{"id":27190,"date":"2025-01-15T22:25:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T22:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/?p=27190"},"modified":"2025-01-15T22:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T22:25:38","slug":"where-we-see-hope-for-endangered-coho-salmon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildsalmoncenter.org\/2025\/01\/15\/where-we-see-hope-for-endangered-coho-salmon\/","title":{"rendered":"Where we see hope for endangered coho salmon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most coho salmon runs are struggling at the southern end of their range. The exceptions overlap with Wild Salmon Center-led restoration.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every five years, salmon conservationists watch for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s status reviews of each endangered species the agency monitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Southern Oregon\/Northern California Coast coho\u2014the world\u2019s southernmost coho salmon populations\u2014that <\/strong>five-year check-in just came out<\/strong><\/a>. And while the report\u2019s findings aren\u2019t exactly heartening, Wild Salmon Center Senior Habitat Restoration Manager Dr. Tim Elder says there are few takeaways to celebrate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most of the 26 independent populations tracked in the report are faring poorly, a notable few show signs of stabilization\u2014and even increasing abundance. NOAA\u2019s report calls out positive trends for coho in Oregon\u2019s Elk River, and hopeful signs in the Rogue and Scott Rivers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Oregon\u2019s Elk and Rogue Rivers, coho seem to be trending in the right direction,\u201d Dr. Elder says. \u201cWe don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that coho are doing better in watersheds where Wild Salmon Center, NOAA, and our local partners are laser-focused on habitat restoration<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wild Salmon Center Senior Habitat Restoration Manager Dr. Tim Elder (right) at the site of a WSC-led restoration project on the West Fork Evans Creek, a salmon-bearing tributary of the Upper Rogue River. (PC: Brian Kelley.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

He\u2019s not alone in making the connection between coho recovery and the science-based restoration campaigns led by the WSC-managed Coast Coho Partnership<\/a>. In a 2022 report, NOAA specifically linked our restoration work to <\/strong>recovery trends for Oregon Coast coho<\/strong><\/a>\u2014the coho populations that stretch from Cape Blanco, near Port Orford, Oregon, north to the Columbia River. Two years later, as our restoration work expanded to eight watersheds<\/a> up and down the Oregon Coast, those positive trends still held<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Southern Oregon\/ Northern California coho, NOAA\u2019s new report repeatedly invokes the <\/strong>Elk River Strategic Action Plan<\/strong><\/a>\u2014the first of our watershed-specific roadmaps for coho recovery\u2014as a model for other watersheds<\/strong>. In the Elk, the NOAA report notes, \u201csignificant habitat restoration and protection actions\u2026 have been implemented to improve degraded habitat conditions and restore fish passage.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that coho are doing better in watersheds where Wild Salmon Center, NOAA, and our local partners are laser-focused on habitat restoration.\u201d<\/p>\nWild Salmon Center Senior Habitat Restoration Manager Dr. Tim Elder <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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