You can access the Klamath IFRMP Restoration Prioritization Tool here: http://klamath.essa.com/ (Guest Username: ifrmpguest / Guest Password: ifrmp2020). Note, the tool also supports user revision recommendations (as summarized in video 3) using sub-basin team logins. If you are a sub-basin working group member, and do not recall these credentials, please send us a request to klamath-ifrmp@essa.com.

Next Steps

The USFWS had planned to instruct PSMFC and ESSA to complete an interim stakeholder review of the draft Plan in February 2021, but instead directed PSMFC and ESSA work with you in the coming months to incorporate additional information on restoration costs and monitoring to ensure the Plan document is in a more complete state before asking you to spend additional hours reviewing the next draft.

Towards that end, we hope to engage with you over the next several months through electronic correspondence, one-on-one conversations, and collaborative virtual workshops as we add these important details to the IFRMP. Themes we expect to touch on during these next steps for engagement would include:

1. verifying rough cost estimates for carrying out the priority restoration actions identified in each sub-basin;
2. identifying the best approach to monitoring so we can track basin-wide recovery to assess the collective effectiveness of the suite of restoration actions implemented through the IFRMP;
3. identifying key gaps in monitoring;
4. identifying costs associated with closing these monitoring gaps; and,
ensuring that the IFRMP is aligned with other regional plans that are underway in the Basin.

Once this additional information is incorporated into the Plan document this summer and fall, we will have as complete a picture as possible at the moment of what it will take to restore the Basin; we will have good estimates on what it will cost to do the work in each sub-basin; and, we will have an approach for coordinated monitoring.  One of the final steps at that time will be a stakeholder review from you all in the fall to provide your perspectives and help us smooth over any rough edges that still exist. While we cannot make any commitments at the moment, we are also looking for ways to identify additional funding to help support participation by those who might need financial assistance for ongoing engagement with these ongoing planning efforts.

We have been working diligently towards an IFRMP for several years now and the level of collaboration sustained since 2016 has been exceptional. We want to once again express our gratitude for the time, commitment, and patience of all of those who have been involved to date. The commitment from the USFWS and federal team to complete the IFRMP remains strong, and there will be more work for us ahead.

Please be on the lookout for more details on next steps in the IFRMP planning process in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please reach out to our team should you have any questions or concerns. Contact us via email at: klamath-ifrmp@essa.com.

Previously Completed Plan Components:
Klamath IFRMP Restoration Prioritization Tool (Phase 3) – June 2020
Guest, read-only access:
username: ifrmpguest
password: ifrmp2020

Prioritization methods explainers (Phase 3) – Feb 2020
Accessible with sub-basin team logins
Provisional Draft Klamath IFRMP Document (Phase 2) - Oct 15, 2019 (8MB PDF)
Klamath IFRMP Synthesis Report (Phase 1)- Aug 14, 2017 (20MB PDF)

We continue to collect contemporary documents, plans, studies, and data related to fish habitat restoration and monitoring (including innovative concepts and approaches from similar planning efforts such as the Elwha). Documents and data collected during this process will be catalogued in the searchable Document Library on this website. If you have relevant information you think should be included please contact us via email at: klamath-ifrmp@essa.com.

Background

The intent of the IFRMP is not to replace other existing planning efforts, but to address key gaps and strategically bring existing plans and planning efforts together using an adaptive management framework. The vision of the Klamath Basin IFRMP is to provide a unifying framework for planning the restoration and recovery of native fish species from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean, while improving flows, water quality, habitat and ecosystem processes. The IFRMP (or Plan) will serve as a blueprint that describes the highest priority watershed process and habitat restoration and monitoring actions that in combination with related restoration initiatives can help reverse the declines of multiple native Klamath Basin fish populations. The Plan will provide an answer to the basic question: given all we know; which habitat and watershed process restoration actions will provide the broadest possible benefits to native Klamath Basin fish species– throughout the Basin and within each sub-basin watershed. The IFRMP will also help inform the wise allocation of funds for restoration and monitoring work in the Klamath Basin. Funding to do broad scale restoration and monitoring work is limited so it is imperative to ensure that funds are used as strategically as possible to maximize the value of restoration efforts in the Basin. Please note: the IFRMP is a planning document that will help inform and guide restoration practitioners and agency resource managers alike. However, nothing in the IFRMP constitutes an official federal agency position or obligation for current or future action. Implementation of any restoration activity depends on future appropriation of necessary funds, as well as cooperation and support of private landowners, states, Tribes, local governments and other organizations that call the Klamath Basin home.