Impacts of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Proposed 4(d) Determination under Limit 5 for the Mad River Winter-run Steelhead Program (Wes Smith/ Elif Fehm-Sullivan)

Pursuant to the ESA, NMFS would review the Mad River Hatchery’s winter-run steelhead Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan (HGMP) to determine if the HGMP meets the requirements of limit 5 of the 4(d) Rule and whether limitation of the ESA section 9 take prohibitions would afford adequate protections for threatened Northern California (NC) steelhead. Therefore, this EA would evaluate how approval of the HGMP would affect the human environment. The Mad River contains winter-run and summer-run steelhead, which belong to the NC Distinct Population Segment (50 C.F.R. § 223.102(c)(18)). NC steelhead were listed as threatened under the ESA (65 Fed. Reg. 36,074 (June 7, 2000); 62 Fed. Reg. 834 (February 6, 2006)).