Bull Trout, Willamette SMU – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Overview

Species Common Name Bull Trout
Species Scientific Name Salvelinus confluentus
Federal Listing Status Threatened
State Listing Status Sensitive
SMU/ESU/DPS/Subspecies Willamette SMU

Ecoregions

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Coast Range and on the east by the Cascade Range. This long mostly level alluvial plain has some scattered areas of low basalt, and contrasts with productive farmland and large urban areas. It has the fastest-growing human population in the state resulting in challenges due to land-use changes.

Special needs

Requires cool temperatures for spawning and rearing. Requires channel complexity and available migratory corridors.

Limiting factors

Barriers to migration and spawning. Early-rearing habitat is limited. Habitat quality above, in, and downstream of reservoirs. Predation by non-natives in reservoirs. Hybridization in the upper McKenzie. Limited food source (anadromous salmonids). Altered hydrological regime. Angling mortality.

Data gaps

Juvenile abundance. Dam passage. Reservoir mortality. Angling-related mortality. Effects of parasites. Level of predation (birds/mammals).

Conservation actions

Maintain or restore aquatic and riparian habitat. Continue ongoing restoration efforts involving landowners, tribes, and agency partners (NOAA, NMFS, ODFW, OWEB). Finalize draft USFWS recovery plan.