Salmon are keystone species in the rainforest. Not only are they a critical fall food source for the grizzly bear, wolves, eagles and otters, but they also act as fertilizer for the trees. In addition, because spawning is highly sensitive to stream temperature and sedimentation, salmon act as an indicator species for the overall health of the ecosystem.

Salmon are highly dependent on the quality freshwater and riparian habitat found in intact old growth forests. When forest cover is removed from a watershed, run-off increases, which changes the timing, amount and quality of water flowing into a stream. As noted above, the freshwater habitat found in the rainforest is the same kind of habitat favoured by grizzlies.

The combined Core Grizzly/Salmon habitat areas are shown on the map in dark green (intact areas) and light green (restoration areas).

The conservation team also identified areas that, while too roaded to be considered prime grizzly habitat, were important areas for salmon, either as spawning grounds or as areas the salmon traverse on the way to spawning. Shown in dark turquoise, these Salmon/Riparian Linkage Areas require streamside reserves of a minimum of two tree lengths (100 m) for fish-bearing streams and one tree length (50 m) for non-fish bearing streams.