The lives of Columbia River Basin salmon and steelhead are interwoven with the lives and work of a wide range of people and livelihoods in the Pacific Northwest. The roles and responsibilities of the ten federal agencies that comprise the Columbia Basin Federal Caucus all incorporate in their agency missions some aspect of salmon habitat (spawning, rearing, water quality and quantity, migration corridors to the ocean, etc.) and/or long-term sustainability of these species.
Tribal and state governments also are vitally involved in many aspects of fish recovery, including habitat restoration and hatchery management. Local and regional entities – watershed councils, conservation districts, land trusts, farmers and ranchers – play a role in both the protection and restoration of important aquatic habitats.
The Columbia Basin Federal Caucus works with and depends on all of these important partners to implement projects on the ground that will help recover native fish species.