Display Name: Salmon, Chinook (Snake River fall-run ESU)
Description: These data depict the habitat areas designated as critical habitat under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) for Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon (58 FR 68543, December 28, 1993). Habitat areas were identified based on data and professional judgment provided by biologists from the following entities: National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Nez Perce Tribe. We have used current distribution data and the professional judgement of local biologists to map stream reaches presently or historically accessible to Snake River fall Chinook. Where fall Chinook have expanded their range since 1993 when critical habitat was designated, we generally assume that this expansion expresses the species' historic range. However, because the critical habitat designation is limited to the specfic 4th field HUC subbasins identified in 58 FR 68543, even if fall Chinook salmon expand their range in the future to areas upstream from those subbasins - indicating that those upstream reaches may have been "historically accessible" - those additional reaches would not be considered part of designated critical habitat.