BPA Fish and Wildlife FY 1997 Proposal

Section 1. Administrative
Section 2. Narrative
Section 3. Budget

see CBFWA and BPA funding recommendations

Section 1. Administrative

Title of project
Integrated Watershed Management

BPA project number   9404600

Business name of agency, institution or organization requesting funding
Mobrand Biometrics

Sponsor type   WA-Consultant

Proposal contact person or principal investigator

BPA technical contact   Jodi Stroklund, EWN 503/230-4512

Biological opinion ID   None

NWPPC Program number   7.3A.1

Short description
Implementation of an integrated watershed management framework built upon the complexity and connectivity of salmon life histories and their habitat across the time space grid that defines their range.

Project start year   1994    End year   

Start of operation and/or maintenance   1999

Project development phase   Implementation

Section 2. Narrative

Related projects
The Ecosystem planning and implementation procedure is in progress for Grande Ronde Model Watershed Project

Project history
The ecosystem planning and implementation procedure developed under this project has been published under the name of Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment method. Initially intended to aid supplementation planning, its applicability has been broadened through use in watershed management in the Columbia and elsewhere. It is now recommended as both a management framework and a tested field procedure for integrated planning and implementation of the NPPC Fish and Wildlife Program

Biological results achieved
The project has been field tested in the Grande Ronde Basin, where a strategy for prioritizing recovery and monitoring efforts was developed.

Annual reports and technical papers
Lestelle, L. C., J. A. Lichatowich, L. E. Mobrand, and V. I. Cullinan. 1994. Ecosystem diagnosis and treatment planning model as applied to supplementation. Model description, user guide, and theoretical documentation for the model introduced in the summary report series on supplementation in the Columbia Basin. Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, OR.
Lichatowich, James, L. Mobrand, L. Lestelle, and T. Vogel. 1995. An approach to the diagnosis and treatment of depleted Pacific salmon populations in freshwater ecosystems. Fisheries (Bethesda) 20(1): 10-18.
Lichatowich, J. A. and L.E. Mobrand. 1995. Analysis of chinook salmon in the Columbia River from an ecosystem perspective. Final Report, Contract No. DE-AM79-92BP25105. Mobrand Biometrics, Inc., Vashon, WA.
Mobrand, L., L. Lestelle, and J. Lichatowich. 1994. An approach to setting Snake River chinook recovery objectives. Mobrand Biometrics, Inc., Vashon, WA.
Mobrand, L., L. Lestelle, L. Gilbertson, R. Browning, D. Bryson, R. Carmichael, E. Claire, B. Hadden, C. Huntington, L. Kuchenbecker, and M. Shaw, 1995. Grande Ronde Model Watershed Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment: template for planning status report for Grande Ronde Model Watershed Project and progress report on the application of an ecosystem analysis method to the Grande Ronde Watershed using spring chinook salmon as a diagnostic species. Final report to Bonneville Power Administration.

Mobrand, L., L. Lestelle, L. Gilbertson, 1996. An Approach to Planning Ecosystem Restoration with Specific Reference to the Grande Ronde Watershed, Oregon. Proceedings of the 1994 Chinook and Coho Workshop. American Fisheries Society.

(several additional papers and reports are in progress some are nearing completion)

Management implications
This project has produced a management framework for planning, prioritizing and scheduling implementation of measures in the NPPC Fish and Wildlife Program consistent with an integrated ecosystem approach. The methodology has been applied to watershed planning where it provides adaptive feedback on implications of management actions on values and objectives and sets priority for monitoring. This project also provides a framework for the assessment of cumulative impacts.
Productivity and diversity assessments have been made for spring chinook in the Grande Ronde Basin. Capacity assessments are in progress. Analysis of spring chinook performance in the Grande Ronde will expedite the prioritization of rebuilding efforts.

Specific measureable objectives
Objective 1. Estimate past and present performance of a diagnostic salmon species for five subbasins each year.
Objective 2. Identify strategy and action alternatives to achieve local and regional objectives.
Objective 3. Provide the technical information needed to prioritize and schedule implementation (including monitoring) based on analysis of benefits and risks including cumulative impacts.

Testable hypothesis
Testable hypotheses will be identified through the project.

Underlying assumptions or critical constraints
Underlying assumptions for strategies and actions developed under this project will be explicitly stated within the context of present ecological theory.

Methods
This project will not collect new data. It will organize and analyze existing information consistent with an explicit framework which details the relationships among: treatments (implemented actions) and environmental attributes, salmon performance, and affected community values. The management framework structure includes hierarchically organized time and space scales.

Brief schedule of activities
Activities in 1997 include: completion of field testing, development of implementation tools, and training. The implementation process would be phased in, starting in 1997. In FY 98 this project will move into full implementation. The methods that will be used have been developed and field tested since the inception of this project as a research effort in 1994. Starting in 1998 a larger share of the work will be performed by state and tribal scientists, who will have received training in 1997. Activities from 1998-2001: development and implementation of integrated action plans for the Columbia Basin. It will become an increasingly more important tool for prioritizing actions in Basin as more and more of the available information is converted. Detailed description of the Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment method is available from reports and through consultation with project participants.

Biological need
This project addresses the need for a science based action plan to implement the NPPC FWP.

Critical uncertainties
This project would provide the structure and tools for identifying uncertainties, stating null and alternate hypotheses, designing experiments and monitoring programs.

Summary of expected outcome
By the end of 1997 a framework for science supported management would be completed.

Dependencies/opportunities for cooperation
Beginning in 1998, this project is predicated upon the direct participation of technical staff from state and tribal agencies. The projected budget includes a rough estimate of the cost of this participation. Our project team would provide training and initial project coordination, with an increasing portion of the work and the budget shifting toward agency and tribal staffs over time.

Risks

Monitoring activity
The project work plan will include scheduled milestones, which will be monitored.

Section 3. Budget

* For most projects, Authorized is the amount recommended by CBFWA and the Council. Planned is amount currently allocated. Contracted is the amount obligated to date of printout.

Funding recommendations

CBFWA funding review group   System Policy

Recommendation    Tier 2 - fund when funds available

Recommended funding level   $850,000