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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 2008-1007

Assessing the Feasibility of Native Fish Reintroductions: A Framework and Example Applied to Bull Trout in the Clackamas River, Oregon

By Jason Dunham and Kirsten Gallo

Abstract

In a species conservation context, translocations can be an important tool, but they frequently fail to successfully establish new populations. We consider the case of reintroductions for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a federally-listed threatened species with a widespread but declining distribution in western North America. Our specific objectives in this work were to: 1) develop a general framework for assessing the feasibility of reintroduction for bull trout, 2) provide a detailed example of implementing this framework to assess the feasibility of reintroducing bull trout in the Clackamas River, Oregon, and 3) discuss the implications of this effort in the more general context of fish reintroductions as a conservation tool. Review of several case histories and our assessment of the Clackamas River suggest that an attempt to reintroduce bull trout could be successful, assuming adequate resources are committed to the subsequent stages of implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

Contents

Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Methods
Applying the Framework to the Clackamas River Basin
Conclusionsn
Acknowledgments
References
Appendix

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Send questions or comments about this report to the author, Jason Dunham, (541)750-7397

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