Objectives of WDFW Wind River Steelhead Project:

1)  Long term collection of accurate and precise Status and Trend information for Upper Gorge (Wind River) Summer Steelhead Major Population Group (MPG) within the  ESA Threatened Lower Columbia Steelhead DPS
a. VSP Parameters (Abundance, Productivity, Spatial Structure, Diversity) collected at basin and sub-basin spatial scales for multiple age classes.
b.  Report on Coordinated Data Assessments High Level Indicators (HLIs) including:
     Natural Origin Spawner Abundance (NOSA)
     Juveniles per Spawner (JpS)
     Recruits per Spawner (RpS)
     Smolt to Adult Return rate (SAR)
c.  Wild steelhead life cycle monitoring in a watershed with no hatchery program and limited hydrosystem impacts to serve as a reference population for understanding hydrosystem and hatchery impacts on steelhead throughout the Columbia Basin.

2)  Implement Before-After (BA) and Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study designs using steelhead smolt and adult abundance, productivity, and biological attributes collected as part of a long term status and trend project to measure and report on steelhead responses to Hemlock Dam Removal.

a.  Determine change in migration timing, adult age (including repeat spawner rate), and adult number (including summer versus winter run) of Trout Creek steelhead before and after removal of Hemlock Dam.
b.  Determine change in the number of steelhead a) smolts b) parr, c) parr-to-smolt ratio, and d) age at smoltification based on smolt trapping at TC, UW, and PC before and after removal of Hemlock Dam.
c.  Determine change in survival of steelhead smolts from Trout Creek before and after removal of Hemlock Dam.
d.  Determine if there is a change in smolt-to-adult return and freshwater productivity from Trout Creek before and after removal of Hemlock Dam.  Null Hypothesis: There is no change in productivity and/or capacity estimate from spawner-recruit analysis before and after dam removal.