Salmon-Safe Urban Development Certification

Develop environmentally innovative projects that help restore our urban watersheds

Salmon-Safe’s development standards apply to any large-scale urban project with the goal of elevating environmental performance through design and construction to ongoing operation.

Announcing Climate Oriented Urban Development Standards 3.1

In 2023, Salmon-Safe introduced Urban Development Standards 3.1, reflecting the latest science on 6PPD-Quinone and including a new urban development planning checklist for design and development teams.

For all projects, standards can be applied at any time from schematic design through construction or even existing site operations.

Salmon-Safe is a leading U.S. certifier of ecologically sustainable viticulture with more than 350 Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia vineyards transitioned to certification.

Salmon-Safe for winegrowing focuses on reducing vineyard runoff, water quality protection, and enhancement of native biodiversity on vineyard sites.

There’s more than one way for vineyard operators to earn Salmon-Safe certification. Salmon-Safe’s primary Oregon and Washington vineyard certification program is operated in partnership with Low Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE), modeled after European standards for Integrated Production certification by the IOBC (International Organization for Biological Control).

Organic vineyards seeking Salmon-Safe certification are certified by Oregon Tilth, the leading West Coast certifier of organic farms. Oregon Tilth offers Salmon-Safe inspection as an optional water quality and habitat overlay during routine organic inspection.

Salmon-Safe and Demeter have harmonized standards so that West Coast vineyards that achieve biodynamic certification also earn Salmon-Safe certification.

Most recently, Salmon-Safe is joining with Sustainable WA to offer Salmon-Safe as an overlay certification for Washington winegrowers.

Salmon-Safe vineyard certification is valid for three years, subject to annual verification.

SALMON-SAFE OFFERS THE NATION’S LEADING PEER-REVIEWED CERTIFICATION PROGRAM LINKING FARMING PRACTICES WITH THE CONSERVATION OF AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS.

Our standards were initially developed over a three-year period with biologists, agronomists, and farmers, and have been applied in the field since the late 1990s at more than 900 farms in Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, and British Columbia across a variety of crops. Standards include management practices in six primary areas: riparian area management, water use management, erosion and sediment control, integrated pest management and water quality protection, animal management, and biodiversity conservation

In February 2025, v3.0 of the Farm Standards was released, which elevates soil health and climate resiliency, among other updates.

For growers certified by other leading farm certification organizations, Salmon-Safe partners with Oregon Tilth and  GLOBALG.A.P. to conduct Salmon-Safe assessment as an efficient and cost-effective overlay that delivers two labels in a single inspection visit.

Salmon-Safe offers the nation’s first and only peer-reviewed certification program linking corporate or university land management practices with the protection of urban watersheds.

Whether the site is a corporate campus with streams or wetlands, an urban office park, or a university campus, certification requires management practices that reduce stormwater runoff and non-point source pollution, helping to protect Pacific Northwest salmon watersheds.

Earlier this year, Salmon-Safe released Urban Standards 3.1, reflecting the latest science on 6PPD-Quinone and including a new urban development planning checklist for design and development teams.

Salmon-Safe infrastructure standards are designed for mass transit, neighborhood scale stormwater treatment, green street, municipal water system, bridge, and other large-scale projects.

Salmon-Safe’s latest certification initiative is comprehensive green street design and infrastructure development standards that integrate the principles of low impact development (LID) site design while focusing on the reduction of nonpoint source pollution and the areas of habitat vulnerability most critical to the survival of salmonids.

Co-presented by Stewardship Partners, Salmon-Safe golf course design and management standards represent a new level of environmental certification for Northwest golf courses

Piloted with leading Oregon and Washington golf courses, Salmon-Safe Golf focuses on operation and ongoing management golf courses, but also provide guidance for new facility upgrades within existing golf courses. The project is a collaboration between Salmon-Safe and our Seattle-based implementation partner Stewardship Partners, with significant input from the Northwest golf industry.

Salmon-Safe’s park standards are based on a system-wide approach that relies on a comprehensive evaluation of overall management policies and planning related to habitat and water quality protection.

The Salmon-Safe park systems and natural area certification was developed in partnership with several Northwest cities and other park providers.