North Olympic Peninsula Watershed Page

• For Salmon Recovery Planning and Watershed Pages by WRIA, click here
• For Salmon and Habitat Information Resources, click here

Return to NOPLEGroup.org Table of Contents, Site Map

DRAFT, last updated 2/4/05

Hoh River Watershed Page – WRIA 20, Tier 1

A. Watershed Information:

1. General Watershed Description: From Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy: "The Hoh River, the location of the Hoh Tribe, lies within Washington Treaty Tribal Fishing Usual and Accustomed Area (U & A) identified within the Treaty of Olympia, 1865 and acknowledged under U.S. vs. Washington, 1974. First prolonged contact with Indian residents by Europeans was documented when the stranded crew of the St. Nicholas, a Russian ship which ran aground near the mouth of the Quillayute River, 1807, spent the winter on the upper Hoh River. They reported utilizing Indian stores of “kisutch” salmon (the Indians had surrendered their stores and the upper river area to the Russians that winter). The river basin remains relatively isolated and sparsely populated. Managed forestland and the Olympic National Park are its primary land-uses while a public highway, county and the ONP roads lie upon much of the bank or within the riparian area of the lower 38 miles of the river. Scattered mainstem agricultural lands and residences make up the remaining uses. Within this basin the fish resources have been the main sustenance of the Hoh Indian People from pre-Treaty times. More recently sport fishing for Hoh River fish has become an important destination for sport fishers. Concern for the increased impacts to aquatic habitat from human impacts and the downward trends of many salmonid species has led to increased recovery efforts."
2. Stakeholders: Landowners include the Hoh Tribe, Olympic National Park, Washington Department of Natural Resources, private timber companies, Jefferson County, Hoh River Trust, and individual private landowners. Fisheries are comanaged between Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Hoh Tribe.
3. Tier explanation (from NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy): The Hoh River Watershed is a Tier 1 (highest priority) Watershed because it is an independent drainage within the region that has four stocks of wild salmon and steelhead managed independently from other managed stocks, one ESA listed stock (Bull Trout) and summer run steelhead. The TRG’s prioritization recognizes the above diversity of stocks, the overall historic versus current continued productivity of the Hoh River Basin stocks and the concern for protection of Bull Trout throughout the Basin as a regional priority. For more details, see Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy. See also Prioritized Watersheds (Section D) in the NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy.
4. Bibliography:
   • Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy (2002)
   • NOPLE Salmon Habitat Recovery Strategy
   • NOPLE Summary Limiting Factors for Hoh River
   • WRIA 20 Technical Assessment Level I
   • WRIA 20 Limiting Factor Analysis, throughout
   • WRIA 20 Watershed Planning
   • Jefferson County Comprehensive Plan
   • WDFW SalmonScape maps
   • WRIA 20 Department of Ecology resources
   • Jefferson County Maps
5. Hatchery operations: See Table 4. Current Hatchery Information. Although the Hoh Tribe releases 100,000 hatchery steelhead smolts annually, and there is evidence of some out-of-basin straying from other hatchery salmon and steelhead, the influence of hatchery practices is small.
6. Harvest management. The salmon and winter steelhead are managed within the upper Hoh River watershed by Olympic National Park. For the watershed fall outside of Olympic national Park, salmon and winter steelhead are managed by Treaty/Non-Treaty In-river Catch Sharing and Spawning Escapement Objectives set yearly by the state, federal and tribal governments. There is a recreational fishery for Hoh River salmon and steelhead. The Hoh Tribe fishes commercially and for ceremonial and subsistence purposes.

B. Salmon Habitat Recovery Priorities:

1. Salmonid stocks & their status. From State of Our Watersheds Report 2004, NWIFC SSHIAP
   

   SASSI Stocks (SaSI)	ESA Status	Origin	Prod_Type	1992 Stock Status	2002 (WDFW) Stock Status
   Hoh Spring/Summer Chinook (Map)		Native	Wild	Healthy	Healthy
   Hoh Fall Chinook (Map)		Native	Wild	Healthy	Healthy
   Hoh Coho (Map)		Native	Wild	Healthy	Healthy
   Hoh Fall Chum (Map)		Unknown	Wild	Unknown	Unknown
   Hoh Summer Steelhead (Map)		Native	Wild	Unknown	Unknown
   Hoh Winter Steelhead (Map)		Native	Wild	Healthy	Healthy
   Hoh Bull Trout/Dolly Varden	Threatened	Native	Wild		Unknown (1998)
   Hoh Coastal Cutthroat		Native	Wild		Unkonwn (2000)

2. Priority salmon stocks. Bull Trout Recovery Goals, click here.
3. Priority Limiting Watershed Process & Habitat Features. See Hoh Basin Major Limiting Factors
4. Major actions to protect and improve: From Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy:
   1. Protection of Habitat and Habitat Forming Processes
   2. Collection of information where data gaps exist
   3. Restoration projects to reinstate or advance the recovery of habitat, habitat protection processes
      and habitat formation processes that affect the salmonid ecology.
5. Priority actions and areas: See Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy
6. Community issues: See Hoh Basin Project Prioritization Strategy

C. Recovery Projects:

• Wild Salmon Center Cascadia Salmon Diversity Program
• Hoh River Knotweed Control Project
• Washington Department of Transportation Engineered Log Jams
  • Seattle Times Article
  • DOT Report

D. Monitoring:

• Washington Department of Ecology
• WDOE 303(d) Map
• USGS Real-time flow monitoring

E. Emerging Issues: