The Hood River subbasin supports populations of wild summer and winter steelhead, wild coho salmon and naturally produced spring Chinook salmon.  The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) implemented a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) program in December of 1991 primarily to collect life history and production information on salmon and steelhead escaping to the Hood River subbasin.  BPA assumed funding of ODFW's M&E project in August 1992 under BPA project #1988-053-04 with the intent of evaluating the contribution of various BPA funded Hood River fisheries restoration projects towards meeting the following three biological fish objectives defined in the Hood River Subbasin Plan: 1) to increase production of wild summer and winter steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to levels commensurate with the subbasin's current carrying capacity, 2) re-establish a self-sustaining population of Spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Hood River subbasin, and 3) provide tribal and recreational fisheries for winter and summer steelhead and spring Chinook salmon.  BPA currently funds multiple projects designed to achieve the subbasin's biological fish objectives which are jointly implemented by ODFW and CTWSRO under the umbrella of what has come to be defined as the Hood River Production Program (HRPP).  

This project maintains a primary focus on evaluating the goals established by the Production Program in congruence with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Fish and Wildlife Program directive to “protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including related spawning grounds and habitat, on the Columbia River and its tributaries” as stated by the Northwest Power Act (1980).  In 1998 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed Lower Columbia River steelhead as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which includes Hood River winter- and summer-run types.  As part of the Lower Columbia River sub-domain, recovery goals for Hood River salmon and steelhead identified in the Lower Columbia River Conservation & Recovery Plan for Oregon Populations of Salmon & Steelhead (2010) are to 1) achieve delisting from the federal ESA threatened and endangered species list, and 2) achieve “broad sense recovery,” defined as having Oregon populations of naturally produced salmon and steelhead that maintain a self-sustaining Species Management Unit (SMU) while providing significant ecological, cultural, and economic benefits.  Developed by ODFW, with participation by NOAA Fisheries, the Oregon Governor’s Natural Resources Office, and the Oregon Lower Columbia River Stakeholder Team, the plan serves as a guide to achieve recovery of salmon and steelhead listed under the ESA in the Oregon portion of the Lower Columbia River Basin.  Viable Salmonid Population (VSP) parameters reported by this project are submitted to ODFW’s Coordinated Assessments staff annually.  Following internal review, Coordinated Assessments data are made available to the public via ODFW’s Salmon and Steelhead Recovery Tracker (www.odfwrecoverytracker.org).