Sarah Gage, Governor's Salmon Recovery Office, Region and Lead Entity Program ManagerA Salmon Recovery Region (SRR) is the watershed-based area with common stocks of salmonids managed by a regional recovery organization for regional salmon recovery plans in Washington State (WA). Regional recovery organizations develop regional recovery strategies for salmon and their habitat, and coordinate with lead entities to implement supporting habitat protection and restoration projects. The legislature provided direction through law in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) on creating regional recovery organizations, e xcept where these had been created explicitly: southwest Washington, the Hood Canal Rehabilitation (HCR) zone, and the Puget Sound (PS) ( RCW 77.85.090 ). Regional recovery organizations consist of local, state, and federal agencies; tribes; citizens; and others interested in salmon recovery. The Governor's Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) administers grant funds to regional recovery organizations for regional planning and coordination work. The legislature expects watersheds to be Watershed Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) or sub-basins defined by the Washington State Department of Ecology (ECY) unless otherwise agreed in writing by GSRO, regional recovery organizations, and lead entities. Washington State has seven regional organizations with directors on the GSRO Council of Regions. Per RCW 77.85.050 , regional and local planning is to be by watershed, explicitly by WA ECY WRIA. WA ECY WRIA documentation indicates that administrative boundaries such as counties were considered for the development of WRIA boundaries, and also that WA Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Watershed Administrative Units (WAUs) are intended to be sub-basins of watersheds. The salmon recovery regions and lead entity areas are defined using the following priorities: RCW. Current or historical presence of salmon. WRIA watersheds. WAU watershed sub-basins. County boundaries. Drainages where no watershed designation exists. [Below is old metadata: In consultation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS), the Governor's Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) has identified seven salmon recovery regions in the state. Each salmon recovery region is based on the salmon recovery needs within a specific geographic area and includes existing Endangered Species Act (ESA) listings, proposed listings, and where there is a strong likelihood for future listings. Regional boundaries are generally consistent with areas within the state designated Endangered Species Act with listings for Salmonids by the responsible federal agencies. Regional boundaries are generally consistent with areas within the state designated Endangered Species Act with listings for Salmonids by the responsible federal agencies. The user of this data should be aware that the only definitions for boundaries are derived from old small-scale state-wide maps. No written definitions have been found by the cartographers. Many boundaries in Washington share similar but not identical lines, such as the county lines along the ridge of the Cascade Range that seem common with Washington Department of Ecology's Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) boundaries. Priority was therefore subjectively established based on combinations of confidence in accuracy and political use. In order from the top, highest priority was given to county lines provided by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), then WRIA boundaries, then United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Hydrologic Unit Code 12 (HUC12) boundaries, and lastly boundaries as depicted in earlier versions of this feature class whose definitions are not otherwise apparent.]ArcGIS DynamicMapLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/37fe21e3f8724e08b075a4c5129a6b4f_19engState of Washington Geospatial Open Data PortalPublicWA RCO GSRO Salmon Recovery Regions [Washington (State)]Web servicesWashington (State)Last Modified: 2024-08-06