Salish Sea Bioregion Boundary

Boundary for the Salish Sea Bioregion based on watersheds that drain into the Salish Sea. Created for the Salish Sea Atlas (https://wp.wwu.edu/salishseaatlas/). The boundary of the Salish Sea Bioregion follows the outline of watersheds that drain into the sea. Throughout most of the region, the boundary exactly follows the borders of HUC-8 level US watersheds and sub-sub-drainage basin level Canadian watersheds that directly or indirectly drain into the Salish Sea. Watersheds in the Fraser River’s upper drainage area were excluded. The watersheds at the northeastern and northwestern corners of the boundary were clipped along sub-basin boundaries to remove portions of the larger watersheds that drain into Johnstone Strait or Bute Inlet rather than the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea is defined based on legal definitions used in Washington and British Columbia as consisting of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, Georgia Strait, and their associated bays, channels, and inlets. Definitions of the northern border vary slightly among sources. We used a generous interpretation and included all the channels and inlets south of Johnstone Strait and Bute Inlet that connect to the Strait of Georgia. All processing and analysis was completed using the NAD 83 UTM Zone 10N projection and coordinate system.