Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office

In Washington, many organizations and thousands of people are working to recover salmon and Southern Resident orcas. The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office coordinates salmon and orca recovery for the state and develops the state’s strategy to guide those efforts and track progress to ensure a future with abundant salmon, healthy orcas, and restored lands and waterways that can adjust to a changing climate.

Statewide Salmon Recovery Strategy

The first Statewide Strategy to Recover Salmon: Extinction is not an option and its executive summary were written in 1999, and did much to bring people together to try to save this iconic species. The plan was updated in 2006, Statewide Strategy to Recovery Salmon: The Washington Way, and again in 2021.

The updated salmon strategy calls for the following actions:

• Protect and restore vital salmon habitat.
• Invest in clean water infrastructure for salmon and people.
• Correct fish passage barriers and restore salmon access to historical habitat.
• Build climate resiliency.
• Align harvest, hatcheries, and hydropower with salmon recovery.
• Address predation and food web issues for salmon.
• Enhance commitments and coordination across agencies and programs.
• Strengthen science, monitoring, and accountability.

Tracking Progress

The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office contracts with seven regional organizations and twenty-five watershed-based organizations called lead entities to help implement the salmon recovery strategy.

Every two years, the office produces a report to the Legislature that summaries the work and the status of salmon populations.

Salmon Recovery Data

These additional resources provide more information on the state’s progress on salmon recovery.

• Salmon Recovery Portal (website and database of planned and future salmon recovery projects)
• Salmon Conservation Reporting Engine (database on the status of salmon)
• StreamNet (fish data in the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on the Columbia River basin)
• SalmonScape (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s interactive mapping application that merges fish and habitat data collected by state, federal, tribal, and local biologists and presents it in an integrated system The data sources include stream specific fish and habitat data, and information about stock status and recovery evaluations. The site also offers an environmental education tool for middle school and high school students.

About the Office

Established by the Legislature, through the Salmon Recovery Planning Act, the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office has a small staff, managed by RCO. In addition to developing the state strategy and tracking its implementation, the office does the following:

Reports