EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

In total, Lower Columbia River steelhead occupy 32 watersheds. The total area of habitat
designated as critical includes about 2,340 miles of stream habitat. This designation includes the
stream channels within the designated stream reaches, and includes a lateral extent as defined by
the ordinary high water line. In areas where the ordinary high-water line is not defined the
lateral extent is defined as the bankfull elevation. Of the 32 watersheds reviewed in NMFS'
assessment of critical habitat for Lower Columbia River steelhead, two watersheds received a
low rating of conservation value, 11 received a medium rating, and 26 received a high rating of
conservation value for the species. Limiting factors identified for Lower Columbia River
steelhead include: degraded floodplain and steam channel structure and function, reduced access
to spawning/rearing habitat, altered stream flow in tributaries, excessive sediment and elevated
water temperatures in tributaries, and hatchery impacts.
Final Protective Regulations
On June 28, 2005, as part of the final listing determinations for 16 ESUs of West Coast salmon,
NMFS amended and streamlined the 4(d) protective regulations for threatened salmon and
steelhead (70 FR 37160) as described in the Protective Regulations for Threatened Salmonid
Species section of this document. Under this change, the section 4(d) protections apply to
natural and hatchery fish with an intact adipose fin, but not to listed hatchery fish that have had
their adipose fin removed prior to release into the wild. The amended June 2005 4(d) rule
applies to the Lower Columbia River steelhead DPS.
Middle Columbia River Steelhead
Distribution and Description of the Listed Species
The Middle Columbia River steelhead DPS includes all naturally spawned anadromous steelhead
populations below natural and manmade impassible barriers in Oregon and Washington
drainages upstream of the Hood and Wind River systems, up to and including the Yakima River
(61 FR 41541). Steelhead from the Snake River Basin are excluded from this DPS. Seven
artificial propagation programs are part of this DPS.
Middle Columbia River steelhead occupy the intermountain region of the Pacific Northwest,
which includes some of the driest areas in the region generally receiving less than 15.7 inches of
rainfall annually. Major drainages in this ESU are the Deschutes, John Day, Umatilla, Walla
Walla, Yakima and Klickitat river systems. The area is generally characterized by its dry climate
and harsh temperature extremes. Almost all steelhead populations within this DPS are summerrun
fish; the only exceptions are the only populations of inland winter steelhead, which occur in
the Klickitat River and Fifteen-mile Creek (Busby et al. 1996). According to Interior Columbia
Basin Technical Recovery Team (ICTRT 2003) this DPS is comprised of 16 putative populations
in four major population groups (Cascades Eastern Slopes Tributaries, John Day River, Walla
Walla and Umatilla Rivers, and Yakima River) and one unaffiliated independent population
(Rock Creek).
There are two extinct populations in the Cascades Eastern Slope major population group, the
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