Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds North Coast Basin:





MAKING DOLLARS COUNT
Mid-Coast Rapid Bio-Assessment

A hallmark of Oregon's salmon recovery program is its emphasis on grounding salmon protection and restoration efforts in science. For the Mid-Coast Watersheds Council, this meant implementing a carefully designed snorkel survey of juvenile salmonid abundance and distribution in the Yachats, Alsea, Yaquina, Siletz, and Salmon rivers. The survey focused on threatened coastal coho salmon that spend the first 18 months of their lives in freshwater. Systematic snorkel surveys of 400 miles of streams in the five watersheds identified the most viable populations of salmon and steelhead, assessed the quality and use of habitat and located barriers to fish passage. With a total of $265,346 in funding provided in 1998 and 1999 by OWEB and its predecessor, the Governor's Watershed Enhancement Board, results from the council's Mid-Coast Rapid Bio-Assessment are helping to focus recovery dollars where they will have the most benefit to salmon."