The Council’s Habitat Committee provides advice to the Council on a wide variety of habitat-related issues. The committee works with other advisory bodies on habitat issues, helps develop ways to resolve habitat problems and avoid future habitat conflicts, and makes recommendations for actions that will help achieve the Council’s habitat objectives. Meetings are open to the public.
Lance Hebdon is the Chair and Dr. Correigh Greene is the Vice-Chair of the Habitat Committee (HC).
Latest Habitat Reports
- C.1.a Supplemental HC Report 1: Habitat Committee Report on Current Habitat Issues
- Agenda Item H.3.a Supplemental HC Report 1: Habitat Committee Report on Climate and Communities Initiative Review and Prioritize Tasks
- Agenda Item E.2.a Supplemental HC Report 1: Habitat Committee Report on Office of Marine Sanctuaries: Coral Restoration and Research Plan – Range of Alternatives and Preliminary Preferred Alternative
- Agenda Item H.2.a Supplemental HC Report 1: Habitat Committee Report on Fishery Ecosystem Plan Initiative 4 – Progress Review
- November 2023 letter to BOEM/Governor Kotek on PFMC comments on Draft Wind Energy Areas
- HC Agenda October 24-25 2023
- September 2023 letter to BOEM on extension for comment
- H.5, Supplemental Attachment 2 (Electronic only): Draft Proposed EFH Appendix
- December 2022 letter to BOEM on oil and gas decommissioning
- September 2022 letter to NMFS, BOR, and CA State Water Resources Control Board
Current Habitat Topics
The list below includes major topics discussed by the Habitat Committee since 2015. For more information, see the briefing book archives.
| General topic | Details | Relevant agencies or organizations | Date last discussed in Habitat Committee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential fish habitat for highly migratory species | Five year review | NMFS | 2020 (March) |
| Ecosystem-based fishery management | Annual Integrated Ecosystem Assessment report | NMFS | Annually |
| Salmon | Salmon rebuilding | NMFS, Council | 2020 (March) |
| Groundfish essential fish habitat (EFH) | Groundfish EFH (Amendment 28) | Council, NMFS | 2019 (September) |
| Fishery Ecosystem Plan | Five-year review | Council | 2020 (March) |
| Fishery Ecosystem Plan | Climate and communities initiative | Council | 2019 (March) |
| Dams | Klamath dam removal | 2019 (November) | |
| Corals | Deep sea corals | NOAA | 2019 (March) |
| Columbia River | Dissolved gas levels at dams | States of Washington, Oregon | 2019 (March) |
| Aquaculture | Humboldt Bay aquaculture | Humboldt Bay Harbor District, Nordic Aquafarms | 2019 (March) |
| Sacramento water | Central Valley Operations Biop | Bureau of Reclamation, NMFS | 2019 (November) |
| Sediment management | Washington and California coastal sediment management activities | WDFW, California Natural Resources Agency | 2019 (June) |
| Research and data | CalCOFI ( California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations) update | NMFS | 2019 (June) |
| Offshore energy | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) California task force activities; offshore wind | BOEM | 2019 (June) |
| Liquified natural gas (LNG) | Jordan Cove LNG project and pipeline | FERC | 2019 (November) |
| Klamath | New Biological Opinion | Bureau of Reclamation | 2019 (June) |
| Klamath | Flushing flows | Bureau of Reclamation, NMFS | 2019 (June) |
| Sanctuaries | Sanctuaries | National Marine Sanctuary Program | 2020 (March) |
| Sacramento Delta | Study of Juvenile Salmon Use of the Sacramento Delta | NMFS | 2019 (April) |
| Priorities | Shared Council/NMFS habitat priorities | Council, NMFS | 2019 (November) |
| Pollutants | National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for offshore Seafood Processors | Environmental Protection Agency | 2019 (April) |
| Drought | Washington drought declaration | Washington state | 2019 (April) |
| Coastal zone management | Proposed Rule Changes to Coastal Zone Management Act Federal Consistency Process | NMFS | 2019 (April) |
| Beavers | Oregon Dept of Transportation (ODOT) beaver removal policies | ODOT | 2019 (April) |
| Aquaculture | NOAA aquaculture rules/plan | National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | 2019 (April) |
| Research and data | Research and data needs | Council | 2018 (September) |
| Killer whales (southern resident) | Expansion of critical habitat | NOAA | 2019 (November) |
| Ecosystem-based fishery management | West Coast Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management Roadmap Implementation | NMFS | 2018 (September) |
| Columbia River | Treaty negotiations | Dept. of State | 2018 (September) |
| Climate change | Report to legislature on ocean acidification | Oregon Coordination Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia | 2018 (September) |
| Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act | Reauthorization | Council | 2018 (November) |
| Dams | Raising of Shasta dam | Bureau of Reclamation | 2018 (November) |
| Dams | San Clemente dam removal | 2018 (November) | |
| Columbia River | Essential fish habitat in the Columbia River | EPA | 2018 (November) |
| Aquaculture | Pacific Ocean Aquafarms (proposed offshore yellowtail tuna facility) | Hubbs Sea World Research Institute | 2018 (November) |
| Estuaries | General | PMEP, others | 2019 (September) |
| Columbia River | Flows | 2018 (June) | |
| Offshore energy | Trident/Morro Bay offshore wind project | Trident Wind | 2018 (April) |
| Columbia River | Spill (through dams) | Federal Columbia River Power System | 2018 (April) |
| Salmon | Escape of Atlantic salmon from aquaculture facility | 2017 (September) | |
| Fishery Ecosystem Plan | Climate vulnerability assesssment report | Council/NMFS | 2017 (September) |
| Dams | Oroville Dam | US Army Corps of Engineers, others | 2017 (September) |
| California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment | Assessment indicators | NMFS | 2017 (September) |
| Aquaculture | Rose Canyon Aquaculture project (offshore project for seabass, yellowtail, etc) | Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute | 2017 (September) |
| Ecosystem-based fishery management | Sablefish ecosystem indicators | Council, NMFS | 2017 (November) |
| Salmon | Coastal Coho Restoration Plan | NMFS | 2017 (March) |
| Fishery Ecosystem Plan | General initiatives | Council | 2017 (March) |
| Research and data | Habitat Use Database | NMFS | 2017 (June) |
| Research and data | BOEM data portal for offshore renewable energy | BOEM | 2017 (June) |
| Marine planning | Marine planning | 2017 (June) | |
| Law enforcment | NMFS Office of Law Enforcement Strategic Plan review | NMFS | 2017 (June) |
| Climate change | Pacific Coast Collaborative and Ocean Acidification Alliance | Pacific Coast Collaborative (states of WA, OR, CA) | 2017 (June) |
| Aquaculture | Coast Seafoods aquaculture project | Coast Seafoods/Humboldt Bay | 2017 (April) |
| General | Fisheries-specific habitat objectives | Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission | 2016 (November) |
| Dams | Hells Canyon Section 401 Certification | Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | 2016 (November) |
| Columbia River | Columbia River operations, general | NMFS, BOR, EPA, USFWS | 2020 (March) |
| Sacramento water | Sacramento winter-run chinook outlook and planning | NMFS | 2016 (March) |
| Nuclear power | Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant closure/fish entrainment | Pacific Gas & Electric | 2016 (June) |
| Climate change | Western Regional (Climate Change) Action Plan | NMFS | 2016 (June) |
| Ecosystem-based fishery management | Ecosystem indicators | NMFS | 2016 (April) |
| Climate change | Thermal Refugia in the Columbia River System/Norwest Stream Temperature Model | NMFS | 2016 (April) |
| Climate change | Ocean Acidification policy recommendations | NMFS | 2016 (April) |
| Riparian buffers | Oregon Forest Practices Act buffer requirements inadequate | Oregon Board of Forestry | 2015 (November) |
| General | Intergovernmental Policy Council habitat framework | 2015 (November) | |
| Drought | Federal legislation - drought issues | 2015 (November) | |
| Columbia River | High temperatures and fish kills | NMFS/WDFW/ODFW | 2015 (November) |
| Forage fish | Unmanaged forage fish protection | Council | 2015 (March) |
| Climate change | NMFS Climate Science Strategy Update | NMFS | 2015 (March) |
| Offshore energy | Oregon State University (OSU) wave energy test site | OSU | 2015 (June) |
| Desalination | Proposed desalination projects in California | DeepWater Desal, California American Water, People's Moss Landing Water Desal Project | 2015 (June) |
| Aquaculture | Catalina Sea Ranch/KZO Sea Farms proposed project | Catalina Sea Ranch/KZO Sea Farms proposed project | 2015 (June) |
| Flooding | Chehalis River flood damage reduction project | Washington Dept of Ecology, USACE | 2019 (September) |
| Aquaculture | Ventura Shellfish Project | 2019 (September) | |
| Sanctuaries | Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan Review | Office of National Marine Sanctuaries | 2019 (November) |
| Eelgrass | Review of California eelgrass mitigation policy | NOAA | 2019 (November) |
| Salmon | Salmon reintroduction upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams | Confederated Tribes of the Colville/UCUT | 2019 (November) |
| Offshore energy | Responsible Offshore Energy Development Alliance (RODA) | RODA | 2019 (November) |
| Humpback whales | Expansion of critical habitat | NOAA | 2019 (November) |
Habitat Correspondence and Resolutions
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