Habitat Restoration
OUR PROJECT
Restoring Kootenai River Habitat
The traditional lands of the Kootenai people were once rich with abundant fish and wildlife. Prior to European settlement and development, the Kootenai River valley was one of the largest and most productive riparian forest and wetland complexes in the North American Pacific Northwest.
Settlers made many changes to the Kootenai River watershed over the last century. These included diking, agricultural development, logging, mining, and construction and operation of dams for flood control and power generation (Libby Dam in Montana and Corra Linn Dam in British Columbia).
Impact
More than 50,000 acres of floodplain were converted to agricultural fields resulting in the loss of riparian and wetland plant and animal communities, and the disruption of the normal floodplain functions that support a healthy ecosystem
Why It Matters
Today, this modified ecosystem is no longer able to support the biological complexity it once sustained. Native fish populations in the Kootenai River have been drastically reduced. The Kootenai River white sturgeon is listed endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act, native burbot are nearly extinct, and bull trout are listed as threatened.
Populations of many other culturally important native fish and wildlife have also declined. Due to these losses, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho cannot currently fully exercise their federally reserved rights to fish at their usual and accustomed fishing areas. The Tribe’s access to traditional subsistence and cultural resources has been severely diminished. The Tribe is addressing this through implementation of an integrated fish and wildlife program.
