CHINOOK SALMON
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

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LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER ESU
LISTED THREATENED
March 1999

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ESU* STATUS AND DESCRIPTION:  Listed as a threatened species on March 24, 1999.  The ESU includes all naturally spawned populations of chinook salmon from the Columbia River and its tributaries from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean upstream to a transitional point between Washington and Oregon east of the Hood River and the White Salmon River, and includes the Willamette River to Willamette Falls, Oregon, exclusive of spring-run chinook salmon in the Clackamas River.

* An Evolutionarily Significant Unit or "ESU" is a distinctive group of Pacific salmon, steelhead, or sea-run cutthroat trout.

CRITICAL HABITAT:
Current Status - Under development. On April 30, 2002, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved a NMFS consent decree withdrawing a February 2000 critical habitat designation for this and 18 other ESUs.

PROTECTIVE REGULATIONS: On July 10, 2000, NMFS published a final rule that identifies
several exceptions to the Endangered Species Act's Section 9 take prohibitions.

ESU MAPS AND DATA:

• View Detailed Lower Columbia River Chinook ESU Map  (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
• View Range Map for all Chinook ESUs
• Download Chinook salmon ESU data in Arc/Info export and shape file format
• Download E-sized plot files of West Coast chinook salmon listings in RTL file format for large format plotters

STATUS REVIEW UPDATE MEMOS:
Conclusions Regarding the Updated Status of Puget Sound, Lower Columbia River, Upper Willamette River, and Upper Columbia River Spring-run ESUs of West Coast Chinook Salmon, 12/23/98 (4.1 mb pdf)
Evaluation of the Status of Chinook and Chum Salmon and Steelhead and Steelhead Hatchery Populations for ESUs Identified in Final Listing Determinations, 3/4/99 (5.8 mb pdf)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES:
View Federal Register Notices for Chinook Salmon

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