A permit is often required to remove or fill materials in Oregon streams, side channels, and adjacent wetlands that have been mapped as Essential Salmonid Habitat.
The ESH designation protects the streams where salmonid species lay eggs and where young fish grow before traveling to the ocean. Chum, sockeye, Chinook, and coho salmon, as well as steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout are all sensitive, threatened, or endangered salmonid species whose habitat may be designated as essential.
The Department of State Lands maintains
Oregon's official essential salmonid habitat map. The map uses scientific data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify areas that are critical for salmonids to thrive and
require a permit to remove or fill any material.
Permit Requirements for ESH Areas
Under Oregon state law, a
DSL removal-fill permit is required for projects that remove or place
any amount of material into the beds or banks of ESH waterways and some wetlands. Types of projects that likely require a permit include:
Comment Period on the 2025 Map
The comment period was open from January 13 – February 12, 2025. Statewide, about 113 additional stream miles will now be designated as essential habitat and about 12 stream miles will no longer be essential habitat. The updated map will take effect Monday, March 3, 2025.
Year-round: Propose Edits to the Map
You can propose map edits through the
ESH Review Request Form at any time of the year. Proposed edits should correct map inaccuracies – for example, if the mapping does not reflect current on-the-ground conditions, or if there is a new barrier that prevents fish from reaching an area. Proposed edits, if accepted, would go into the next annual map update.