Framework:

The technical recommendations, which are aimed at increasing survival at each stage of the salmon's life cycle, are presented as scientific hypotheses that summarize various restoration problems. Organized by salmon life cycle stages, each hypothesis proposes near- and long-term actions, identifies expected results, and names the institutional and decisional processes required to carry out the recommended actions.

The plan's technical recommendations cover hydro-operations on the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers; habitat protection and rehabilitation in the basin above Bonneville Dam, in the Columbia estuary and in the Pacific ocean; fish production and hatchery reforms, and in-river and ocean harvests.

The recommended actions are designed to be carried out using an adaptive management strategy: Monitor and evaluate the actions taken and change the actions, if indicated.