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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-51 Bull Trout Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) was listed as a threatened species under the ESA in June 1998 (USFWS 1998) and is a candidate for state listing by the WDFW (2015a). Critical habitat has been designated for bull trout, including the Yakima River and its tributaries and the mainstem of the Columbia River (USFWS 2010b). Bull trout have specific habitat requirements that influence their distribution and abundance, including water temperature, cover, channel form and stability, spawning and rearing substrate, and migratory corridors (WDFW 2000). Bull trout require cold water to survive, so they are seldom found in waters where temperatures exceed 59 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit (˚F). Bull trout also require stable stream channels, clean spawning and rearing gravel, complex and diverse cover, and unblocked migratory corridors (USFWS 2011a). Historically, bull trout were found throughout the Pacific Northwest, Montana, Idaho, and northern California, as well as Nevada (Knowles and Gumtow 2005). Bull trout are known to occur within the reaches of the Yakima and Columbia Rivers that are located within the Project study area. Aside from the Yakima and Columbia Rivers, bull trout are not known to occur in streams within the Project study area (AECOM Environmental 2010; JBLM YTC 2002). The results of a stream temperature monitoring study indicate that, within the Project study area, Johnson, Lmuma, and Selah Creeks were potentially suitable for bull trout use, but temperatures were generally much higher than preferred spawning temperatures. Bull trout are not known to spawn within JBLM YTC because the streams are too small and not cold enough over a long enough time period to provide suitable spawning and rearing habitat; however, bull trout could use streams for short periods for foraging (AECOM Environmental 2010). In addition, most streams in the Project study area do not have continuous flow to either the Yakima or Columbia Rivers during the time in which bull trout would potentially be spawning or migrating to spawn. Bull trout in the Columbia River DPS enter tributary streams from April to September and spawn from September to mid- October (WDFW 2000; Whitesel et al. 2004). At the time bull trout enter tributary streams north of the Project study area, temperatures in the Columbia River varied from 42 to 67˚F and tributary mean daily temperatures ranged from 46 to 63˚F indicating that water temperatures did not appear to limit bull trout migration (BioAnalysts 2004). Chinook Salmon (Upper Columbia River Spring Run) The Upper Columbia River Spring Run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) was listed as endangered under the ESA in August 1999 (USFWS 1999) and is listed as a candidate species by the WDFW. The ESU includes all naturally-spawned populations occurring in all accessible river reaches in the Columbia River tributaries upstream of Rock Island Dam and downstream from Chief Joseph Dam in Washington. Critical habitat has been designated for the Upper Columbia River Spring Run Chinook salmon ESU and includes the entire Columbia River Corridor downstream from Rock Island Dam, including the reach of the Columbia River within the Project study area. This corridor, which connects the ESU with the Pacific Ocean is used by rearing and migrating juveniles and migrating adults and was deemed by the National Marine Fisheries Service to be of high conservation value to the Upper Columbia River Spring Run Chinook ESU (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] 2005). In the Project study area, upriver migration starts in early May and extends through August, with spawning occurring upriver of the Project study area from late August to mid-September. Downstream migration of juveniles occurs primarily in May and June (NOAA 2013). While the migration corridor is adjacent to the JBLM YTC installation, the JBLM YTC is excluded from the critical habitat designation for this ESU pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136; Army 2010). Tributaries of the Columbia River in and near the Project study area, including the Yakima River, are not part of the Upper Columbia River Spring Run Chinook salmon ESU; they are part of the Mid-Columbia River Spring Run Chinook salmon ESU which is not listed under the ESA (NOAA 2013).