Evaluation Tools for Habitat Recovery Projects I

During Fiscal Year 2006/2007, we proposed to create a set of tools to aid our Tribal and CRITFC members with the selection, documentation, and evaluation of PCSRF-funded projects for Salmon habitat recovery. We are pleased to have completed this work and anticipate expanding these products during FY 2007/2008 in a continuing project.
We have assembled a comprehensive set of information used in subbasin planning and Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT), including metrics on habitat quality at the reach level and fish population productivity and timing, as well as databases of PCSRF and BPA funded tribal projects. We have converted this information into a standardized and spatially referenced (GIS) format. By incorporating information including habitat quality, limiting factors, population status, and management goals and constraints, we are providing researchers, planners, and managers with tools that meet the following key functions:
1. Incorporate many different data sets pertaining to salmon and steelhead recovery including both scientific and management information.
2. Create forms to enter habitat proposal information to match the NOAA PCSRF reporting format.
3. Include built queries and ad-hoc capabilities to evaluate the project information.
4. Include reporting functions (graphs, charts, maps, etc.) with an emphasis on an evaluation of the relevancy of proposed projects to scientific information and management goals.
During FY 2006/07, we completed tools and a form to help meet these goals. We prepared the infrastructure that supports this project including the finalization of a database containing reach level habitat and limiting factor information collected from the subbasin planning process. We developed a streamlined data entry form for Tribal PCSRF solicitors to document their projects in accordance with the requirements of the NOAA reporting database, and an internal process at CRITFC to track and display these projects in database and GIS formats. We also have been cooperating with CBFWA and NOAA personnel to standardize our fish populations database which is helpful for assessing populations and management areas that PCSRF projects relate to.
We assembled a known list of limiting factors by watershed and created a web-enabled tool for solicitors to examine these limiting factors along with additional watershed-scale information during the project proposal phase. This tool is available for use to anyone at http://www.critfc.org/maps/. When using the tool, one selects a basin (Huc3) and then a sub-basin (Huc4) of interest. Five sets of information are accessible via the web report for the selected watershed:
(a) A map of the watersheds (Huc5) that are within this sub-basin. This allows a project manager to quickly document their affected watershed(s) for the PCSRF data entry requirements.
(b) A list of completed and ongoing Tribal PCSRF projects that have occurred within this sub-basin.
(c) A list of limiting factors of habitat in this sub-basin by watershed. We included limiting factors cited in subbasin planning and those described by tribal biologists as part of the Federal Biological Opinion Remand negotiation.
(d) A link to the CBFWA Status of the Resource page for this sub-basin. This site provides a wealth of additional information at the sub-basin scale, including BPA-funded projects, limiting factors, and species information.
(e) A link to StreamNet and EPA information for this sub-basin. This includes data on species distribution, abundance, and trends, facilities information, and water quality.
This tool has been demonstrated to the members of the Columbia River InterTribal Fish Commission, and provided to project managers at the four member Tribes. By using this web-enabled tool, a project manager can evaluate the status of areas for habitat recovery, and better document a project during the proposal and reporting stages.

The target species are Spring Chinook, Summer Chinook, Fall Chinook, Coho, Winter Steelhead, and Summer Steelhead. Development and application of tools will improve efficiency of restoration efforts, targeting them where they are most needed to help recover fish populations