ConserveOnline - Developing a Predictive Model for Fish Habitat in Washington State as a Management Tool - Lessons Learned, by Brian Fransen

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Developing a Predictive Model for Fish Habitat in Washington State as a Management Tool - Lessons Learned, by Brian Fransen

By Web Admin on 6/5/2007 | Keyword(s): Session ii: existing approaches

Regulations in Washington State rely on a map to assign stream classification and associated management prescriptions within managed forestlands. Presence or absence of fish in streams is one of many criteria used to determine stream class. Early fish use maps were developed in the absence of reliable field data, under-estimating the true extent of fish-bearing streams by approximately one third. The listing of several fish populations in the 1990s resulted in growing concerns about fish habitat protection in managed forests. An Emergency Rule was adopted to address the under-classification problem, using default physical criteria assigning a presumption of fish presence to streams, with an option for field survey to determine fish use. These default physical criteria over-estimated the true extent of fish-bearing streams, leading to greatly increased electrofishing survey effort. Concerns about classification accuracy, impacts to fish from electrofishing, and the burden of performing field surveys created a need for an alternative approach.

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