2002 State of Salmon Report

The Salmon Recovery Planning Act (ESSB 2496), passed in 1998, requires the Governor's Salmon Recovery Office to submit a "state of salmon" report biennially, beginning in December 2000. The 2002 State of Salmon Report is presented here, in four parts that together capture important activities the Governor's Office and state agencies have undertaken to recover salmon.

As a first step to restore salmon, in 1999 the Joint Natural Resources Cabinet developed the Statewide Strategy to Recover Salmon: Extinction is Not an Option. The next year, state agencies developed detailed action plans describing their salmon recovery efforts to implement the Strategy. A Salmon Recovery Scorecard for monitoring agency progress in these areas also was published.

These 2002 publications are meant to report progress we have made in our efforts to recover salmon. They also respond to the Legislature, federal review, public comment, the Independent Science Panel, and what we have learned from our own experience. There are four parts:

  • 2002 State of Salmon Report  (PDF)
    This document is a summary of state agency accomplishments in salmon recovery. It also contains the Governor's recommendations to improve efforts during the 2003-2005 Biennium.

  • 2002 State of Salmon Staff Summary Report  (PDF)
    This volume contains highlights of accomplishments from the 1999-2001 State Agency Action Plan; expectations from the 2001-2003 State Agency Action Plan; and reports the first data from the Salmon Recovery Scorecard. In one concise document, we show the conceptual framework for recovery - the goals and strategies from the 1999 Statewide Strategy - and give examples of actions we are taking to implement our strategy.

  • 2002 State of Salmon Detailed Data Reports  (PDF)
    This volume contains data from the Salmon Recovery Scorecard and State Agency Action Plans for 1999-2001 and 2001-2003.

  • 2002 Salmon Recovery Funding Board Biannual Report  (PDF)
    This report focuses on accomplishments and expenditures covering three SRFB project grant cycles, as well as other salmon recovery-related programs and activities funded by the Board through June 30, 2002. This report also includes a summary of lead entity activities for the same period.

The urgency to save wild salmon is tempered by how long it takes to see progress. The life cycle of salmon from freshwater to saltwater and back generally is three to five years; it may take our commitment through several salmon generations to know if we are doing the right things for enduring results. The challenge we all face is making this complex and potentially confusing situation clear enough so that we may make wise choices about the future of salmon.

While our work to recover salmon is far from finished, we continue to stand firm behind our vision: to restore salmon, steelhead and trout to healthy, harvestable levels and improve the habitats upon which fish rely.

Note: Some files listed here are presented in Adobe PDF. If you don't have the Acrobat Reader already installed on your system, a free download is available at the Adobe Web site.