Thursday July 11, 2024
NOAA Fisheries —
Upper Willamette River Steelhead and Chinook salmon should remain listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries has concluded in its 5-year review of the status of the species. NOAA Fisheries must review the status of species listed under the Endangered Species Act at least every 5 years.
Many communities, tribes, and conservation organizations have restored habitat along the Willamette and its tributaries. Chinook salmon and steelhead still lack safe downstream passage past dams that limit access to the high-elevation habitat that once fostered their wild populations. Only further action can halt their continuing decline, which could be compounded by climate change.
“The real issue is that they need safe connections to and from the high-quality habitat we know is above the dams,” said Annie Birnie, who led the review. “As long as they remain cut off, we’re unlikely to see signs of recovery.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Willamette dams to manage flooding that once regularly inundated cities in the Willamette Valley. Some of the dams also generate hydroelectric power. The dams are considerably taller than hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River built specifically to generate power. Below the larger dams, the Corps collects adult fish swimming upstream from the ocean. It hauls them in trucks past higher dams and reservoirs, where they are released to spawn in historic habitat that remains intact.