Eulachon critical habitat for use in ESA/FIFRA consultations

These data represent the critical habitat designated (October 20, 2011, 76 FR 65324) under the Endangered Species Act for the Southern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of eulachon.The designated areas are a combination of freshwater creeks and rivers and their associated estuaries. In freshwater areas, critical habitat includes the stream channel and a lateral extent as defined by the ordinary high-water line (33 CFR 329.11). In areas where the ordinary high-water line has not been defined, the lateral extent is defined by the bankfull elevation. Bankfull elevation is the level at which water begins to leave the channel and move into the floodplain and is reached at a discharge which generally has a recurrence interval of 1 to 2 years on the annual flood series. In estuarine areas, critical habitat includes tidally influenced areas as defined by the elevation of mean higher high water. See the final rule (76 FR 65324) for descriptions of areas excluded from this critical habitat designation. No areas were excluded from designation based on economic impacts. Areas were excluded from the critical habitat designation for the following federally-recognized tribes: (1) Lower Elwha Tribe, Washington; (2) Quinault Tribe, Washington; (3) Yurok Tribe, California; and (4) Resighini Rancheria, California.

This spatial data file was modified from NMFS’s “agency-official” species critical habitat data to aid in the ESA/FIFRA section 7 pesticide consultation process. For example, existing data were adapted to incorporate associated watersheds where applicable, based on the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset HUC-12 data (https://www.usgs.gov/national-hydrography/watershed-boundary-dataset). The modifications to the NMFS critical habitat spatial data make the data more compatible for future analyses with EPA’s Use Data Layers (UDLs). The following “Description” is from the original, “agency-official” data that was used to make this HUC-based map. Most of the metadata record for this species matches the “agency-official” record; however, NMFS added a new "Citation", "File Identifier", “Credits”, “Point of Contact”, and “Lineage Process Step” that are unique to this HUC-based critical habitat data.

These data are not the official legal definition of critical habitat. The Code of Federal Regulations (50 CFR 226.222) is the source for the legal definition of the critical habitat designation.

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