The Eastern Oregon Habitat Branch (EOHB) implements the NOAA Fisheries Service statutory authorities to conserve the habitats of anadromous fishes east of the Cascade crest. The office’s primary responsibility is to carry out Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 and Magnuson-Stevens Act Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultations on a variety of Federal activities that may impact salmon, steelhead, or their habitats. Actions that are typically the subject of ESA and EFH consultations include watershed restoration projects, timber and vegetation management, livestock grazing, streambank protection, bridge and culvert replacements, and mining. Through the ESA and EFH consultation processes, the EOHB helps ensure that these land management activities are compatible with salmon and steelhead recovery. The EOHB provides technical assistance to a wide variety of federal, state, and tribal agencies regarding conservation of anadromous fish habitat regulatory compliance. Biologists from the office also participate with state and tribal co-managers in recovery planning efforts. 

The EOHB office is co-located with the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Army Corps of Engineers in La Grande, Ore. The office covers the Deschutes, John Day, 15-mile, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Imnaha, and Grande Ronde river basins. These rivers and their tributaries are home to five evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of salmon and steelhead listed under the ESA:  Middle Columbia River steelhead, Snake River basin steelhead, Snake River Fall Chinook salmon, Snake River spring/summer Chinook salmon, and Snake River sockeye salmon. Streams and rivers in these basins have also been designated as EFH for coho and Chinook salmon by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

The location of the branch office in eastern Oregon has allowed the office’s biologists to become members of the area’s professional community and acquire the local knowledge and cooperative relationships that enhance the development and implementation of resource management actions.