that have been adversely impacted by the development and operation of the Columbia River hydropower system. The Council, Bonneville, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) intend to use adopted subbasin plans to help meet requirements of the 2000 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion. The NMFS and the USFWS intend to use subbasin plans as building blocks for recovery planning for threatened and endangered species.
Subbasin plans will be developed locally and in collaboration with fish and wildlife managers, local governments, interest groups and stakeholders and other state and federal land and water resources managers. The final subbasin plan adopted by the Council should enjoy a wide range of support from all interested parties. The information contained in subbasin summaries, other existing plans and documents should provide the basis for the subbasin plan. The development of the plans will be iterative, and the information will be updated during each funding cycle.
The information that follows provides the outline for developing a subbasin plan and a general description of each of the elements. Below are the elements of a subbasin plan with the three primary elements being: 1) Assessment, 2) Inventory of Existing Activities and 3) the Management Plan. An overview of each element follows this table.
Subbasin Plan Outline
I. Introduction | Introduction to the plan and subbasin overview |
II. Subbasin Assessment | Overview, Focal Species, Environmental Conditions, Ecological Relationships, Limiting Factors, Synthesis |
III. Inventory of Existing Activities | Summary of existing projects and programs |
IV. Management Plan | Development of subbasin vision |
Development of subbasin biological objectives |
Development and prioritization of subbasin strategies |
Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation plan |
Endangered Species and Clean Water Act considerations |
V. Technical Appendix | Assessment data, references, maps, supporting documentation |