AN IDAHO ICON WITH SUBLIME SCENERY AND TOP-NOTCH HABITAT
The St. Joe River, a wild and scenic river in its upper reaches, flows 140 miles from its origins in the northern Bitterroot Mountain range westward to Lake Coeur d’Alene. With crystal-clear, cold water, idyllic falls and dramatic moss and fern laden canyons lining its banks, the St. Joe is one of Idaho’s wild gems. Osprey and bald eagle swoop from riverside cottonwood forests to feast on fish, while elk, deer, moose and bear frequent the river’s edge. For people, the St. Joe offers some of the state’s best fishing and hunting, in addition to excellent whitewater rafting, bird watching and wildlife viewing.
Fishhook Creek, a tributary to the St. Joe, boasts similarly gorgeous scenery, with mile-after-mile of forested riverbanks and clear, cold water. Near the confluence of Fishhook Creek and the St. Joe River, WRC purchased and conserved the 585-acre Fishhook Creek property. An inholding in the St. Joe National Forest, the property spans a mile of the St. Joe and 0.6 miles of Fishhook Creek. With its mixed forest of Douglas fir, larch and pine, the property provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including grizzly bear, Rocky Mountain elk and Canada lynx.
CONSERVING TROUT HABITAT AND IMPROVING PUBLIC ACCESS
The St. Joe River and its tributaries are strongholds for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout, and conserving the Fishhook Creek property enables important recovery efforts for this vulnerable species. Restoration activities currently underway upstream of the property on the St. Joe are likely to result in higher densities of bull trout throughout the river system in the coming decades. That makes preserving high-quality aquatic habitat like that found in the Fishhook Creek property critical to bull trout survival over the long term.
WRC purchased the property in November 2025 and conveyed it to the St. Joe National Forest in March 2026 for permanent protection and recreational access. Not only does this improve management strategies for the USFS, which manages nearly all the land adjacent to the property, but it guarantees this special stretch of the St. Joe remains permanently intact and sets its recovering forests on the path to maturity. For recreationists, conserving the Fishhook Creek property means improved access for boating, hiking, fishing, hunting and birdwatching. All said, this project is a meaningful step toward keeping the St. Joe River and its excellent habitat pristine and thriving for fish, wildlife and people.
