CTUIR Ceded Area Subbasin Priority Natural Resource Acquisitions VI

This multiyear projectd includes securing fee title acquisition or conservation easement opportunities for land, water, grazing or timber rights benefiting ESA-listed fish and tribal First Foods. The project applies to the CTUIR ceded area subbasins (Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, Grande Ronde & John Day) focusing on water, land, and resource acquisitions to protect and/or restore ecological and physical processes important to aquatic Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species and other native aquatic species important to CTUIR. Priority stream acquisition and conservation reaches are selected based largely on past planning (NPCC Subbasin Plans, ESA Recovery Plans, etc) and consistent with the CTUIR River Vision which emphasizes natural floodplain function.



Acquisitions are evaluated using the following criteria:

1. Provides significant conservation and/or restoration benefits for sustaining CTUIR First foods;

2. Consistency with subbasin plan priorities, NOAA Recovery Plans, Comprehensive State Wildlife Conservation Strategies, and CTUIR River Vision;

3. Multiple fish species and/or life stage benefits;

4. High degree of defensibility relative to size/configuration of acquisition tract and adjacent threats;

5. Direct enhancement of connectivity between conservation areas; and

6. Enhancement of administrative or logistics associated with management of existing adjacent areas.



All acquisitions are completed in accordance with the CTUIR Land Acquisition Strategy Plan. The Tribe acquires land at or below Fair Market Value based on current Federal Yellow Book standard appraisals. Land may be purchased with water rights if the land/water package scores high as per above criteria.



This years project funding was used to help acquire 40.54 acres of Umatilla River floodplain, just east of Pendleton, OR. This property includes a half mile of the Umatilla River and is within CTUIR’s Reservation and will restore the property to Tribal ownership. The property will be protected from any future development.

Benefits will be achieved through the protection and restoration of natural physical and ecological processes and resulting habitat and water quality improvements. Impacts from development and resource extraction actions that might degrade aquatic habitats and limit fish production will be eliminated. ESA species: summer steelhead and bull trout; other species: spring Chinook, coho salmon, pacific lamprey, freshwater mussels, and other miscellaneous resident fish.