Salmon streams under federal attack

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a "re-designation" of critical salmonid habitat that would cut more than 80% of the original critical-habitat designations for West Coast salmon and steelhead trout.

NMFS originally designated critical habitat for salmon and steelhead in 2000. The protections were removed in 2003 due to lawsuit by the National Association of Homebuilders. A subsequent lawsuit by conservation and fishing organizations required NMFS to reinstate critical-habitat protections, but the Bush administration cut out most of the original habitat areas.

What we refer to as the "NO(AA) salmon" Proposal is based on a faulty economic analysis that claims to account for all of the potential burden to creekside property owners (often logging companies) but accounts for none of the potential benefits to flood control, to recreational use, to the fishing community, and to Native American tribal culture.

The NO(AA) Salmon Proposal also radically cuts current environmental protections. Till now the protected habitat has included a riparian corridor around the stream. Activities that could lead to erosion have been restricted so that spawning areas would not be covered with sediment. Trees that shade the stream and provide habitat for the insects that are salmon food have been protected to keep the water cool enough for the salmon.

The "NO(AA) Salmon" proposal would strip federal protections from the riparian areas, so that only the area literally between the stream banks would be protected, and activities around the stream - activities that may critically affect the stream itself - would be unregulated. This proposal would not just impact salmon and other riparian-dependent species, but would also increase non-point-source pollution into our bays, oceans, and marine sanctuaries.

A key goal of the Endangered Species Act is to enable populations of protected species to expand, but the NO(AA) Salmon proposal calls for comments on whether critical-habitat protection should apply to a number of historic salmon reaches above current fish barriers. Dropping this protection would mean that salmon populations would have nowhere to expand.

The NO(AA) Salmon proposal would also strip protections from any area whose property owners agree to voluntary protections (even though there would be no measure of effectiveness and no reversion to critical-habitat designation if the owner changed their mind later)..

In Marin County the NO(AA) Salmon proposal excludes many of the currently unreachable tributaries to creeks that contain salmon, making the removal of fish barriers more difficult. The Marin Group is working to make sure that revisions to the Marin Countywide Plan include strong local protections for riparian zones and their endangered salmonids regardless of what happens with the federal protections.

Further south the NOAA proposal would leave intact almost all the original critical-habitat designation for the Alameda Creek watershed (see East Bay creek and watershed projects). Upper Alameda Creek above the Alameda Diversion Dam, however, and tributaries to San Antonio Reservoir are not currently included.

NOAA is considering excluding many areas in the current proposal (not just Alameda Creek) from the final designation based on existing land-management plans and policies, voluntary conservation efforts, and other factors.

What You Can Do

The deadline for comments on the NMFS proposal has been extended till March 14. Write to:

Assistant Regional Administrator
Protected Resources Division
NMFS
501 W. Ocean Blvd., #4200
Long Beach, CA 90802-4213
Fax: (562)980-4027
Email: critical.habitat.swr@noaa.gov (For e-mails, include docket number [041123329-4329-01] and RIN number [0648-AO04] in the subject line of the message.)

Urge NMFS not to reduce critical habitat designations. In particular, encourage NMFS to designate as critical habitat all stream reaches in the Alameda Creek watershed and in Marin County that are potential habitat for steelhead or rainbow trout.

Gordon Bennett, chair, Marin Group; and Jeff Miller, director, Alameda Creek Alliance