Abstract
By the mid-2000s, significant tributary habitat restoration efforts were underway in the Columbia Basin. Projects to address salmon restoration were being implemented under the Northwest Power Act to mitigate the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) effects. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wrote a series of biological opinions (BiOp), and after several failed attempts at success, the approach changed when developing the 2008 FCRPS BiOp. This study explored the attempt at habitat restoration to solve the salmon crisis, why projects were implemented in certain locations, and the politics that influenced those decisions. Answers to these questions are grounded in 30 interviews with Columbia Basin experts and an analysis of spatial data around tributary habitat restoration locations. Habitat restoration was intended to be a science-based effort, but instead, it continues to be politics-driven, guided by science, and is a function of stakeholder preferences into policy choices. The stakeholders within the Columbia Basin used Kingdon-style policy opportunities as they were developing their restoration proposals and negotiating agreements, waiting for windows to open. The window of opportunity arose in 2008 when NOAA Fisheries after working with stakeholders to develop the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative for increase habitat restoration in the FCRPS BiOp. Political pressure and negotiation between several tribes and states resulted in the Fish Accord Agreements (Accords) that provided block-type funding for ten years for salmon restoration actions within their geographic area of management. Chapter 1 summarizes the decline of salmon in the Columbia Basin and the strategic attempts of agencies to plan for restoration. Chapter 2 explains how interviews were used to frame up the issues around salmon restoration and how politics influenced the shift that occurred in 2008. Chapter 3 uses spatial analysis to explore habitat restoration worksites across the basin and how science and politics influenced decisions around restoration in the Columbia Basin. Chapter 4 provides lessons learned from the analysis of interviews.