NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service - Northwest Region
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Salmon Critical Habitat GIS Data

NOTE: Please read the following information before downloading

The data accessible through this page are intended to be used by Geographic Information System (GIS) users employing ESRI software.* Note that these are GIS data, NOT hard copy/static maps. Static maps can be viewed for some of the species at our maps page or via an Interactive Mapper. The GIS data described below are based on information used by NOAA Fisheries Service to identify areas designated as critical habitat under the U.S. Endangered Species Act for several distinct population segments (DPS) or evolutionarily significant units (ESU) of Pacific salmon and steelhead. For exact legal descriptions of critical habitat please consult the Code of Federal Register at 50 CFR Part 226.

Most data are provided in two ESRI formats - shapefiles or coverages. Each DPS/ESU has a zipped data package that contains metadata and two data layers described in the table below (Note: Puget Sound Chinook and Hood Canal summer-run chum data also include data depicting nearshore areas and associated metadata).

Also, GIS data pertaining to ESA critical habitat designation are NOT available for the following DPS/ESUs in the Pacific Northwest:

  • Snake River fall Chinook, spring/summer Chinook, and sockeye salmon
  • Southern OR/Northern CA Coasts coho salmon

Designated Freshwater & Estuarine Areas Data
[ESU code]_chf1 - These data describe the freshwater and estuarine areas designated in the agency's final critical habitat rule for 12 ESUs of Pacific salmon and steelhead. Data for Oregon coast coho critical habitat coming soon. The data address habitat areas occupied by salmon and steelhead as based on observation or the professional judgment of biologists familiar with the watershed as well as a few areas currently unoccupied but considered essential for the conservation of an ESU.

Designated Nearshore Areas Data
[ESU code]_nchf1 - These data apply only to Puget Sound chinook salmon and Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon ESUs and depict the nearshore marine areas within Puget Sound that are designated as critical habitat. We created a GIS database of the nearshore marine areas which consist of the areas contiguous with the shoreline out to a depth no greater than 30 meters relative to the shoreline (i.e., a depth zone that generally coincides with the maximum depth of the photic zone in Puget Sound).

Freshwater & Estuarine Areas Habitat Data
[ESU code]_hab1 - These data describe the freshwater and estuarine primary constituent elements (PCEs) or habitat areas identified in the agency's final rule to designate critical habitat for 12 ESUs of Pacific salmon and steelhead. The data depict spawning, rearing, and migration PCEs. As well as areas that are unoccupied but essential for conservation, areas unoccupied but maybe essential for conservation, and areas occupied but lacking PCEs. Occupied areas were identified based on observation or the professional judgment of biologists familiar with the watershed. Additional information can be found in the agency's biological assessment supporting the rule.
 
 

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Page last updated: November 23, 2009

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