Middle Columbia River Steelhead Recovery
Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board
The Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board (Board) developed the recovery plan to guide steelhead recovery efforts in the Yakima Basin. The Board and its partners followed guidance from NOAA Fisheries, Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) in developing this plan. Local planners also provided information and feedback to the Interior Columbia Technical Recovery Team (ICTRT)
that NOAA Fisheries convened to develop science-based viability criteria and assessments of the status of steelhead populations.
Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan[1], see PDF Middle Columbia River (MCR) Steelhead Populations
Middle Columbia River (MCR) Steelhead Populations
Steelhead in the Yakima Basin are divided into four populations: the Satus Creek, Toppenish Creek, Naches River, and Upper Yakima River populations. Together these four populations make up the Yakima Major Population Group.
Satus Creek: steelhead that spawn in the Satus Creek drainage on the Yakama Indian Reservation, the mainstem Yakima River below Satus Creek, and tributaries to the lower mainstem.
Toppenish Creek: steelhead that spawn in Toppenish Creek, its tributaries and the short stretch of the mainstem between Toppenish and Satus creeks.
Naches River: steelhead spawning in the Naches River and its tributaries (including the Tieton, Little Naches, American, and Bumping rivers and Cowiche, Rattlesnake and Nile creeks), the mainstem Yakima from the Naches confluence to the Toppenish Creek confluence and the tributaries to that reach of the Yakima, including Ahtanum Creek.
Upper Yakima: steelhead that spawn in the Yakima River and its tributaries upstream of the Naches confluence.
NOAA West Coast Region
MCR Steelhead West Coast Region Web Page
2022 5-Year Review: Summary & Evaluation of Middle Columbia River Steelhead, see PDF
NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Biological Viability Assessment Update for Pacific Salmon and Steelhead Listed Under the Endangered Species Act: Pacific Northwest 2022, see PDF
Citations
- ↑ Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board. “Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan.” 2009. https://ybfwrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Yakima_Basin_Fish_and_Wildlife_Recovery_Board_2009.pdf.