This project was initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey's Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) and funded by Bonneville Power Administration in May 2001.  The proposal for this project was submitted in May 2000 in response to a call for proposals within the Columbia River Gorge Province review period.  Two cooperators are also funded under this project, including Underwood Conservation District (UCD) and Yakama Nation (YN).  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is an important partner in this work, but all theie participation is an in-kind service.

Below are those objectives and tasks that the USGS-CRRL are involved in.  Where applicable, cooperators have been listed on a by-task basis.


Objectives, Tasks, and Methods

OBJ-1.  Characterize stream and riparian habitat conditions in Rattlesnake Creek drainage.

Task 1-a.  Measure water quality, water quantity, stream habitat, and riparian conditions.  (UCD, YN, USGS)

Methods:  Only portions of this task will be conducted by USGS-CRRL.  The portions include stream habitat surveys and bi-weekly stream discharge measurements.  We will conduct physical stream habitat surveys of Rattlesnake Creek and its tributaries.  These habitat surveys will quantify key stream habitat components and indicators of aquatic health including: 1) large woody debris, 2) frequency and depth of pools, 3) substrate composition, 4) stream gradient, 5) floodplain connectivity, and 6) riparian vegetation characteristics (e.g., species composition, age structure, shading).  Much of the stream lengths to be surveyed will be on state and federally-managed lands.  Private lands will be surveyed when permission is secured from the land owners.
Stream discharge measurements will be taken in major tributaries and several mainstem Rattlesnake Creek sites.  We will select sites that have relatively uniform velocities across the channel width.  Flow measurements will be taken periodically during May through October.  As done in 2001-2004 and reported in Allen et al. (2003a, 2003b), these data will be used to characterize temporal and spatial patterns of flow along the stream continuum.
In addition to the efforts described above, we will assist personnel from Underwood Conservation District to measure periodic stream measures and water quality aspects, including stream flow, water temperature, and stable isotopes.  


OBJ-2.  Determine the status of fish populations in the Rattlesnake Creek drainage.

Task 2-a.  Derive estimates of salmonid population abundance.  (USGS)

Methods:  We will obtain an estimate of population density and biomass of resident salmonids in selected portions of Rattlesnake Creek, which will include streams on state and federal lands and on as much of the privately-owned lands as possible.  To obtain these estimates, we will first conduct intensive habitat surveys of sampling sites during summer low-flow conditions.  These surveys will identify and measure dimensions (e.g., length, weight, and depth) of stream habitat units (e.g., pools, glides, riffles, etc.) as described in Allen et al. (2003b), which generally follows methods of Bisson et al. (1982) and Bain and Stevenson (1999).  Soon after these habitat surveys, fish sampling will be conducted by snorkeling, electrofishing, or a combination of both.  When we conduct snorkel surveys, we will largely follow the methodology of Hankin and Reeves (1988), which uses a stratified systematic surveying technique to sample and derive an estimate of a fish population.  We will calibrate our snorkel estimates by the ratio method following guidelines of Dolloff et al. (1993).  If stream reaches cannot be snorkeled because of stream size or flow limitations, we will electrofish a systematic sample of habitat units within strata of specific habitat types (e.g., pools, glides, riffles) or use finer gradations if necessary to achieve desired precision in estimates.  When electrofishing is used to assess fish abundance and density, habitat units chosen for sampling will be blocked off with nets to insure no movement into or out of the unit during sampling.  A backpack electrofisher will be used to conduct two or more passes using the removal-depletion methodology (Zippin 1956, Bohlin et al. 1982, White et al. 1982).  The field guides of Connolly (1996) will be used to insure that a pre-determined level of precision for the population estimate is achieved (generally, coefficient of variation no greater than 25%) within each sampling unit for each salmonid species.  These methods have been chosen to minimize sampling error while minimizing the number of units sampled by electrofishing and the number of electrofishing passes conducted, thereby lessening the numbers of fish that will be exposed to the potentially harmful effects of electroshocking


Task 2-b.  Determine fish species composition, distribution, and life history attributes within the watershed.  (USGS)

Methods:  To document the distribution and abundance of individual fish species within the watershed prior to restoration activities and the potential removal of Condit Dam, we will largely use the data collected during the work associated with Task 2a.  Where we are permitted access, we will conduct additional sampling above barriers to determine the distributional extent of resident fishes.
In order to track movements, growth, and other life history attributes of resident salmonids, we will PIT tag most age-1 or older fish that we capture during our stream surveys.  We will attempt to recapture tagged fish from 2001-2004 and within 2005 during our electrofishing surveys.  We will continue to use and adjust our remote PIT-tag detector that was established in 2001 (Jezorek and Connolly 2003a, 2003b) with cooperation with Earl Prentice, National Marine Fisheries Service.  The ISO FDX-B, 134.2 kHz (12 mm) PIT tags that we use will be detectable at Bonneville Dam in the event that these tagged fish migrate downstream and exhibit an anadromous life history.  All PIT-tag data will be entered in the PITAGIS database, which is maintained by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.


Task 2-c.  Determine existing kinds, distribution, and severity of fish diseases in the watershed.  (USFWS, USGS)

Methods:  Because the possible removal of Condit Dam would allow adult anadromous salmonids and other species access to Rattlesnake Creek from the mainstem Columbia River, these fishes may introduce new pathogens or parasites into the watershed.  Knowledge of current conditions will help managers anticipate and weigh possible risks or threats to existing resident fish populations.  We will obtain fish specimens for disease sampling using a longitudinal and tributary sampling strategy.  This will facilitate the development of a fish-health baseline for areas that would be accessible and inaccessible (above barriers) to anadromous salmonids in the future.  A subsample of fish captured during population studies and all fish incidentally killed during sampling under Tasks 2a and 2b will be put on ice and delivered to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Lower Columbia Fish Health Center, which will provide a thorough disease profile as part of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wild Fish Health Survey (contact: Dr. Susan Gutenberger, Director, all in-kind contribution of approximately $15,000).  These data will provide an important baseline on the health of existing fish populations in the Rattlesnake Creek drainage.


Task 2-d.  Obtain and archive tissue samples in a non-lethal manner for possible future genetic analysis.  (USGS)

Methods:  A tissue sample (fin clip) from a subsample of salmonids captured during electrofishing for Tasks 2a and 2b will be removed and preserved (at least 95% ethanol) for future genetic analyses (an in-kind contribution will be sought to pay for this supplementary genetics work).  With the exception of introductions of hatchery fish (primarily rainbow trout, but also cutthroat trout) in the mainstem White Salmon River, resident salmonids have been reproductively isolated above Condit Dam for over 75 years.  These data will serve as a genetic reference point for rainbow trout and coastal cutthroat trout populations in the watershed prior to the reestablishment of congeneric anadromous salmonids.


References

Allen, B.M., P.J. Connolly, and K. Martens.  2003a.  Characterization of flow, temperature, habitat conditions, and fish populations in the Rattlesnake Creek watershed.  Report A in P.J. Connolly, editor.  Assess current and potential salmonid production in Rattlesnake Creek associated with restoration efforts.  2001 Annual Report.  Prepared for: Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oregon.  Project 2001-025-00.

Allen, B.M., P.J. Connolly, and K. Martens.  2003b.  Characterization of flow, temperature, habitat conditions, and fish populations in the Rattlesnake Creek watershed.  Report A in P.J. Connolly, editor.  Assess current and potential salmonid production in Rattlesnake Creek associated with restoration efforts.  2002 Annual Report.  Prepared for: Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oregon.  Project 2001-025-00.

Bain, M. B., and N. J. Stevenson.  1999.  Aquatic habitat assessment: common methods.  American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.

Bisson, P. A., J. L. Nielsen, R. A. Palmason, and L. E. Grove.  1982.  A system of naming habitat types in small streams, with examples of habitat utilization by salmonids during low streamflow.  Pages 62-73 in N.B. Armantrout.  1982.  Acquisition and utilization of aquatic habitat inventory information symposium.  American Fisheries Society, Western Division, Bethesda, MD.

Bohlin, T.  1982.  The validity of the removal method for small populations -- consequences for electrofishing practice.  Institute of Freshwater Research Drottningholm Report 60:15-18.

Connolly, P. J.  1996.  Resident cutthroat trout in the central Coast Range of Oregon: logging effects, habitat associations, and sampling protocols.  Doctoral dissertation.  Oregon State University, Corvallis.

Dolloff, C. A., D. G. Hankin, and G. H. Reeves.  1993.  Basinwide estimates of habitat and fish populations in streams.  General Technical Report SE-83.  Asheville, North Carolina: U.S. Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station.  25 p.

Hankin, D. G., and G. H. Reeves.  1988.  Estimating total fish abundance and total habitat area in small streams based on visual estimation methods.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 45:834-844.

Jezorek, I.G., and P.J. Connolly.  2003a.  Instream PIT-tag detection system.  Report B in P.J. Connolly, editor.  Assess current and potential salmonid production in Rattlesnake Creek associated with restoration efforts.  2001 Annual Report.  Prepared for: Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oregon.  Project 2001-025-00.

Jezorek, I.G., and P.J. Connolly.  2003b.  Instream PIT-tag detection system.  Report B in P.J. Connolly, editor.  Assess current and potential salmonid production in Rattlesnake Creek associated with restoration efforts.  2002 Annual Report.  Prepared for: Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oregon.  Project 2001-025-00.

Rawding, D.  2000.  White Salmon River subbasin summary.  Draft.  June 30, 2000.  Prepared for: Northwest Power Planning Council, Portland, OR.

White, G. C., D. R. Anderson, K. P. Burnham, and D. L. Otis.  1982.  Capture-recapture and removal methods for sampling closed populations.  No. LA-8787-NERP, UC-11.  Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Zippin, C.  1956.  An evaluation of the removal method of estimating animal populations.  Biometrics 12:163-189.