ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Much recognition is due to Teresa Scott (WDFW), who fleshed out the initial concept for the document, took the lead in gathering input of local, regional, state and federal recovery partners, and described in the document how the many pieces and parts could contribute to recovery planning. By drawing that picture, Teresa made that coordination a reality. Many thanks are also extended to the following contributors and reviewers: Chris Drivdahl, Phil Miller, Bob Bugert, Lloyd Moody (Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office); Elizabeth Gaar, Elizabeth Babcock, Patty Dornbusch, Lynn Hatcher, Steve Landino, Mike Parton, Norma Sands, Larry Rutter Puget Sound TRT (NOAA Fisheries); Ken Berg, Susan Martin, Vicki Finn, Mark Bagdovitz, Jeff Chan (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service); Bill Tweit, Jane Banyard, Brian Walsh, Kristi Lynett, Phil Trask (WDFW); Dick Wallace (Washington Department of Ecology); John Dohrmann (Puget Sound Action Team); Tim Hilliard (Washington Department of Transportation); Lynn Palensky , Brian Walsh (formerly of Northwest Power and Conservation Council); Jim Kramer, Margaret Duncan, Carol MacIlroy, Jagoda Perich-Anderson (Shared Strategy for Puget Sound); Scott Brewer (Hood Canal Coordinating Council and Shared Strategy Work Group); Jeff Breckel, Phil Trask (Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board); Robert Hayman (Skagit System Cooperative); Denise Krownbell (Seattle City Light); Allen Zulauf (Puyallup River Watershed Council); Keith Wolf (Colville Confederated Tribes), Bob Rose (Yakama Nation); Mike Kaputa (Chelan County); Ron Walter (Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board); Paul Kraynak (Nez Perce Tribe).

Salmon recovery policy is still evolving, and though the basic elements of a recovery plan have not changed, guidance for writing the plan, as well as answers to policy and process questions, will continue to be developed. New information will be posted as it becomes available on the WDFW website at: http://wdfw.wa.gov

and on the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office website at:
http://www.governor.wa.gov/gsro

Other useful websites include:

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission
The Endangered Species Act
NOAA Fisheries Salmon ESA web site
Northwest Fisheries Science Center Salmon Recovery Planning
USFWS ESA web site
Northwest Power & Conservation Council Fish & Wildlife Program
Puget Sound Salmon Forum
Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board
Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board
Access Washington
Salmon Information Center
StreamNet

An Outline for Salmon Recovery Plans
December 2003

FOREWORD

The salmon recovery planning environment is rapidly evolving. The roles and expectations of various players, and availability of scientific information and tools will also continue to evolve. The Outline for Salmon Recovery Plans attempts to capture state expectations for recovery plans as of today (Fall 2003); however, it is acknowledged that not all planning groups will be able to meet all those expectations in their initial planning cycle.

Clearly, it will take a number of iterations, or “planning cycles,” before recovery plans are as comprehensive as the Outline for Salmon Recovery Plans suggests. Bob Lohn (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Administrator) states,

“The initial rounds of local recovery planning are not expected to be perfect. Initial rounds need to be based on existing information. As we do assessments, we will find that existing information leaves us with critical uncertainties and data gaps. Local recovery plans should be viewed as iterative documents that can adapt to new information and that will become more sophisticated with time."

The Outline for Salmon Recovery Plans does not answer every planning question, as many are still under discussion. Examples include:

• Capacity to complete plans
  
• “All-H” integration
  
• Integration of economic, social and cultural goals and impacts
  
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance mechanisms
  
• Local versus regional-scale recovery
  
• Contingency / default actions
  
• Recovery plan review process
  
• Implementation funding
  
• Future institutional framework to continue recovery implementation

Most of these outstanding issues require resolution before completion of the first plans. The State of Washington Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) is working with state and federal agencies, tribes, and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC; formerly the Northwest Power Planning Council or NWPPC) to develop advice on “all-H” integration, and to define ESA compliance opportunities at each stage of recovery plan breadth and depth. Conclusions drawn, and advice on how to proceed, will be distributed as they become available.

Salmon recovery activity does not end with completion of a recovery plan document. Salmon recovery represents a long-term commitment – a cycle of implementation of plans, monitoring to see if expectations are realized, and adaptation of actions to improve effectiveness, until populations have returned to viability and delisting can occur. Such cycles of implementation, monitoring, and adaptation of actions – or adaptive management – can provide a useful framework during both the planning and implementation stages of salmon recovery.

The Outline for Salmon Recovery Plans is intended to provide a framework that can be used to structure our thinking about how to proceed to recover salmon. The Outline, itself, does not provide much guidance on how to organize to “do” recovery planning, on where to get data, on how to go about answering necessary questions, or on how to proceed to implementation and beyond – there are as many ways to address those questions as there are recovery planning groups. The Outline is just the beginning of the journey.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Brian Walsh
Salmon Grants Manager
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
(360) 902-2805
walshbjw@dfw.wa.gov