Middle Columbia River Salmon
Recovery Region
Area
- Human Population: 431,700
- Counties: Benton, Kittitas, Yakima, and parts of Chelan and Klickitat
- Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs): Klickitat (30), Rock-Glade (31), Lower Yakima (37),
Naches (38), Upper Yakima (39), and Alkali-Squilchuck (40) - Federally Recognized Tribes: Yakama Nation
Regional Recovery Organization
Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board
Origins and Organization
The Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board is composed of elected officials, or their designates, of the Yakama Nation; Kittitas, Yakima, and Benton Counties; and cities in the Yakima basin. The board originally formed to conduct sub-basin planning under the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's fish and wildlife program. Its role now includes regional salmon recovery planning and implementation, and it is the salmon recovery lead entity for the Yakima basin. Klickitat County is not involved in recovery planning, but is engaged in watershed planning and as a salmon recovery lead entity.
Species Listed
Salmon Recovery Plan
The Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board prepared the Yakima portion of the recovery plan for the bi-state mid-Columbia steelhead Endangered Species Act-listed area. In September 2009, the National Marine Fisheries Service adopted the final mid-Columbia steelhead recovery plan. It represents the first time multiple state recovery plans have been compiled into a larger, federal recovery plan by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The board also is working toward implementation of the steelhead recovery plan and the fish and wildlife sub-basin plan within the Yakima basin.
Recovery Plan (as of 1/07)
- Plan timeframe: 10-30 years
- Estimated cost: $160 million
- Actions to implement plan: 153
- Status: Regional plan for Washington portion of Evolutionarily Significant Units and Distinct Population Segments were adopted by National Marine Fisheries Service as part of the bi-state middle Columbia River recovery plan in September 2009.
