The proposal is to add an unspecified number of acclimation ponds for long-term rearing (but not full-term rearing) of spring Chinook and summer steelhead in the Wenatchee and Methow subbasins. One objective of the proposal is to develop a plan for the addition of these ponds (facilities). The proposal narrative was sufficient to understand the intent of the sponsor, but not enough detail was provided to fully appraise any likely benefits to fish and wildlife. Since the first objective is to produce a plan, it should probably be a Master Plan, although the scale is such it would not necessarily require the full implementation of a three-step process. Any plan should: 1. fully document the current status of the resource (spring Chinook and summer steelhead) in the two subbasins; 2. establish clear improvements to the VSP parameters for these focal species as a consequence of using long-term acclimation ponds; 3. craft a monitoring design to evaluate any success (especially since the sponsor acknowledges not much is known about whether this strategy will improve the status of the species); and 4. integrate the principles from the Council’s 2009 program, the HSRG findings, the Upper Columbia River Chinook and Steelhead recovery plan, the 2008 BiOp, and impending hatchery biological opinions. The qualifications are covered by the four points above. The spring Chinook and steelhead ESUs are endangered (or threatened) so any artificial production needs to be carefully directed at improving the status of these species, not harvest, to be consistent with the Upper Columbia recovery plan and the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program. Any program that has the purpose of putting hatchery fish on the natural spawning grounds needs to be fully consistent with best management practices that are reflected in the HSRG guidelines for PNI, pHOS, pNOB, and limitations of the number of generations of supplementation reflected in the Council’s 2009 Fish and Wildlife Program. Without a more complete analysis, it is not possible to determine whether the use of the long-term acclimation strategy will be an improvement over the status quo, detrimental, or neutral. The hope appears to be that the long-term acclimation will distribute spawning hatchery fish broadly across the subbasins. However, the HSRG report states that spring Chinook released from the acclimation ponds in the Chiwawa River in the Wenatchee subbasin are found straying all over within the subbasin. So it is not clear how the additional ponds will add to the spawning distribution. Without knowing where the current hatchery steelhead spawn, it is not possible to know whether there are reaches that have suitable habitat but are underseeded. At this time the PNI for each of these programs is very small, and there is a need to progress toward larger proportions of natural fish on the spawning grounds and in any artificial production. So it is not clear that there is a need or desire to substantially expand the natural spawning by hatchery-origin adults.