CHINOOK SALMON
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

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UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER SPRING-RUN ESU
LISTED ENDANGERED
March 1999

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ESU* STATUS AND DESCRIPTION:  Listed as an endangered species on March 24, 1999.  The ESU includes all naturally spawned populations of chinook salmon in all river reaches accessible to chinook salmon in Columbia River tributaries upstream of the Rock Island Dam and downstream of Chief Joseph Dam in Washington, excluding the Okanogan River.  Chinook salmon (and their progeny) from the following hatchery stocks are considered part of the listed ESU: Chiwawa River (spring run); Methow River (spring run); Twisp River (spring run); Chewuch River (spring run); White River (spring run); and Nason Creek (spring run).

* 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:  The take prohibitions of section 9 of the Endangered Species Act apply to this ESU.

ESU MAPS AND DATA:

• View Detailed Upper Columbia River Spring-run Chinook Salmon 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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