FY 2021 Upper Skagit Indian Tribe’s ESA Recovery Planning

This project provided partial support for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe’s (USIT) Natural Resources Department activities in the programmatic response to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of all six independent Chinook stocks and four Steelhead stocks native to the Skagit Basin. The project was tied to local land and water management activities that directly impact listed species. In addition, these funds supported the broad scale policy coordination of fishery and hatchery management issues surrounding ESA recovery actions for Chinook and recovery planning for Steelhead. Tribal staff participated in the Seattle City Light FERC relicense process, including participation in study work groups. The studies will be the basis for developing protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures for the new license. Staff also participated in the local lead entity Skagit Watershed Council, including chair/co-chair roles on the Monitoring & Adaptive Management subcommittee and Protection subcommittee. The project provided tribal partial support for portions of 2 FTE biologists.

Tribal technical activity in support of policy engagement focuses on all the H’s (Habitat, Hydropower, Harvest, and Hatchery) in the Skagit River Basin as it relates to the listing of all 6 unique Skagit Chinook stocks and 4 unique Steelhead stocks under the ESA. One of the primary functions of the Skagit Marblemount Hatchery is the production of two Chinook indicator stocks used to monitor Exploitation Rates as required by NOAA. The Skagit has 2 major hydropower facilities (FERC # 2150 & # 553), which require monitoring stream flows for the protection of Chinook and Steelhead spawning redds and egg to fry survival. Overseeing and participating in habitat protection, mitigation, and enhancement measures specific to each FERC project is achieved by this support. This funding allows tribal technical participation to support policy representation in the processes and actions funded by each of the hydropower facilities in the Skagit. Specific to the Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan, monitoring flow modifications from these facilities is essential to recovery efforts. Technical staff and policy interact and comment on local, state and federal land use permits and planning forums (Lead Entity) to ensure protection and restoration of critical habitat to increase productivity for Chinook and Steelhead. The Tribe’s effort is based on technical involvement with local Lead Entity and federal permit review and consultation issues focusing on waters in Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIA) 3 and 4. Chapter 6 in the Skagit Recovery Plan, “Factors limiting Chinook production” outlines the general mechanisms of decreased productivity (harvest, hatcheries, hydropower, and habitat), while chapters 7, 8, and 9 outline specific strategies to improve productivity with harvest management actions, protecting existing habitat, and habitat restoration strategies, respectively. The strategies undertaken by technical staff align with recovery actions identified in the Skagit Chinook Recovery chapters 7-9.



In addition to Chinook Recovery implementation, Tribal staff will engage with current and near-term Steelhead Recovery Planning efforts for the Skagit. The Skagit is the largest basin in Puget Sound, has complex land and water use issues from the delta to the mountain peaks with multiple land management jurisdictions in the basin, two major hydropower facilities, 7 hatchery stocks, one accepted recovery plan for the six independent Chinook stocks, and a goal to develop a Skagit Steelhead recovery plan. The financial support requested by the Tribe for technical representation is well justified for the protection of ESA stock recovery and productivity.