Decommissioning abandoned roads to protect fish

In the winter of 1996, a series storm and flood events blew out old roads in the mountainous region of the Clearwater National Forest. The failure of those abandoned logging roads resulted in large amounts of fine sediment fouling critical salmon and steelhead stream habitat.

The abandoned roads that crisscrossed the landscape were thought to be stable since they were overgrown with vegetation. Not only were they not stable, but outside of large storm events, they had a negative impact on fish by significantly changing the hydrology of the landscape and allowing sediment into streams.

After identifying the problem as one of the key limiting factors for increasing abundance of salmon and steelhead in the area, the Nez Perce Tribe teamed with the U.S. Forest Service and BPA to address the issue in multiple central Idaho watersheds.

Unraveling The Mysteries Of American River Salmon And Steelhead

Dan Bacher with a primer on the importance of water temperature when it comes to managing American River salmon and steelhead.

LINK (via: The Daily Kos)

Federal proposal: Kill salmon-eating seabirds

First it was the sea lions, then the Caspian terns and now the double crested comorants.

Federal officials are proposing to kill half the large colony of cormorants in the Columbia River estuary because the large black seabirds eat too many young salmon and steelhead.

LINK (via:The Statesman Journal)

Court Ordered Buffers Around Pacific Salmon-Supporting Waters

Under a proposed legal settlement, court ordered “no-spray buffer zones” from years ago would be restored with the goal of protecting West Coast salmon and steelhead from the potential impacts of five pesticides – diazinon, chlorpyrifos, malathion, carbaryl, and methomyl – commonly used to ward off insect damage to agricultural crops and other vegetation.

LINK (via:CBB Bulletin)

Generally, the buffers established by the Court are 20 yards for ground application and 100 yards for aerial application, adjacent to certain "salmon-supporting waters" in Washington, Oregon and California. The order applies to pesticide use in these three states, for any product containing one or more of the pesticides subject to the court order.