From July 1, 2000, any timber operator in a planning watershed identified as 'threatened and
impaired' must comply with additional regulations designed to provide further protection for
anadromous salmonid habitat. The 'Protection for Threatened and Impaired
Watersheds, 2000' addition to the California Forest Practice Rules apply only to specific areas
of the State. The determination of where the
new rules will apply is related to the following definition in the amendments to 'Section
895.1 Definitions':
"Watersheds with threatened or impaired values" means any planning watershed where populations of anadromous salmonids that are listed as threatened, endangered, or candidate under the State or Federal Endangered Species Acts with their implementing regulations, are currently present or can be restored.
A delineation of this area requires 1) the official designation by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the range of the listed or candidate salmonids included in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 2) the CalWater delineation of planning watersheds (roughly 10,000-acre areas), and 3) a determination by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) that the salmonids are currently present or can be restored. In addition to developing a full list of the more than 3,000 planning watersheds covered by the rule, we have developed a tool to allow anyone with access to the Internet to determine whether a specific area would be covered by the rules.
The above ESU Internet Map Server and the Salmon and Watershed Query Tool are designed to allow anyone with a modem and a web browser to easily identify if a specific area is within a threatened or impaired watershed for the purpose of the new Forest Practice Rules. Both tools will return the same information: Watershed identifier, Watershed name, and ESU status. Users needing quick access to this information and those on slower internet connections should use the Salmon and Watersheds Query Tool. This database query tool allows three ways to lookup watershed information: by CalWater ID, by public land survey (township & range) or by searching for watershed names in a particular county. The interface is simple to use and watershed information is returned quickly.
The Salmon and Watershed Mapping Tool uses a map interface to allow browsing geographically. This tool requires a fast internet connection to be useful. Detailed instructions for using the tool are available on the 'Click Here' text of the Map Server page. The mapping system includes the outer boundary of the three listed or candidate salmonid species (coho, chinook, and steelhead) provided by NMFS, the latest CalWater data showing planning watersheds and larger aggregations, as well as county boundaries and 1:100,000 scale topographic maps that should allow landowners or project submitters to identify if their ownership would be covered by the new rules. If a whole planning watershed is above an impassable barrier such as a tall waterfall, it is expected that CDFG would make a determination that the planning watershed could not be restored since salmonids could never travel from the ocean up the waterfall. These modifications will be integrated into the official list and map of "watersheds with threatened or impaired values" over time.
Please address any questions or comments on this tool to frapwebmaster@fire.ca.gov.
For more information on salmon issues or the Endangered Species Act Visit: