Contact
About

Integrating energy and the environment in the Columbia River Basin

About the Council
Mission and Strategy Members and Staff Bylaws Policies Careers / RFPs
News

See what the Council is up to.

Read the Latest News
Read All News Press Resources Newsletters International Columbia River

Explore News By Topic

Fish and Wildlife Planning Salmon and Steelhead Wildlife Energy Planning Energy Efficiency Demand Response
Fish and Wildlife

The Council works to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. Its Fish & Wildlife Program guides project funding by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fish and Wildlife Overview

The Fish and Wildlife Program

2020 Addendum 2014/2020 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program Subbasin Plans Project Reviews and Recommendations

Independent Review Groups

  • Independent Economic Analysis Board (IEAB)
  • Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB)
  • Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP)

Forums and Workgroups

  • Asset Management Subcommittee
  • Ocean and Plume Science and Management Forum
  • Regional Coordination
  • Science and Policy Exchange
  • Toxics Workgroup
  • Columbia Basin Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Workgroup
  • Informal Hatchery Workgroup
  • Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup

Topics

  • Adaptive Management
  • Anadromous Fish Mitigation
  • Blocked Areas
  • High-level Indicators
  • Invasive and Non-Native Species
  • Lamprey
  • Predation: Sea lions, pike, birds
  • Protected Areas
  • Research Plan
  • Resident Fish
  • Resource Tools and Maps
  • Sockeye
  • Sturgeon
  • Hatchery Map
Energy

The Council develops a plan, updated every five years, to ensure the region’s power supply and acquire cost-effective energy efficiency.

Energy Overview

The Northwest Power Plan

The 2021 Northwest Power Plan 2021 Plan Supporting Materials Planning Process and Past Power Plans

Technical Tools and Models

  • Regional Portfolio Model
  • Generation Evaluation System Model (GENESYS)

Energy Advisory Committees

  • Regional Technical Forum
  • Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
  • Demand Forecast Advisory Committee
  • Demand Response Advisory Committee
  • Generating Resources Advisory Committee
  • Natural Gas Advisory Committee
  • Resource Adequacy Advisory Committee
  • System Analysis Advisory Committee
  • RTF Policy Advisory Committee
  • System Integration Forum
  • Resource Strategies Advisory Committee (Not Active)

Energy Topics

  • Energy Efficiency
  • Demand Response
  • Power Supply
  • Resource Adequacy
  • Energy Storage
  • Hydropower
  • Transmission

Energy Forums and Workgroups

  • Pacific NW Demand Response Project
  • Northwest Wind Integration Forum (Archive)
Meetings
See next F&W and Power Committee Meetings and Council Meeting July 06 - 07, 2022 in Webinar › See all meetings ›

Recent and Upcoming Meetings

Swipe left or right
AUG 2021
MON
23
1:00 pm—2:30 pm
Council Meeting Webinar to Discuss the Draft 2021 Power Plan and Decision to Release for Public Review and Comment
AUG 2021
TUE
31
9:00 am—2:45 pm
RTF Meeting
SEP 2021
MON
13
9:00 am—12:00 pm
Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup
SEP 2021
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
SEP 2021
TUE
21
10:00 am—11:00 am
Informal Hatchery Workgroup Meeting
SEP 2021
TUE WED
21 - 22
RTF Meeting
SEP 2021
MON
27
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Montana
SEP 2021
WED
29
9:00 am—11:30 am
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Meeting
OCT 2021
THU
07
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Washington
OCT 2021
TUE
12
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Oregon
OCT 2021
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
OCT 2021
THU
14
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Idaho
OCT 2021
TUE
19
9:30 am—3:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE
09
9:00 am—1:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE WED
16 - 17
Council Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE
30
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Meeting
DEC 2021
TUE WED
07 - 08
RTF Meeting
DEC 2021
MON
13
9:00 am—11:00 am
Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup
DEC 2021
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
JAN 2022
TUE WED
11 - 12
Council Meeting
JAN 2022
WED
19
1:00 pm—5:00 pm
Ocean and Plume Science and Management Forum
JAN 2022
TUE
25
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF New Member Orientation: January 25, 2022
JAN 2022
WED
26
9:00 am—1:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JAN 2022
FRI
28
8:30 am—11:30 am
Power Committee Meeting
FEB 2022
MON
14
9:00 am—10:30 am
Informal Hatchery Workgroup Meeting
FEB 2022
TUE WED
15 - 16
Council Meeting
FEB 2022
WED
23
9:00 am—2:30 pm
RTF Meeting
MAR 2022
WED
02
9:30 am—3:00 pm
System Integration Forum: Scope of Work on Potential Lower Snake River Dam Analysis
MAR 2022
TUE
08
1:30 pm—2:30 pm
Public Affairs Committee Meeting
MAR 2022
MON TUE
14 - 15
Council Meeting
MAR 2022
FRI
18
9:00 am—11:00 am
Fish and Wildlife Committee Meeting
MAR 2022
TUE WED
22 - 23
RTF Meeting
MAR 2022
WED
30
9:30 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q1 Meeting
APR 2022
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
APR 2022
TUE WED
19 - 20
RTF Meeting
MAY 2022
TUE WED
10 - 11
F&W and Power Committee Meetings
MAY 2022
WED
18
Council Meeting
MAY 2022
TUE
24
9:00 am—2:30 pm
RTF Meeting
JUN 2022
WED
08
1:00 pm—3:30 pm
System Analysis Advisory Committee
9:30 am—11:30 am
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q2 Meeting
JUN 2022
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
JUN 2022
WED
22
9:00 am—2:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JUL 2022
WED THU
06 - 07
F&W and Power Committee Meetings and Council Meeting
JUL 2022
FRI
08
9:00 am—10:30 am
Resource Adequacy Adv Comm - Steering Committee
JUL 2022
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
JUL 2022
TUE WED
19 - 20
RTF Meeting
AUG 2022
TUE
09
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
AUG 2022
TUE WED
16 - 17
Council Meeting
SEP 2022
TUE WED
13 - 14
Council Meeting
SEP 2022
TUE WED
20 - 21
RTF Meeting
SEP 2022
WED
28
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q3 Meeting
OCT 2022
TUE WED
04 - 05
F&W and Power Committee Meetings
OCT 2022
TUE WED
11 - 12
Council Meeting
OCT 2022
TUE WED
18 - 19
RTF Meeting
NOV 2022
TUE
08
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2022
TUE WED
15 - 16
Council Meeting
NOV 2022
WED
30
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q4 Meeting
DEC 2022
TUE WED
06 - 07
RTF Meeting
DEC 2022
TUE WED
13 - 14
Council Meeting
View Council Meetings View All Meetings
Reports and Documents

Browse reports and documents relevant to the Council's work on fish and wildlife and energy planning, as well as administrative reports.

Browse Reports

REPORTS BY TOPIC

Power Plan Fish and Wildlife Program Subbasin Plans Financial Reports Independent Scientific Advisory Board Independent Scientific Review Panel Independent Economic Analysis Board

COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORY PROJECT

Appendix C. Wildlife mitigation priorities, construction and inundation loss assessments, and dam licensing considerations

Appendix C. Wildlife mitigation priorities, construction and inundation loss assessments, and dam licensing considerations

Published date: 
Dec. 30, 2014
Document state: 
Published

Share

1. Mitigation priorities

a) Bonneville and wildlife agencies and tribes

Ensure that wildlife mitigation projects implemented in fulfillment of this program consider the basinwide implementation priorities described in Tables C-1, C-2 and C-3, below. The Council adopted these habitat types and species priorities for wildlife mitigation in the 1994 amendments to the program. The Council recognizes that the mitigation priorities of the relevant agencies and tribes in specific areas may have shifted since the mid-1990s. The Council requests the Wildlife Advisory Committee revisit and update the priorities, if necessary, and report to the Council. Wildlife mitigation projects and settlement agreements should address the losses identified in the program (see the next section) and address the following priorities or any changed priorities resulting from advice by the Wildlife Advisory Committee and Council action.

Table C-1. Lower Columbia Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Types—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/Riverine
  • Great Blue Heron
High
Old Growth Forest
  • Northern Spotted Owl
High
Wetlands
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Band-tailed Pigeon
  • Western Pond Turtle
High
Coniferous Forest
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Elk
  • American Black Bear/Cougar
Medium
Table C-2. Upper Columbia Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Types—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/River
  • Bald Eagle (breeding)
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Peregrine Falcon
High
Shrub-Steppe
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
  • Pygmy Rabbit
  • Sage Grouse
  • Mule Deer
High
Wetlands
  • Mallard
  • Redhead
High
Islands
  • White Pelicans
Medium
Agricultural Lands
  • Swainson’s Hawk
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
Low
Table C-3. Snake River Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Type—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/Riverine
  • Bald Eagle (breeding)
  • Bald Eagle (wintering)
  • River Otter
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Ruffed Grouse
High
Wetlands
  • Mallard
High
Native Grasslands and Shrubs
  • Mule Deer/Elk
  • White-tailed Deer
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
Medium
Coniferous Forest
  • Elk
Medium
Old Growth Forest
  • Pileated Woodpecker
Medium
Lowland Forest
  • White-tailed deer
Low

1. Mitigation for wildlife losses due to hydropower construction and inundation

The following tables represent the wildlife losses associated with the construction and inundation of the Columbia River hydrosystem, assessed in terms of lost units of habitat. The Council identified and adopted these losses into the program in the late 1980s and 1990s, assessed in terms of lost units of habitat.

From its inception, the fish and wildlife program’s wildlife mitigation strategy has endorsed and encouraged the use of long-term agreements between wildlife managers and the Bonneville Power Administration as a primary mechanism to address identified wildlife losses. Several such agreements have been developed to mitigate for some or all of the wildlife losses associated with hydroelectric projects in the state of Montana, the Willamette Basin in Oregon and for Dworshak Dam in Idaho.

While the program originally identified the losses in habitat units, the Council recognizes that wildlife mitigation agreements may use a different metric for mitigation. Thus while the losses below are identified in habitat units, in settlement agreements for Dworshak, the Willamette, and Southern Idaho the parties have quantified and mitigated for those losses in acres of land.

Table C-4. Estimated Losses and Gains Due to Hydropower Construction and Inundation (losses are preceded by a “-”, gains by a “+”)
SpeciesTotal Habitat Units
Albeni Falls
  • Mallard Duck
-5,985
  • Canada Goose
-4,699
  • Redhead Duck
-3,379
  • Breeding Bald Eagle
-4,508
  • Wintering Bald Eagle
-4,365
  • Black-Capped Chickadee
-2,286
  • White-tailed Deer
-1,680
  • Muskrat
-1,756
  • Yellow Warbler
+171
Lower Snake Projects
  • Downy Woodpecker
-364.9
  • Song Sparrow
-287.6
  • Yellow Warbler
-927.0
  • California Quail
-20,508.0
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-2,646.8
  • Canada Goose
-2,039.8
Anderson Ranch
  • Mallard
-1,048
  • Mink
-1,732
  • Yellow Warbler
-361
  • Black Capped Chickadee
-890
  • Ruffed Grouse
-919
  • Blue Grouse
-1,980
  • Mule Deer
-2,689
  • Peregrine Falcon
-1,222 acres*
* Acres of riparian habitat lost. Does not require purchase of any lands. 
Black Canyon
  • Mallard
-270
  • Mink
-652
  • Canada Goose
-214
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-260
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-532
  • Mule Deer
-242
  • Yellow Warbler
+8
  • Black-capped Chickadee
+68
Deadwood
  • Mule Deer
-2080
  • Mink
-987
  • Spruce Grouse
-1411
  • Yellow Warbler
-309
Palisades
  • Bald Eagle
-5,941 breeding
-18,565 wintering
  • Yellow Warbler
-718 scrub-shrub
  • Black Capped Chickadee
-1,358 forested
  • Elk/Mule Deer
-2,454
  • Waterfowl and Aquatic Furbearers
-5,703
  • Ruffed Grouse
-2,331
  • Peregrine Falcon*
-1,677 acres of forested wetland
-832 acres of scrub-shrub
+68 acres of emergent wetland
* Acres of riparian habitat lost. Does not require purchase of any lands. 
Willamette Basin Projects
  • Black-tailed Deer
-17,254
  • Roosevelt Elk
-15,295
  • Black Bear
-4,814
  • Cougar
-3,853
  • Beaver
-4,477
  • River Otter
-2,408
  • Mink
-2,418
  • Red Fox
-2,590
  • Ruffed Grouse
-11,145
  • California Quail
-2,986
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-1,986
  • Band-tailed Pigeon
-3,487
  • Western Gray Squirrel
-1,947
  • Harlequin Duck
-551
  • Wood Duck
-1,947
  • Spotted Owl
-5,711
  • Pileated Woodpecker
-8,690
  • American Dipper
-954
  • Yellow Warbler
-2,355
  • Common Merganser
+1,042
  • Greater Scaup
+820
  • Waterfowl
+423
  • Bald Eagle
+5,693
  • Osprey
+6,159
Grand Coulee
  • Sage Grouse
-2,746
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-32,723
  • Ruffed Grouse
-16,502
  • Mourning Dove
-9,316
  • Mule Deer
-27,133
  • White-tailed Deer
-21,362
  • Riparian Forest
-1,632
  • Riparian Shrub
-27
  • Canada Goose Nest Sites
-74
McNary
  • Mallard (wintering)
+ 13,744
  • Mallard (nesting)
-6,959
  • Western Meadowlark
-3,469
  • Canada Goose
-3,484
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-1,363
  • Yellow Warbler
-329
  • Downy Woodpecker
-377
  • Mink
-1,250
  • California Quail
-6,314
John Day
  • Lesser Scaup
+14,398
  • Great Blue Heron
-3,186
  • Canada Goose
-8,010
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-3,186
  • Yellow Warbler
-1,085
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-869
  • Western Meadowlark
-5,059
  • California Quail
-6,324
  • Mallard
-7,399
  • Mink
-1,437
The Dalles
  • Lesser Scaup
+2,068
  • Great Blue Heron
-427
  • Canada Goose
-439
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-534
  • Yellow Warbler
-170
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-183
  • Western Meadowlark
-247
  • Mink Black-capped Chickadee
-330
Bonneville
  • Lesser Scaup
+2,671
  • Great Blue Heron
-4,300
  • Canada Goose
-2,443
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-2,767
  • Yellow Warbler
-163
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-1,022
  • Mink
-1,622
Dworshak
  • Canada Goose-(breeding)
-16
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-91
  • River Otter
-4,312
  • Pileated Woodpecker
-3,524
  • Elk
-11,603
  • White-tailed Deer
-8,906
  • Canada Goose (wintering)
+323
  • Bald Eagle
+2,678
  • Osprey
+1,674
  • Yellow Warbler
+119
Minidoka
  • Mallard
+174
  • Redhead
+4,475
  • Western Grebe
+273
  • Marsh Wren
+207
  • Yellow Warbler
-342
  • River Otter
-2,993
  • Mule Deer
-3,413
  • Sage Grouse
-3,755
Chief Joseph
  • Lesser Scaup
+1,440
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-2,290
  • Mule Deer
-1,992
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-1,255
  • Sage Grouse
-1,179
  • Mink
-920
  • Bobcat
-401
  • Lewis’ Woodpecker
-286
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-239
  • Canada Goose
-213
  • Yellow Warbler
-58
Topics: 
Fish and wildlife
Tags: 
Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife ProgramWildlife Mitigation

ISRP 2021-05 LibbyMFWPfollow-up1June.pdf

Sign up for our newsletter

  •    

Contact

  • Central Office
  • Idaho Office
  • Montana Office
  • Oregon Office
  • Washington Office
  • Council Members

Social Media:

Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Vimeo Flickr

Copyright 2022

Privacy policy Terms & Conditions Inclusion Statement