The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) utilizes traditional provisions or First Foods (see First Foods serving order in attached Umatilla River Vision paper) for providing the framework in natural resource management (Quaempts el al. in press).  A major component of preserving First Foods is protecting and enhancing the habitats which sustain them.  The CTUIR Department of Natural Resource Fisheries and Wildlife Programs are implementing habitat enhancement actions in the Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, Grande Ronde and John Day basins in NE Oregon and SE Washington.  
This project entails development of a biomonitoring plan to determine the effects of aquatic habitat enhancement actions on target species populations.  A physical habitat monitoring plan has been developed and now a monitoring plan is needed that includes an experimental design which will scientifically determine th... e biological response to various habitat treatments anticipated by CTUIR.  The products of this effort will increase an ecological understanding of current and changing stream channel, floodplain, water quality, and aquatic habitat conditions and provide information to an interdisciplinary planning team.  These products will be used to 1) help determine the biological benefits of aquatic habitat improvements; 2) establish relationships between physical habitat conditions and biological responses to improved habitat; and 3) inform manager’s decisions for modifying existing habitat work and implementing new watershed restoration plans for achieving desired future conditions.  The CTUIR anticipate that the results of this contract (the biological monitoring plan) will be used in a multi-year effort to evaluate the biological response to 1) existing habitats and 2) physical habitat improvements in the Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, Grande Ronde, and John Day Rivers.   Show More