Idaho Conservation League
Boise, ID
Clearwater Basin Collaborative
Project location: Clearwater Basin, Idaho
$25,000 2009-2010

The Idaho Conservation League (ICL) works to protect and restore the water, wildlands, and wildlife of Idaho through citizen action, public education, and professional advocacy. Idaho’s Clearwater Basin, located on the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests immediately north of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, contains over one million acres of roadless areas and sustains some of the wildest undeveloped lands remaining in the Northern Rockies. The rivers include endangered species such as Chinook salmon and Bull trout, while the olf-growth forests support diverse species such as Canada lynx, gray wolf, black bear, and mountain lion. It is also historic and potentially reoccupied grizzly habitat. The Clearwater is critical link in the chain of wildlands that comprise the Yellowstone to Yukon vision of regional habitat connectivity.

The Clearwater Collaborative seeks to move beyond the polarizing conflicts of the recent past towards an open forum for collective input into the management of the region that can benefit multiple stakeholders, including the forest products industry and various recreation interests, in addition to conservation interests such as ICL. The Collaborative’s efforts are fully endorsed by Idaho’s senior U.S. Senator, Mike Crapo (R).

ICL’s goals for the Collaborative include:

• Permanent wilderness protection for the best remaining wildlands and restoration of lands logged or developed previously.

• Developing a pathway for responsible logging in the Clearwater. There are considerable opportunities for restoration activities on the roaded base, small-scale biomass, and value-added work in retooled mills and more. The Collaborative offers a new way to approach community, commercial, and ecological needs together.

• Building a pathway for other issues of concern such as travel planning and ORV management, mining, fisheries, and recreation infrastructure.