DRAFT TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM MARCH 2020- Salmon River Floodplain Habitat Enhancement and Mine Tailing Remediation Project - Phase 2: Conceptual Design

The Salmon River Restoration Council (SRRC), in collaboration with the US Forest Service, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, and other State and Federal resource agencies, initiated the Salmon River Floodplain Habitat Enhancement and Mine Tailing Remediation Project (project) in 2014. The project is a collaborative, science-based process focused on increasing the long-term productivity of anadromous salmonids in the Salmon River by strategically restoring and enhancing aquatic and riparian floodplain habitats, geomorphic functions, and stream temperatures within lower gradient, predominantly alluvial reaches of the mainstem, North Fork, and South Fork Salmon River. The proposed restoration and enhancement actions are needed to support conservation and recovery of listed and at-risk salmonid and lamprey populations. Whereas the SRRC, USDA Forest Service, and their partners have addressed many of the high-priority fish passage barriers in tributaries and the treatable upslope sediment sources within the watershed, this project will directly address limiting aquatic and riparian habitat conditions within mainstem channel and floodplain areas. The Klamath National Forest is the lead federal agency for purposes of NEPA compliance. The CEQA lead agency has yet to be determined.