Challenges of implementing a multi-agency monitoring and adaptive management strategy for federally threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead trout during and after dam removal in the Elwha River

Frontiers in Environmental Science
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Adaptive management, a process of planning, implementing, and evaluating management strategies, is often recommended for monitoring ecological systems. However, few examples of successful implementation and retrospective case studies exist. We provide a case study of adaptively managing hatchery-assisted protection and recovery for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and winter steelhead trout (O. mykiss) during and after the removal of two large mainstem dams in the Elwha River, WA. We summarize key aspects of the monitoring and adaptive management plan over the last decade and highlight successes, challenges, and complications during the plan’s implementation. The Elwha Monitoring and Adaptive Management Guidelines included a trigger-based system for moving through four phases of recovery that included preservation, recolonization, local adaptation, and viable natural population, each with differing levels of hatchery production as the management actions. The monitoring component of the plan has been very successful, providing critical data to guide management actions that otherwise may not have occurred and, opportunistically, provided data for other native species in the Elwha River. Implementing adaptive management provided mixed results and was at times hindered by divergent management goals among project partners, the inflexibility of the Endangered Species Act regulatory requirements as implemented for this project, and conflicting information among guidance documents. We learned that some metrics and triggers in the plan were ill-defined or too difficult to measure in the field. In some cases, the performance indicators and/or triggers were successfully modified to incorporate what was learned; however, in other cases, we were unable to revise the values due to differing opinions among partners. The ability to reach consensus on revised triggers appeared to be influenced by the recovery trajectory of the species involved. The implemented adaptive management strategy resulted in substantial collaboration and learning, which resulted in revised management strategies, but was imperfect. Sufficient long-term funding is necessary to implement a well-designed monitoring program and could benefit from including a defined leadership position to shepherd and facilitate a multi-stakeholder adaptive management program. Additionally, incorporating adaptive management into legally binding conditions under the Endangered Species Act is feasible, but requires substantial pre-planning in close coordination with regulatory agencies.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Challenges of implementing a multi-agency monitoring and adaptive management strategy for federally threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead trout during and after dam removal in the Elwha River
Series title Frontiers in Environmental Science
DOI 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1291265
Volume 12
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher Frontiers Media
Contributing office(s) Western Fisheries Research Center
Description 1291265, 17 p.
Country United States
State Washington
Other Geospatial Elwha River
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details