Critical Habitat for Salmon Is Slashed

Regulators cut back the critical habitat for 19 species of threatened and endangered Pacific salmon and steelhead by about 80% Friday, contending that an earlier designation demanded by environmentalists was poorly executed and that voluntary habitat improvements would work better.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, in charge of bringing 26 species of salmon and steelhead in the Northwest and California back from the danger of extinction, agreed to revise the critical habitat for 19 of those species after being sued by the National Assn. of Home Builders for failure to include an economic impact analysis.

“This designation is a critical step to building support for recovery actions,” said Rod McInnis, southwest regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries in Long Beach.

“It gives us a clear focus on which stream reaches we have got to be concentrating on in trying to build local support for restoration.”

The designation cuts the number of river miles in Washington, Oregon and Idaho from 121,000 to 23,500, and in California from 46,500 to 9,800.

It estimates the economic impact of habitat protections for salmon at $201 million in the Northwest and $81 million in California.

Direct comparisons to the old designation are not valid, because they included many reaches of rivers that are not occupied by salmon, said Bob Lohn, Northwest regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries.

The new designation is made up entirely of the rivers the salmon occupy and identifies whether a portion of a river is used for spawning, rearing or migration. That will help with determining whether a project harms fish.

The agency said the designation of critical habitat was superfluous to the protection afforded by listing a species as threatened or endangered. Incentives for private landowners to restore and improve habitat are more effective, Lohn said.

“I think the practical impact should be quite small,” he said.

The designation exempts rivers on Indian reservations, military bases, private lands with habitat conservation plans in force and urban areas where economic impacts would be too great.

In the Northwest, the critical habitat designation covers streams flowing into Puget Sound in Washington, the Columbia and Snake rivers and their tributaries in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and the Willamette River and tributaries in Oregon.

In California it covers coastal streams from Humboldt County south to San Clemente, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento River and tributaries, and the lower San Joaquin River and tributaries.

Excluded areas include portions of Greater Seattle, Portland, Camp Pendleton and the San Francisco Bay Area.