Governor's Salmon Recovery OfficeA Lead Entity Area is the watershed-based area with common stocks of salmonids managed by a lead entity for local salmon recovery plans in Washington State (WA). Lead entities develop local recovery strategies for salmon and their habitat, and then recruit organizations to implement supporting habitat protection and restoration projects. The legislature provided direction through law in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) on lead entity function and membership ( RCW 77.85.050 ). Lead entities have a lead entity coordinator (usually from a county, conservation district, or tribe), a committee of local, technical experts, a committee of local citizens, and lead entity grant administrator (usually county, conservation district, tribe, or regional organization). The Governor's Salmon Recovery Office (GSRO) administers grant funds to lead entities for local 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 twenty-five lead entities. 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 (ECY) 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, 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/9080cbb38ebf424eb19f4ab7a81f495d_20engState of Washington Geospatial Open Data PortalPublicWA RCO GSRO Lead Entity Areas [Washington (State)]Web servicesWashington (State)Last Modified: 2024-08-07