Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fip Aquatic Habitat topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
OWEB proposes to broaden aquatic habitat priority to include pond turtles, mussels and frogs
Summary
Staff recommend expanding the FIP aquatic-habitat priority from 'native fish' to 'native species,' adding Oregon spotted frog, Northwestern pond turtle and western ridged mussel; mapping will use separate maps and partners must work with recovery plans to identify highest-priority sites.
Denise Crawford, partnerships coordinator for OWEB, told the committee that one ‘‘small change but significant’’ is to rename and broaden the aquatic priority from “aquatic habitat for native fish species” to “aquatic habitat for native species.” She said staff added separate maps for fish, turtles and spotted frogs to reflect current data and emphasized that partnerships should consult local, state and federal recovery planning to identify highest-priority sites within basin-scale mappings.
Crawford and Eric Williams said the broadened priority would allow actions that currently fall outside a fish-focused FIP—such as bank vegetation clearing or installing basking logs to benefit Northwestern pond turtles—to be included under a single aquatic priority. Williams cautioned that some fish-focused restoration can be detrimental to western ridged mussel habitat unless mitigation steps are taken; that concern is one reason staff proposed the expansion so projects can explicitly incorporate co-benefit or mitigation measures.
Staff asked the committee for feedback on mapping consolidation and said they will further refine maps prior to the October full-board presentation. If adopted in January 2026, the revised aquatic priority would change what restoration actions are eligible for FIP funding where these indicator species occur.
