Glossary

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In progress!--CM 1/1/2025

Technical Terms

Additional technical terms available in the YBTAP, pg. 215-219 (222-226 of the PDF).

Acoustic Tag: bigger than PIT tags but bigger range (?)

Adfluvial: A life history strategy of fish species in which spawning by adults and rearing of juveniles occurs in streams, but subadults and adults live in lakes or reservoirs. Contrast with Anadromous, Fluvial.

Ad...something. verb: has to do with stream migration.

Alevin: Freshly hatched tiny salmonids that still have the yolk sac from their eggs attached to their bellies. Once they have consumed the yolk sac and grown in size, they emerge from their nest gravel (Redd) and are considered Fry.

Anadromous: Life history strategy of fish species in which fish are born and rear in freshwater, migrate to and mature in salt water, and return to freshwater to spawn. Contrast with Adfluvial, Fluvial.

• Anadromy: The expression of the anadromous migratory life cycle.

APE: Area of Potential Effects of projects on historic properties. Projects must complete an APE assessment to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act.

cfs: Cubic feet per second, a common unit for quantifying streamflow

CD: Conservation District. CD's are county-level natural resource conservation organizations coordinated by the WA Conservation Commission.

Connectivity: Refers to the ability of a species to move unimpeded between adjoining, accessible habitats of different types and sufficient quantity and quality to support various life stages of a species; especially critical to migratory species.

Core Area: The USFWS uses this term to define the basic unit on which to gauge recovery. For bull trout, a core area represents the closest approximation of a biologically functioning unit (metapopulations).

DEM: Digital Elevation Model

DPS: Distinct population segment, a division of habitat area. A DPS is larger than an MPG (Major Population Group), which is larger than a Population. The Yakima Basin MPG is within the Middle Columbia DPS (see map).

EA: Environmental Assessment

EIS: Environmental Impact Statement

ELJ: Engineered Log Jam. ELJ's mimic natural log jams, which provide numerous benefits to fish.

Endangered: Endangered species are at risk of extinction throughout a significant portion of their range. Contrast with Threatened.

Entrainment: when a fish gets sucked through or over a dam/barrier such that it can't get back over. “Bull Trout often become entrained below Keechelus Dam.”

Extirpation: Elimination of a species from a particular local area.

ESA: Endangered Species Act.

• ESA-listed: a species that is either considered “endangered” with extinction or “threatened” with becoming endangered. In the Yakima Basin, we have no “endangered” fish species, but we have two ESA-listed “threatened” fish species, steelhead (the anadromous form of rainbow trout) and bull trout. These are the highest priority species the Recovery Board works to recover.

ESU: Evolutionarily Significant Unit

Floodplain: The relatively flat areas adjacent to river channels that are partially or totally flooded in flood events. A floodplain is “well-connected” when water is able to spread out from the main channel in flood events (as opposed to a “channelized” stream that has been artificially straightened or restricted by manmade structures). Well-connected floodplains have numerous ecological benefits—they lead to less intense flood events by allowing the water to disperse and slow down, give young fish a refuge from being swept downstream, and more.

• X-year Floodplain: The area which has a 1/X annual chance of flooding. For example, a 100-year floodplain has a 1/100 or 1% annual chance of flooding, while a 2-year floodplain has a ½ or 50% annual chance of flooding.

Fluvial: A life history of fish species in which spawning by adults and rearing of juveniles occurs in tributaries, but the subadults and adults occupy habitats in larger streams and mainstem rivers. Contrast with Adfluvial, Anadromous.

FMO: Feeding, migrating, overwintering

Fry: A juvenile salmonid that has consumed its yolk sac, about 1-2 inches long. Next life stages include Parr and Smolt.

FS: Forest Service (also, Forest Service road)

Genotype: The genotype of an organism is the chemical composition of its DNA, which gives rise to the phenotype, or observable traits of an organism.

HPA: Hydraulic Project Approval

Incision: The process of a stream cutting its channel into the bed of a valley through erosion. An "incised" channel is one that has cut so deeply into the bed that it is disconnected from its floodplain.

ID: Irrigation District, a public entity which owns water rights and distributes water for irrigation

Introduction: Fish planted into a habitat where the species did not exist historically.

JARPA: Joint Aquatic Resources Permit Application

J-Hook: A stream restoration structure that protects against erosion.

Kelt: a salmonid that has recently spawned and is recovering. Unlike Pacific salmon, trout (and Atlantic salmon) don’t all die after spawning, and anadromous (as opposed to resident) trout can return to the ocean before spawning again.

Legacy Effects: Impacts from past activities (usually a land use) that continue to affect a stream or watershed in the present day.

LOA: Landowner Agreement. A contract spelling out the conditions under which a project can be conducted on private property. (?)

LWD: Large Woody Debris. Important for stream health; may be added to streams where it is lacking as part of restoration projects.

Mainstem: Term applied to the principal channel of a major stream or river. Mainstems are fed by numerous tributaries that compose a watershed.

Mitigation: efforts to prevent, reduce, or compensate for adverse effects of various activities to aquatic habitats and species (e.g., transportation projects)

• Mitigation Banking: a method of mitigation compensation.
• Washington Alternative Mitigation Policy Guidance

MPG: Major Population Group. See DPS.

OHWM: Ordinary High-Water Mark

Parr: Once fry have grown to about 5 inches and developed vertical fingerprint marks on their sides called “parr marks”, they are considered Parr. If they are anadromous, when they journey to the sea to mature, they become Smolts.

Phenotype: The observable characteristics of an organism (such as its external appearance, development, biochemical or physiological properties, and behavior) that result from the interaction of its genotype with the environment. Contrast with Genotype.

• Phenotypic characteristic: An aspect of the phenotype.

PIT tag: Passive Integrated Transponder tag (a tracking device implanted in fish to study their movements). See Radio Telemetry.

Productivity: The average number of surviving offspring per parent. Used as an indicator of a population’s ability to sustain itself or its ability to rebound from low numbers.

Radio Telemetry: Transmission of data from tags attached to an animal that transmit radio signals. The signals are read at either fixed receiving stations or by mobile tracking devices. Radio tags for fish are usually inserted into the stomach or surgically into the body cavity.

Recovery Unit (bull trout):
A USFWS term for one of the nested units delineated for recovery efforts. Biologically, recovery units are considered groupings of bull trout for which gene flow was historically or is currently possible. The Yakima Core Area is one of many core areas within the Middle Columbia recovery unit, and there are multiple recovery units within the Distinct Population Segment (DPS).

Redd: A salmonid spawning bed, or "nest". Redds are dug by female salmonids in streambed gravels, and females deposit and bury eggs into them. Redds can be distinguished in the streambed gravel by a cleared depression and an associated mound of gravel directly downstream.

Resident: Life history strategy in which the entire life cycle occurs in a water body, such as that of resident Ahtanum Creek bull trout, which occur in small headwater streams.

RFEG: Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group

Rip: Short for "Riparian."

Riparian: relating to, living on, or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (such as a river), or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater. Commonly referred to as “rip” for short.

Riprap: rocky material placed along shorelines, bridge foundations, steep slopes, and other shoreline structures to protect from scour and erosion

RM: River Mile

RME: Research, monitoring, and evaluation

Rock barb: (stream barbs?) a low rock sill structure angled upstream to decrease flow stresses on a bank. They are designed to redirect streamflow away from the near bank region.

Rootwads: A root wad is a bank stabilization and aquatic habitat improvement strategy that involves burying a dead tree into the streambank with the root system still attached. Benefits of installing root wads include bank stability, fish habitat and insect habitat

Salmonid: Fish of the family Salmonidae, including salmon, trout, chars, grayling, and whitefish. In general usage, the term most often refers to salmon, trout, and chars (subfamily Salmonidae).

Salvelinus confluentus: Bull Trout.

SAR: Smolt-to-Adult Ratio.

Smolt: A fish that is migrating out to the ocean. “Smoltification” is a series of bodily changes that salmonids undergo to transition from a freshwater to saltwater environment.

Spawning Adult: Spawning adult salmonids look distinct from their adult ocean counterparts; depending on the species, their body color changes from silver to shades of brown, green, or red. The males of some species develop a hooded snout, humped back, and elongated teeth. Salmonids do not feed once they leave the ocean and begin the migration to their freshwater spawning grounds; they spend all their energy navigating back to their natal streams to spawn. After spawning, Pacific salmon die. Some trout (and Atlantic salmon) become Kelts.

Stochastic: Describes a natural event or process that is random or unpredictable. Examples include environmental conditions such as rainfall, runoff, and storms, or life-cycle events, such as survival or fecundity rates.

Subpopulation: Groups of local populations between which migration is presumed to occur.

Supplementation: The release and management of artificially propagated fish in streams with the intent to increase or establish naturally spawning fish populations while minimizing associated genetic and ecological risks.

Thalweg: the center of the mainstem of a river/the main flow path of a river

Threatened: A status of a species that is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range—as defined in the Endangered Species Act. Contrast with Endangered.

TMDL: Total Maximum Daily Load. A TMDL is the calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant allowed to enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will meet and continue to meet water quality standards for that particular pollutant.

Trib: Short for "Tributary."

Tributary: A river or stream flowing into a larger river or lake. Commonly referred to as “trib” for short.

USGS: US Geological Survey

VSP: Voluntary Stewardship Program. The VSP offers counties and agricultural landowners farm-friendly options for protecting fragile and/or hazardous natural resources — referred to as “critical areas” — in places where agricultural activity is conducted.

• Also: Viable Salmonid Population (not in current wide usage).

Wasting/mass wasting??

Watershed: A catchment area of a sloping landscape that collects precipitation and drains the resulting surface and groundwater.

WRIA: Water Resource Inventory Area. Term for WA watersheds; the Yakima Basin has WA WRIA’s 37, 38, and 39. Commonly pronounced, “Rye-uh.”

Technical Resources

DART: Data Access & Retrieval Tool (UW’s database that includes tons of data on fish in the Columbia Basin)

FPDSI: Fish Passage & Diversion Screening Inventory (tells you where fish passage barriers are; not comprehensive)

Juvenile Salmonid and Small Fish Identification Aid

SWIFD: State-Wide Integrated Fish Distribution database (tells you which fish live where)

Organizations

BIA: Bureau of Indian Affairs

BLM: Bureau of Land Management

BPA: Bonneville Power Administration (federal hydropower marketing administration within the Dept of Energy; a source of grant funds)

CBFWA: Columbia River (Basin?) Fish and Wildlife Authority

CRITFC: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

DOE: Department of Ecology

DOT: Department of Transportation

DNR: Department of Natural Resources

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

GSRO: Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office (partners with RCO)

KCD: Kittitas Conservation District

KCT: Kittitas Conservation Trust

KID: Kennewick Irrigation District

KRD: Kittitas Reclamation District

MCF(EG): Mid-Columbia Fisheries (Enhancement Group)

ICTRT: Interior Columbia Technical Recovery Team

NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (their fisheries department, NOAA fisheries, helps fund SRFB grants via the PCSRF)

• NMFS: National Marine Fisheries Service (the division of NOAA also referred to as NOAA fisheries)

NPCC (formerly NPPC): Northwest Power & Conservation Council (created following the 1980 Northwest Power Act to “inform and advance a regional vision for power and fish & wildlife in the Columbia Basin”)

NRCS: National Resources Conservation Service, the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency

NYCD: North Yakima Conservation District

Reclamation (also BOR, USBR): Bureau of Reclamation (water management agency in the Western US; a source of grant funds)

RCO: Recreation & Conservation Office (Lead Entities are contracted through this office. Elizabeth Butler works for RCO as the Yakima Basin's regional grant manager)

SRFB: Salmon Recovery Funding Board (commonly pronounced "Surfboard") which runs the annual grant round for all Lead Entities across the state.

SVID: Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District

SYCD: South Yakima Conservation District

TU: Trout Unlimited

USDA: United States Department of Agriculture

USFS: United States Forest Service

USFWS: United States Fish & Wildlife Service

WDFW: Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

WRCD: Washington Resource Conservation & Development council

WWT: Washington Water Trust

YBFWRB: Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board

• BTWG: Bull Trout Working Group
• SWG: Steelhead Working Group (last time this group met was 2014 (?); to be reconvened asap to update Steelhead Recovery Plan)

YN: Yakama Nation

YSPB: Yakima Subbasin Fish and Wildlife Planning Board (a precursor organization to the Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Recovery Board)

Legislation & Plans

CCA: Climate Commitment Act (legislation passed in WA in 2023). Initiative I-2117 (2024) aimed to repeal the CCA, but it did not pass.

ESA: Endangered Species Act

GMA: Growth Management Act. See VSP.

National Historic Preservation Act: See APE.

SMA: Shoreline Management Act

YBIP: Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, a 30-year collaborative water resource plan (2013-2045)

• Reclamation's video on the YBIP

(Y)BTAP: (Yakima) Bull Trout Action Plan. The Bull Trout Working Group (BTWG) works to implement the plan. This glossary borrowed from the BTAP's glossary (Pg. 217).

YSBP: Yakima Sub-Basin Planfg

YKFP: Yakima Klickitat Fisheries Project

YRBWEP: Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project (a BOR project enacted by Congress, 1979-present), one product of which is the YBIP

YSRP: Yakima Steelhead Recovery Plan

YTAHP: Yakima Tributary Access & Habitat Program

Grant Round Terms

LE: Lead Entity (There are 25 across WA. Ours includes the TAG, the CC, the LE Coordinator, and a grant administrator—the YBFWRB Board of Directors)

TAG: Technical Advisory Group

CC: Citizen Committee

RFP: Request for Proposal (to solicit grant applications)

PCSRF: Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (a source of grant funding; established by Congress to reverse the decline of West Coast salmon. Managed by NOAA fisheries)

PRISM: Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (nobody really refers to it as anything other than the acronym)

RP: SRFB State Review Panel

POC: Project of Concern (a rating the SRFB review panel can give projects following site tours; means the project is at high risk of not being approved to be considered for funding by its Lead Entity)

NMI: Needs More Information (a rating the SRFB review panel can give projects following site tours; might mean the project passes easily by supplying the requested additional information, or might not)

SARM: Salmon Recovery Model (a project scoring matrix developed by the TAG)

TI: Targeted Investments (a grant round that has taken place in 2022 and 2024)

Miscellaneous

Gap-to-Gap: The 10-mile stretch between Selah Gap and Union Gap