The Coquille River Strategic Action Plan for Coho Salmon Recovery - Phase 1

The Coho Strategic Action Plan for the Coquille Basin being developed by the Coquille Coho Partnership aims to address the watershed’s limiting factors for coho recovery by assessing and addressing those factors in a strategic, multi-decadal framework. Currently, Coquille watershed specific limiting factors have not been defined, there is a lack of a long term strategy for coho recovery in the watershed, and there is a lack of integration of climate change into project prioritization. This grant completed Phase 1 of plan development which involved data gathering, spatial analysis processing, and integrating local expert knowledge. Two teams were developed to complete these tasks; a full stakeholder team representing agencies, partners, and community members, and a smaller technical team that focused on data collection and identifying priority sub-watersheds within the basin. The teams identified long-term goals, completed a watershed walkthrough of key ecological factors, identified priority sub-watershed basins to strategically implement restoration activities, and created a list of near term high priority projects with identified implementation costs within those priority sub-watershed basins. Phase 2 is now underway, comprising putting together the Strategic Action Plan document for publication.

The current knowledge regarding the factors limiting to Oregon Coast coho in the Coquille Basin is based on a population scale assessment. While this coarse-scale assessment provides a good generalized starting point, a finalized Coquille SAP will identify the primary stressors, and whenever possible limiting factors, at a sub-basin scale; and will provide strategies to promote ecological benefits to coho and other salmonids. Due to the large spatial area and significant habitat heterogeneity in the Coquille Basin, this fine-scale assessment will allow for more targeted habitat restoration within a limited number of high priority sub-basins. This means that specific needs will be targeted in specific locations using the appropriate restoration strategies, all of which fits into a larger strategic plan for the entire watershed. This process allows us to focus on a limited number of locations where targeted restoration of ecological function can generate the highest return on investment. The project will employ a process that integrates data-driven modeling with local, expert opinions. This allows specific determination where project types can, and should be, implemented to achieve long-term targets.