FCRPS: Tributary Habitat Program: Idaho: Upper Salmon Subbasin
Yankee Fork Rehabilitation Project

The Yankee Fork is located in Custer County, Idaho (area map), and is one of the major tributaries to the Salmon River in the Upper Salmon subbasin. The Yankee Fork drainage area covers about 122,000 acres and the river flows south about 28 miles from its headwaters in the Salmon-Challis National Forest to the Salmon River (river mile 368) near Sunbeam, Idaho.

The aim of the Yankee Fork Rehabilitation Project is to build and improve habitat for spring and summer Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Salmon River Basin watershed. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes have been working with the Bonneville Power Administration since 2005 on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River Dredge Tailings Restoration Project. In addition, several groups and landowners are working to implement habitat improvement activities on the Yankee Fork. Habitat improvement activities are selected, developed, and implemented through the collaborative efforts of the Yankee Fork Inter-Disciplinary Team (IDT) to support the goals of the project.

For current information about construction contracting opportunities visit: http://species.idaho.gov/yankeefork/ps3.html

Balancing Act – The Yankee Fork of the Salmon River

Reclamation and BPA contribute to the implementation of habitat improvement projects in the Upper Salmon subbasin to help meet commitments in the 2008/2010 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion issued by NOAA Fisheries. The BiOp includes a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative — a suite of actions including improvements to hydrosystem operations, habitat, hatcheries, harvest, and predator control — to protect listed salmon and steelhead across their life cycle. Reclamation provides technical assistance to states, tribes, other federal agencies, and local partners to implement habitat projects to improve stream flow, access, entrainment, and channel complexity.

Reclamation has adopted a tributary-reach based approach to meet commitments in the BiOp. This approach uses an IDT process involving technical specialists and stakeholders. With Reclamation in the lead, the Yankee Fork IDT has completed a tributary assessment of the lower and middle subwatersheds of the Yankee Fork. The intent of the Yankee Fork Tributary Assessment is to focus recovery efforts on areas that have the greatest potential to benefit ESA-listed fish.

Next steps in the Yankee Fork watershed include the development of reach assessments to evaluate physical and ecological processes and alternatives for design and construction of habitat improvement projects.

Bonneville Power Administration

Last Update: September 12, 2012 2:37 PM