|
|
|
Fish & wildlife |
|
|
|||||||||||||||
 click photo to enlarge |
Eleven years ago, the 600 riverfront acres known today as the Pend Oreille Wetlands Wildlife Mitigation project comprised a pair of riverfront ranch properties sequestered behind a dike along the east bank of the river. In 1991, the Council authorized the Bonneville Power Administration to purchase the ranch as partial mitigation for the wildlife and habitat losses caused by the construction of Albeni Falls Dam, which was completed in 1955. Bonneville purchased the 436-acre Flying Goose Ranch in 1992 and turned it over to the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, with headquarters in nearby Usk, to manage as wildlife habitat. An adjacent 164 acres were added to the project in 1997.
The Pend Oreille river and lake area of northern Idaho and northeastern Washington are within the traditional homeland of the Kalispel Tribe. In 1914, the 4,620-acre Kalispel Reservation was created by executive order. The reservation and the nearby Pend Oreille Wetlands project are about 50 miles northeast of Spokane.
According to habitat loss assessments completed in the late 1980s, construction and operation of the dam resulted in the loss of 6,617 acres of wetland, the inundation of 8,900 acres of deep-water marsh and the loss of habitat for a variety of species. Seven habitat types exist on the Pend Oreille wetlands project:
forested wetland
scrub-shrub wetland
emergent wetland
wet meadow or floodplain grassland
open water
upland forest
riparian deciduous forest.
These habitat types support populations of wildlife affected by the dam. The Kalispel Tribe's management activities have included planting trees along the river, stabilizing the river bank, enhancing stands of coniferous and hardwood trees, installing water control structures, burning vegetation in a managed way, managing pasture land, constructing nesting islands, and conducting general operations and maintenance activities that include monitoring and evaluation. These actions have helped target species, including Canada geese, mallard ducks, muskrat, white-tailed deer, bald eagles and several species of song birds.
 click photo to enlarge |
Ray Entz, a biologist for the Kalispel Tribe and manager of the Pend Oreille Wetlands project, said the project shows that environmental restoration doesn't happen in a hurry.
"It was an old floodplain farm when we started," he said. "We removed the dike at one end and restored the wetlands. It took more than six years for us to see the plant and animal communities, and the diversity of species, return. But they did return, and it is a beautiful place today."
And there was a surprise:
"Recently, we've been seeing leopard frogs on the project," Entz said. "They've been absent for 20 years, and now they're back. I don't think it's cause and effect as a result of the project, but it is interesting."
home
