In this document, we describe a strategy for prioritizing protection and restoration actions within the Upper Columbia River basin. We define prioritization as the process of ranking assessment units (AU), reaches, limiting factors, and habitat action types (for both restoration and protection) to determine their relative biological priority for funding and implementation. The reason for prioritization stems from the need to have the largest biological effects as soon as possible, to make the best use of limited resources, and to protect or restore areas before further degradation occurs. Prioritization is a critical component of the Biological Strategy to Protect and Restore Salmonid Habitat in the Upper Columbia Region, which was last updated in 2018. The objective of the prioritization strategy is to provide a consistent, repeatable, systematic, and well-documented approach for prioritizing restoration and protection action types and locations. This strategy will provide a transparent prioritization process that will assist restoration practitioners and managers with making decisions. We will revise this strategy periodically as new information becomes available, projects are completed, funding levels change, or new restoration and protection opportunities are identified. This document is updated as needed to reflect the most current strategy being used for prioritization.
