Publications

Condit Dam, at river kilometer 5.3 on the White Salmon River, Washington, was breached in 2011 and removed completely in 2012, allowing anadromous salmonids access to habitat that had been blocked for nearly 100 years. A multi-agency workgroup concluded that the preferred salmonid restoration alternative was natural recolonization with monitoring to assess efficacy, followed by a...

The invasive Asian clam Corbicula fluminea was introduced to North America in the 1930s and now inhabits most regions of the conterminous United States; however, the distribution and ecology of C. fluminea in the Columbia River Basin is poorly understood. During 2013 and 2014, 5 Columbia-Snake River reservoirs were sampled monthly from May through September, along with 23 additional...

We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT)-tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTIS) to investigate life-histories, populations, and efficacy of habitat restoration actions for steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Wind River subbasin, WA. Our tagging focused on parr in headwater areas of the subbasin and our PTISs provide information on movement of these...

In business, benchmarking is a widely used practice of comparing your own business processes to those of other comparable companies and incorporating identified best practices to improve performance. Biologists and resource managers designing and conducting monitoring programs for fish in large river systems tend to focus on single river basins or segments of large rivers, missing...

We used a large lampara seine coupled with nonlethal gastric lavage to examine the diets and estimate consumption rates of subyearling Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha during July and August 2013. During August we also examined the diet and consumption rates of juvenile American Shad Alosa sapidissima, a potential competitor of subyearling Chinook Salmon. Subyearling Chinook...

The development of quagga and zebra mussel (dreissenids) monitoring programs in the Pacific Northwest provides a unique opportunity to evaluate a regional invasive species detection effort early in its development. Recent studies suggest that the ecological and economic costs of a dreissenid infestation in the Pacific Northwest of the USA would be significant. Consequently, efforts are...

Recent interest in flood control and restoration strategies in the Chehalis River Basin has increased the need to understand the current status and ecology of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Spring Chinook salmon have the longest exposure of all adult Chinook salmon life histories to the low-flow and high water temperature conditions that typically occur during summer...

The western population of the yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) was recently listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Yellow-billed cuckoo conservation efforts require the identification of features and area requirements associated with high quality, riparian forest habitat at spatial scales that range from nest microhabitat to landscape, as well as lower...

Survival estimates for juvenile salmon and steelhead fry in reservoirs impounded by high head dams are coveted data by resource managers. However, this information is difficult to obtain because these fish are too small for tagging using conventional methods such as passive-integrated transponders or radio or acoustic transmitters. We developed a study design and implementation plan to...

Estimates of juvenile salmon survival are important data for fishery managers in the Yakima River Basin. Radiotelemetry studies during 2012–14 showed that tagged juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) that passed through the fish bypass at Roza Dam had lower survival than fish that passed through other routes at the dam. That study also identified flow-survival relationships...

The opossum shrimp Neomysis mercedis has expanded its range from the lower Columbia River upstream 695 kilometers into Lower Granite Reservoir where it is now very abundant. We studied Neomysis ecology in the reservoir during 2011–2015 to better understand the physical and biological factors that shape their distribution as well as their potential role in the food web. Benthic densities...

The biological and hydraulic performance of a portable floating fish collector (PFFC) located in the cul-de-sac of Cougar Dam and Reservoir, Oregon, was evaluated during 2015–16. The PFFC, first commissioned in May 2014, was modified during winter 2014–15 to address several deficiencies identified during operation and testing in 2014. These modifications included raising the water inflow