Tillamook Bay Watershed Coho Strategic Action Plan Phase 1

Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP), in cooperation with Wild Salmon Center (WSC), proposes to facilitate development of a Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for Tillamook Bay Watershed. The SAP will convene regional natural resource professionals and land managers to collaborate on a detailed restoration plan addressing limiting factors related to spawning and rearing habitat for the Tillamook Bay population of Oregon Coast coho. In partnership with local stakeholders, TEP seeks to develop a two-phase SAP to clarify both long-term habitat restoration priorities and to coordinate and accelerate short-term project implementation. The outcome of Phase 1 will be a summarized theory of change, a strategic framework, and the first eight sections of the SAP. A future Phase 2 will initiate stakeholder outreach and finalize a short-term workplan based on stakeholder capacity and aligned with the strategic framework. The final SAP will be published in the future-- following completion of Phase 2. Partners committed to participating: USFWS, NOAA Fisheries, BLM, ODF, ODFW, Oregon DEQ, The Nature Conservancy, Tillamook Soil and Water Conservation District, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Stimson Lumber, Tillamook Creamery, and Trout Unlimited.

Preparation of a Tillamook Bay and Watershed Strategic Action Plan, in cooperation with a Technical Team comprised of natural resource leaders and land managers, will support a science-driven prioritization of place-based restoration strategies along with specific, on-the-ground recommendations for projects that, when implemented, will work toward achieving state and federal coho recovery goals. The SAP will facilitate TEPs ability to leverage funding to support locally-led, voluntary implementation of high-priority coho habitat restoration projects. The specific ecological outcomes expected to be achieved through habitat restoration over the long term include: increased volume of instream large wood promoting increased channel complexity, improved gravel retention, improved floodplain connectivity, increased availability of high-quality spawning and rearing habitats and increased cover, improved availability of food sources for macroinvertebrates, improved riparian function, and decreased streambank erosion. Collectively these outcomes will generate an increase in the quality and quantity of coho salmon spawning and rearing habitats in the Tillamook Bay and Watershed.