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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 49 / Tuesday, March 16, 2021 / Notices construction of the William Jess Dam 1977 on the Rogue River, an average of 28,052 adult spring-run Chinook salmon were counted annually. ODFW 2019
estimated that there were 10,240 adult spring-run Chinook salmon in 2017 and that the annual average for the years 20082017 was 9,663.
The Petitioner notes that following ODFWs adoption of the Rogue Spring Chinook Conservation Plan in 2007, the average annual abundance of naturalorigin adult spring-run Chinook salmon increased from 7,596 to 9,663 in 2017.
The Petitioner asserts that this increase of spring-run Chinook salmon in the Rogue River was likely a result of the removal of the Gold Hill, Savage Rapids, and Gold Ray dams, which allowed heterozygous and homozygous fall-run Chinook salmon to ascend upriver rapidly and spawn with homozygous spring-run Chinook. In the Final Rogue Spring Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan Comprehensive Assessment and Update, ODFW found that while the status of spring-run Chinook salmon improved over the past decade the ten year average is below the desired threshold of 15,000 naturally produced adult spring-run Chinook salmon returning to the Rogue River annually ODFW, 2019. The Petitioner also calls attention to the Cole M. Rivers Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan that reports the smolt to adult return rate of Cole M. Rivers Hatchery spring-run Chinook salmon in the Rogue River has been below 1 percent since 2002
ODFW, 2016. The Petitioner asserts that the smolt to adult return rate for natural fish is also likely low.
The Petitioner further asserts that the abundance of spring-run Chinook salmon in the Rogue River may actually be lower than reported. Hess et al.
2016, Prince et al. 2017 and Thompson et al. 2019 have studied the relationship between genetic material from a portion of the genome that includes the Greb1L gene otherwise referred to as the Greb1L region of the genome and run-timing in Chinook salmon and steelhead. The authors characterized the Greb1L region as two alleles different forms and three genotypes different combinations of the alleles: Individuals with two early runtiming alleles early-run homozygotes, individuals with two late run-timing alleles late-run homozygotes, and individuals with one allele for the early and one for the late run-timing heterozygotes. Thompson et al. 2019
asserted that there is a considerable amount of interbreeding between spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon in the Rogue River as a result of dam construction. Thompson et al. 2019

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analyzed samples from 2004 and reported that many of the spring-run Chinook salmon counted at Gold Ray dam were in fact heterozygotes.
The Petitioner also calls attention to a declining trend in abundance of adult spring-run Chinook salmon in the Smith River. The Petitioner cites data from snorkel surveys of spring-run Chinook salmon in the South Fork, Middle Fork, and North Fork of the Smith River from 1982 to 2018 Hanson, 2018. Hanson 2018 found that the number of adult spring-run Chinook salmon counted per mile density has been declining since survey counts peaked in 1996 at a density of 2.5 salmon per mile. Hanson 2018 reported that adult spring-run Chinook salmon densities have remained at less than 0.3 salmon per mile since 2007 Hanson, 2018. The Petitioner asserts that this decline in spring-run Chinook salmon indicates that the population within the Smith River is threatened with extinction.
Based on information provided by the Petitioner, as well as information readily available in our files, we find that a reasonable person would conclude current demographic risks indicate that SONCC spring-run Chinook salmon populations may be at risk of extinction and thus warrant further investigation.
Analysis of ESA Section 4a1 Factors The Petitioner asserts that all five ESA
section 4a1 factors contribute to the need to list the SONCC spring-run Chinook salmon as a threatened or endangered ESU. Each of these factors is discussed in further detail below.
The Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailment of Its Habitat or Range The Petitioner asserts that SONCC
spring-run Chinook salmon face numerous threats to suitable habitat, including impacts from dams, logging practices, road building, and mining operations. The Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of William Jess Dam/Lost Creek Reservoir on the upper Rogue River in 1977. The Petitioner cites the Rogue Spring Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan Comprehensive Assessment and Update ODFW, 2019 in support of their assertion that artificially enhanced summer stream flows from Lost Creek Reservoir are adversely affecting springrun Chinook salmon. ODFW 2019
found that enhanced summer stream flows allow fall-run Chinook salmon to spawn upstream in habitat that historically was utilized primarily by spring-run Chinook salmon.

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The Petitioner asserts that artificially augmented high flows in August and September in the Rogue River may reduce egg to fry survival of spring-run Chinook salmon. If spring-run Chinook salmon spawn during high river flows in September, redds may be dewatered and embryos desiccated when releases from the Lost Creek Reservoir decrease during the reservoir fill season, which begins in January ODFW, 2019. ODFW
2019 states that egg to fry survival has likely decreased as a result of redds being dewatered.
The Petitioner also asserts that other anthropogenic disturbances have degraded spring-run Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the Rogue and Smith Rivers. Specifically, the Petitioner asserts that increased fine sediments due to logging, road building, and mining have adversely affected spawning habitat which is supported by similar conclusions in NMFS 1997 final rule listing the SONCC coho salmon ESU under the ESA 62 FR 24588; May 6, 1997, describing habitat that is coextensive with the range of SONCC
spring-run Chinook salmon.
NMFS most recent SONCC coho salmon status review NMFS, 2016
evaluated the status of habitat threats over an area that includes the range of SONCC spring-run Chinook salmon and concluded that degraded habitat conditions in this area continue to be of concern, particularly with regard to insufficient instream flow, unsuitable water temperatures, and insufficient rearing habitat due to a lack of floodplain and channel structure. While restoration and regulatory actions have been made to improve freshwater and estuary habitat conditions in the SONCC
coho salmon ESU, habitat concerns remain throughout the range of the ESU
particularly in regards to water quality, water quantity, and rearing habitat.
Based on information provided by the Petitioner, as well as information readily available in our files, we find that a reasonable person would conclude that habitat destruction and curtailment of their range may pose a threat to the continued existence of SONCC spring-run Chinook salmon.
Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational, Scientific, or Educational Purposes The Petitioner asserts that harvest of SONCC spring-run Chinook salmon for commercial and recreational fisheries in the ocean and freshwater may be a threat. The Petitioner notes that the fisheries off the coast of Oregon and California are not managed to minimize impacts on SONCC spring-run Chinook.
The Petitioner notes that the Rogue
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