Idaho Fish and Game officials are celebrating some funding that will help them restore lands that have been eroded by hydroelectric projects in North Idaho.
The Bonneville Power Administration has agreed to pay Fish and Game24 million dollars for wildlife and land restoration projects. The money comes as mitigation for the effects of Albeni Falls dam, which was built in the 1950’s.
Mitigation work has been ongoing since the 1990’s.In this case the money will go to restore land in the Clark Fork delta that has been severely eroded over the years.
“In the Clark Fork Delta alone, we were losing somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-15 acres annually due to the hydroelectric projects,” says Fish and Game Spokesman Chip Corsi, who says it’s hoped the erosion can be stopped and even reversed to some extent.
“Restoring essentially a front to the delta, that is armored so it will resist the wave action that comes up the lake, essentially creating a barrier island, which slows or stops the erosion on the riverside of the delta, and also build up some of the lost islands using bioengineering techniques,” he says.
Corsi says that area is home to lots of wildlife, and provides a corridor for creatures moving between the Bitterroot and Cabinet Mountain ranges
Some of the mitigation money will also be invested by the Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board for long-term stewardship of about 4,200 acres previously purchased as part of the dam’s mitigation.
