DOE/EA-2277: Final Environmental Assessment (February 2026)

Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Program

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has issued a final environmental assessment (DOE/EA-2277) that assesses the environmental effects of BPA's proposed action to partially fund three fishery co-managers (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Clatsop County Fisheries) to implement the SAFE Program. The SAFE Program includes the acclimation, transport, and release of juvenile salmonids (spring Chinook and coho smolts), in addition to monitoring and evaluation, and the operations and maintenance of SAFE hatchery facilities and net pen sites (SAFE Facilities).  

Juvenile salmonids would be collected and reared at various SAFE hatcheries in the Lower Columbia River Estuary and its tributaries, then acclimated and released from SAFE Facilities in off-channel areas (Select Areas). As adults, these fish return to the Select Areas, where they support commercial and recreational fisheries (Select Area Fisheries).

For more information, see Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) Program.