The primary purpose of the fish habitat programs are to ensure the integrity and health of aquatic ecosystems on the Warm Springs Reservation and throughout the ceded territories, thus ensuring the capability of these systems to support healthy self-sustaining populations of culturally important aquatic species such as spring and fall Chinook salmon.

The program strives to accomplish this goal through a holistic and integrated strategy, while working with multiple private, state, and federal entities, to ensure the protection of aquatic ecosystems and other culturally important resources. Watershed-scale restoration efforts are paramount to achieving these goals.

This holistic integrated strategy requires constant communication and involvement with the Tribes’ other natural resource departments including Water and Soil, Range and Agriculture and Wildlife. It is anticipated that this strategy will eventually develop into a watershed program that will be co-managed by the Habitat and Water and Soils programs.