Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Establishment of a Nonessential Experimental Population of Bull Trout in the Clackamas River Subbasin, OR

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), jointly with the State of Oregon, and in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, Mt. Hood National Forest (USFS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (CTWSRO), will establish a nonessential experimental population (NEP) of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Clackamas River and its tributaries in Clackamas and Multnomah Counties, Oregon, under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). The geographic boundaries of the NEP include the entire Clackamas River subbasin as well as the mainstem Willamette River, from Willamette Falls to its points of confluence with the Columbia River, including Multnomah Channel. The best available data indicate that reintroduction of bull trout to the Clackamas River subbasin is biologically feasible and will promote the conservation of the species.