Public Meetings

To All Interested Parties:

NMFS' Santa Rosa field office is developing draft recovery plans for federally threatened or endangered Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon, Northern California (NC) steelhead, CCC steelhead, and California Coastal (CC) Chinook salmon. We, thus, respectfully request information, data and pertinent publications from the public to inform our planning and the development of sound adaptable recovery strategies and actions that are both objective and measurable. Data and information we are seeking includes (1) species status, (2) distribution, (3) habitat conditions, (4) trends, (5) future threats, and/or (6) other information relevant to identification/reduction of factors limiting recovery of salmonids. The specific types of freshwater/estuarine information includes, but is not limited to:

Summer and winter habitat typing,
Stream temperature,
Flow conditions (all life stages),
Barriers to passage (all life stages),
Estuarine conditions,
Instream impairment by substrate and/or fines,
Water quality,
Food supply,
Riparian structure and composition,
Ecological processes across watersheds, and
Abundance/distribution/density information for spawners, juveniles and smolts.

Current instream conditions will be evaluated for all life stages independently as well as in context with the source of the stress (e.g., harvest, hatcheries, land/water use, urbanization, etc.). Information on factors affecting these species, planning and actions being done to ameliorate these threats and policies in place to ensure long term maintenance of instream habitats is additionally being requested. This information will greatly inform our assessment and acknowledgment of conservation efforts taking place across the North Coast through watershed planning and implementation activities by various watershed groups, State/Federal/County/City agencies (e.g., laws, policies, programs, etc.), private individuals/companies and others. Information regarding natural events on salmonids and their habitats (e.g., climate change) is also being sought from academics, scientists and other knowledgeable individuals.

We are soliciting data for CCC coho salmon first (watersheds from Punta Gorda to Aptos Creek including SF Bay). Requests for NC steelhead, CCC steelhead and CC Chinook will follow but we will accept any information provided at this time.

NMFS is using The Nature Conservancy's (TNC's) conservation action planning (CAP workbook) process as the foundation to the recovery plans for these species. You can learn more about the TNC approach at their website: http://conserveonline.org/workspaces/cbdgateway/cap. TNC's CAP workbook provides a consistent, transparent, and measurable approach for assessing current watershed habitat conditions, assessing future threats (both habitat stresses and sources of the stress) and developing strategies (e.g., recovery actions) that link back to poor conditions and the highest threats. To inform the CAP process we are compiling the best available information for all watersheds for the species listed above beginning with the CCC coho salmon watersheds. Attached is a list of references currently available to NMFS that we plan to use to initiate our CAP workbook for the CCC coho salmon recovery planning effort.

For more information on the list of current priority watersheds and the format of how the freshwater habitat information will be input into the TNC CAP workbook template please visit the NMFS recovery planning website at http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/recovery/NCCC.htm.

This is an preliminary request for instream habitat data and population information and will not be your only opportunity to provide information and comments. Public review and comments on the draft recovery plans will also be solicited in future workshops and published in Federal Register Notices. While we will accept information at any time during development of recovery plans; however, for consideration in our first development phase for CCC coho salmon we will need your information before November 2, 2007. Materials received after that date will be considered at a later date.

While all formats of data will be accepted, we prefer electronic format on CDs mailed to the address below. If data are in a zipped drive or requiring minimum space an email is acceptable and should be sent to the following address: _CentralCoastCoho.RecoveryPlan@noaa.gov (please note the underscore at the beginning and period between Coho.Recovery or the email will not work). Metadata, where available, would be greatly appreciated as it would streamline incorporation of data directly into the recovery plan. We will accept data in all forms (e.g., GIS format, excel spreadsheets, PDF or word documents).

National Marine Fisheries Service
c/o NCCC Domain Recovery Planning
777 Sonoma Avenue, Rm. 325
Santa Rosa, California 95404.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. If you have any questions please contact the Santa Rosa NMFS Recovery Coordinator, Charlotte Ambrose, at 707-575-6068. Please forward this email to other knowledgeable or interested individuals who may be able to contribute to this recovery planning effort.

Central Valley, CA

In July and August of 2006, a series of public workshops were held in various locations in the Central Valley. The purpose of these workshops was to explain the recovery planning process to the public, introduce several TRT documents that provide the foundation for developing the recovery plan, and to brainstorm threats information on listed Central Valley salmonids, which served as a starting point for conducting a threats assessment (a required piece of a recovery plan). NMFS then worked with a contractor to utilize a threats assessment methodology developed as part of the Yuba River Accord, to weight, rank and prioritize threats.

In May of 2007, a second series of pubic workshops was held to initiate development of recovery actions that address and are responsive to the threats information and reflect the guiding principles from the TRT products. The output from these workshops, as well as the threats workshops and the TRT products, contributed greatly to advancing the development of a draft recovery plan.

In May of 2008, a co-manager draft recovery plan was distributed to Federal, State and tribal entities involved with management of listed anadromous salmonids in the Central Valley. NMFS is currently revising the recovery plan in response to many constructive and informative comments received from co-managers. Following completion of these revisions, a draft recovery plan will be made available for public comment. This public draft recovery plan is expected to be released in the summer of 2009.

South-Central/Southern CA

Two series of workshops were held in early 2007 to gather public input on the threats facing steelhead populations throughout the recovery domain and suggested actions needed to ameliorate or abate the identified threats. Each workshop focused on the threats and actions specific to the watershed and populations in areas surrounding the workshop location. The TRT/Threats Assessment Workshops were held on April 4-5-2007 in Ventura, April 12-13-2007 in Carlsbad, April 18-19 in Arroyo Grande, and April 25-26-2007 in Carmel. In late spring 2007, the second series of workshops focused on the development of Recovery Actions. These workshops occurred on: May 31, in Ventura, June 1 in Carlsbad, June 4 in San Luis Obispo, and June 13 in Carmel. For copies of the notes from these workshops, please contact penny.ruvelas@noaa.gov.

There will be a set of public hearings on draft Recovery Plans which are expected to occur in the summer-fall 2009. The timing and locations are currently under development, but will be posted here and otherwise advertised once finalized. Currently, threats assessment and sets of corresponding recovery actions have been prepared. Both the threats assessment and the recovery actions were developed using information provided during a series of public workshops as well as other available information developed by NMFS biological consultants and NMFS Southwest Regional staff. Summaries of the threat assessments can be viewed on this web page. Following internal review, the draft Recovery Plans will be reviewed by our steelhead co-manager agencies as well as an independent panel of scientific experts and the public. A public draft Recovery Plan for Southern California steelhead is expected in summer of 2009. A public draft Recovery Plan for South-Central California Coast steelhead is expected in fall 2009.

06/23/09