For More Information

Please contact:

• Kathi Ruiz
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• 503-417-7551
• kathi.ruiz@pnl.gov

Sponsors

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that markets electricity produced at federal dams and other facilities in the Pacific Northwest.

The Columbia River Estuary Taskforce (CREST) is a regional organization that adddresses the management and development of the natural, economic, and human resources of the Columbia River Estuary.

The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership works to enhance the ecosystem of the lower Columbia River and estuary.

National Marine Fisheries Service is a federal agency responsible for the management, conservation and protection of marine resources and their habitat.

The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (ODLCD) supports many Oregon agencies and stakeholders to ensure that natural resources are managed, conserved, and developed consistent with statewide planning goals.

The Portland District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) owns and operates the three mainstem dams on the lower Columbia River and works to protect and restore the Columbia River estuary.

Welcome

Theme: Bringing together project leaders, program managers, and research scientists to share lessons from ecological restoration and endangered species recovery in the lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE).

Purpose: To provide a forum to develop recommendations for future application of lessons learned from research, monitoring, and restoration of ecosystems essential in the LCRE.

Format: A two-day event with invited and contributed presentations. Audience participation is encouraged. There will be poster session at the early evening reception on May 25.

Call for Papers and Posters: Abstracts relevant to adaptive management of LCRE ecosystems to benefit salmon and other species are welcome. Please indicate whether you prefer to make an oral or poster presentation. Abstracts addressing key questions (below) will receive priority for the limited number of time slots available for oral presentations; however, abstracts on any aspect of the LCRE are welcome. Authors of abstracts not selected for oral presentation will be encouraged to present posters. Abstracts should be submitted to Kathi Ruiz by April 15, 2010 via email (Kathi.ruiz@pnl.gov).

Contributed Papers:

• Strategy and Prioritization: What are improvements to the ecosystem-based strategy for LCRE ecological restoration? How can we develop larger-scale, ecosystem-based restoration projects? What are ways to prioritize proposed projects? What are the greatest uncertainties to properly design and justify projects to increase salmon survival/fitness and the quality of the ecosystem and why?
• Uncertainties Research: What is the latest research telling us and why is it important? What are the management implications of this? How can the survival or ecological benefits of a given restoration action be projected beforehand and measured afterward? What are landscape-scale benefits of habitat restoration to salmon and their ecosystems?
• Lessons from Ecological Restoration Projects: Which types of restoration are most effective and why? Which habitat types are the highest priority for restoration and why? What are the best locations for projects and why? What are the biggest risks to a successful project? What do we know now that we did not know five years ago about LCRE restoration?

Previous Themes in the Conference Series: The 2010 conference will be the sixth in a series. Previous themes were Biological Integrity (1999), Habitat Conservation and Restoration (2001), Research Needs (2003), Estuarine and Ocean Ecology of Juvenile Salmonids (2006), and Ecosystem Restoration (2008).Ver 3/2/10. Proceedings from these Conferences may be found on the Proceeding Series page. (ERIC Link to Proceedings Series page, please)

Need: Research, monitoring, and restoration activities in the lower Columbia River and estuary have increased dramatically in the past seven years in recognition of the importance of these ecosystems to the viability of Columbia River populations of salmonids and other species. Numerous agencies and non-governmental entities are engaged in them. Periodically sharing results, learning from others, and providing a basis for continually improving our collective knowledge is vital to decision-making for real progress in improving LCRE ecosystems.

Sponsors: Bonneville Power Administration, Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce, Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, National Marine Fisheries Service, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Steering Committee: Jeff Breckel (LCFRB), Catherine Corbett (LCREP), Heida Diefenderfer and Gary Johnson (PNNL), Blaine Ebberts (USACE), Marcy Foster and Tracey Yerxa (BPA), Scott McEwen (CLT), Patty O'Toole (NPCC), Micah Russell (CREST), and Cathy Tortorici (NMFS).

For more information: Register by going to the Registration Page. The Conference is free, but we need to track participants so we can be sure to have all the materials you will need. If you have any questions, please contact Kathi Ruiz 503-417-7551, kathi.ruiz@pnl.gov.