AN IDAHO ICON WITH SUBLIME SCENERY AND TOP-NOTCH HABITAT
The Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint Joe, boasts similarly gorgeous scenery, with mile-after-mile of forested riverbanks and clear, cold water. Near the confluence of Fishhook Creek and the Saint Joe River, WRC has set out to purchase and conserve the 585-acre Fishhook Creek property. An inholding in the Saint Joe National Forest, the property spans a mile of the Saint 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 Saint Joe River and its tributaries are strongholds for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout, and conserving the Fishhook Creek property will enable important recovery efforts for this vulnerable species. Restoration activities currently underway upstream of the property on the Saint 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.
Our goal is to purchase the property and convey it to the Saint Joe National Forest for permanent protection and recreational access. Not only will filling a gap in protection improve management strategies for the USFS, which manages nearly all the land adjacent to the property, but it will guarantee this special stretch of the Saint Joe remains permanently intact and its recovering forests on the path to maturity. For recreationists, conserving the Fishhook Creek property will mean improved access for boating, hiking, fishing, hunting and birdwatching. All said, this project will be a meaningful step toward keeping the Saint Joe River and its excellent habitat pristine and thriving for fish, wildlife and people.
