Summer Steelhead / Coastal Rainbow Trout, Rogue SMU

Overview

Species Common Name Summer Steelhead / Coastal Rainbow Trout
Species Scientific Name Oncorhynchus mykiss / Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus
State Listing Status Sensitive
SMU/ESU/DPS/Subspecies Rogue SMU, Klamath Mountains Province ESU

Ecoregions

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Umpqua Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, and interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range. The Rogue watershed has the largest population of any coastal watershed in Oregon (Jackson County, Josephine County, and a portion of Curry County). Several popular and scenic rivers run …

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Special needs

Require streams with clean gravel, complex habitat, and cool temperatures for spawning and rearing, but able to spawn successfully in streams that are naturally intermittent in summer. Require access for anadromous migration, including adequate streamflow during downstream fry migration on naturally intermittent streams, and upstream passage for juveniles in winter during multiple years in freshwater.

Limiting factors

Water quality. Alterations of hydrology and watershed function. Fish passage. Riparian condition. Marine survival.

Data gaps

Continue ongoing monitoring of populations and conservation effectiveness. A repeat of a 1970s study that identified spawning distribution would be beneficial post-mainstem dam removal.

Conservation actions

Maintain or restore aquatic and riparian habitat. Continue ongoing restoration efforts involving landowners, tribes, and agency partners (NOAA, NMFS, ODFW, OWEB). Maintain momentum for restoration of fish passage throughout the Rogue watershed by continued funding of passage projects. Restore streamflows through cooperative projects.

Key reference or plan

Oregon Native Fish Status Report, 2005 Effects of Lost Creek Dam on Summer Steelhead in the Rogue River Phase II Completion Report, 1994 Ecology and Management of Summer Steelhead in the Rogue River, 1973