Summer Steelhead/Coastal Rainbow Trout – Rogue SMU

Overview

Species Common Name Steelhead / Rainbow / Redband Trout
Species Scientific Name Oncorhynchus mykiss/Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus
SMU/ESU/DPS/Subspecies Summer Steelhead/Coastal Rainbow Trout - Rogue SMU (Klamath Mountains Province DPS)
State Listing Status Sensitive
SMU/ESU/DPS/Subspecies Summer Steelhead/Coastal Rainbow Trout - Rogue SMU (Klamath Mountains Province DPS)

Ecoregions

Columbia Plateau

The Columbia Plateau ecoregion was shaped by cataclysmic floods and large deposits of wind-borne silt and sand earlier in its geological history. It is dominated by a rolling landscape of arid lowlands dissected by several important rivers, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Cascades Mountains, south and east from the Columbia River to the Blue Mountains.

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Klamath Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, the interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range, and the Rogue and Umpqua river valleys. Several popular and scenic rivers run through the ecoregion, including the Umpqua, Rogue, Illinois, and Applegate rivers. Historically, this ecoregion is known …

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.

Special needs

Require streams with clean gravel, complex habitat, and cool temperatures for spawning and rearing, but able to spawn successfully in streams that are naturally intermittent in summer. Require access for anadromous migration, including adequate streamflow during downstream fry migration on naturally intermittent streams, and upstream passage for juveniles in winter during multiple years in freshwater.

Limiting factors

Water quality. Alterations of hydrology and watershed function. Fish passage. Riparian condition. Marine survival.

Data gaps

Continue ongoing monitoring of populations and conservation effectiveness. A repeat of a 1970s study that identified spawning distribution would be beneficial post-mainstem dam removal.

Conservation actions

Maintain or restore aquatic and riparian habitat. Continue ongoing restoration efforts involving landowners, tribes, and agency partners (NOAA, NMFS, ODFW, OWEB). Maintain momentum for restoration of fish passage throughout the Rogue watershed by continued funding of passage projects. Restore streamflows through cooperative projects.