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Upper Columbia River Salmon Recovery Region

Species Listed

Area: The Upper Columbia River Salmon Recovery Region is comprised of salmon-bearing streams in Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties.

• Human Population: 142,200
• Counties: Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan
• Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs): Moses Coulee (44), Wenatchee (45), Entiat (46), Methow (48), Okanogan (49), and Foster (50)
• Federally Recognized Tribes: Colville Confederated Tribes and Yakama Nation

Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board

Origins and organization: When their draft recovery plan was completed in December 2005, the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board (UCSRB) formed as a private non-profit entity to serve as a focal point for implementing the plan. Similar to its organizational structure during planning, the UCSRB Board of Directors consists of elected officials or designates from Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties, the Colville Tribe and the Yakama Nation. This Board has staff to assist them in product development and deliberations.

Recovery planning and relationship to other efforts: The Wenatchee, Entiat, Foster Creek, Moses Coulee, and Methow watershed plans are completed, and provide the foundation for local-based implementation of salmon recovery efforts in the Upper Columbia Region (the Okanogan Watershed Plan is underway). Lead Entities within the region are directly tied to the UCSRB, and submit their project lists to SRFB through this regional body. The UCSRB incorporated many elements from both watershed and sub-basin plans into the regional salmon recovery plan, and the harvest, hydropower, and hatchery components derived through Chelan and Douglas PUD Habitat Conservation Plans and out-of-basin processes (such as the Biological Opinions on both the Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Project and the Federal Columbia River Power System, the Hatchery and Genetics Management Plans, the U.S. Forest Service Northwest Forest Plan), and several other federal, state, tribal, and local efforts. The goal of the UCSRB is to ensure that the plan is implemented in a voluntary manner. The UCSRB is the coordinating body for the recovery plan. Additionally, the UCSRB will facilitate improvements in resources and authorities for the region to assist in plan implementation, such as technical assistance, funding mechanisms, permitting, monitoring, and outreach.

The Upper Columbia Regional Technical Team provides recommendations, when requested by the UCSRB, on technical issues related to monitoring, project development, and selected components of plans or processes. The RTT consists of persons with appropriate technical skills, who are appointed by the RTT chairperson, in consultation with the UCSRB chairperson.

Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Plan
As of 1/07