Why is the Forest Service Sacrificing Idaho’s Wildest River Amid Climate Crisis?

When it comes to wild rivers, Idaho is among the richest within the lower 48 states. But the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is about to abandon protections for some of the state’s most cherished free-flowing gems.  

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is neither the pan nor the handle of Idaho; it’s in between. This area boasts the headwaters of the Lochsa, Selway, and Salmon rivers, renowned for their big whitewater and multi-day river trips. The Clearwater River’s middle, north, and south forks are well-known angling destinations for steelhead, westslope cutthroat trout, and bull trout. These are the streams where endangered fish will return following the eventual removal of the Lower Snake River dams between Lewiston, Idaho and Tri-Cities, Washington. Scientists have referred to Nez Perce-Clearwater country as the Noah’s Ark for salmon because its higher-elevation rivers will remain cold enough to sustain healthy fish populations even as climate change worsens.  

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In 2021, the Biden Administration established a goal to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and freshwater by 2030, an initiative commonly referred to as America the Beautiful. It is the job of public land management agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, to meet the administration’s climate goal by inventorying and applying protections to deserving lands and inland waters. 

Granting long-term administrative protections to Wild and Scenic eligible and suitable rivers is one of the most effective ways to make them more resilient in the face of climate change. The Forest Service’s science points to the importance of protecting climate refugia – rivers are anticipated to remain cold enough by 2040 to support coldwater fish species. With only a fraction of rivers having any type of protected status, the administration is far from meeting its America the Beautiful goals, meaning that contributions by every national forest count. 

Other nearby national forests in Idaho and Montana are playing their part. Since 2015, five forests have revised their land management plans and collectively more than doubled the number of rivers protected and increased protected river miles by more than 75 percent.  

Sadly, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is eliminating protections for 86 percent of its Wild and Scenic eligible rivers in its new forest plan. Across four million acres of inland rainforest, the Forest is offering up just 12 streams to support the administration’s broad-reaching climate goals. Since forest plans typically last for decades, the detrimental decisions made now by the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest will adversely affect rivers and fish for generations. 

In all, the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest’s new forest plan would remove protections from nearly 700 stream miles. Among the waterways that would lose protections are tributaries to the Lochsa River and the North and South Forks of the Clearwater River. The North Fork Clearwater River, which has been protected for more than 30 years, provides nearly 80 contiguous boatable miles and unsurpassed habitat for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. The South Fork Clearwater River is renowned for its unmatched B-run steelhead fishing, miles of walk-and-wade shoreline, and robust whitewater. The Forest is also arbitrarily abandoning protections for:  
 

• 72 percent of streams that have been protected since 1990 
• 80 percent of streams anticipated to provide future climate refuge for threatened and endangered coldwater fish 
• 70 percent of streams that have cultural significance to the Nez Perce Tribe, including the Bear Creek Salmon Hole 
• Streams with superlative scenery and recreational values such as the longest waterfall at 300 vertical feet, the best place to view spawning salmon, and the most popular natural hot springs found on the Forest 

The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is stripping protections from these special rivers based on false assumptions that Wild and Scenic River eligibility and suitability will hamstring forest management and endangered species recovery. Wild and Scenic protections prevent wholesale commercial logging and clearcutting within designated corridors, but allow vegetation management, wildfire mitigation, habitat restoration projects, motorized travel on existing roads and trails, and other activities, as long as they don’t diminish river values. In fact, well-planned projects can enhance river protections. 

If adopted as written, the revised Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest Plan will not only violate the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and agency planning policy, but it would also undermine President Biden’s Climate Policy. American Rivers is asking Forest Service leadership to correct the egregious errors in the new forest plan to ensure that we protect the best rivers and streams we have today for future generations. 

Join other river advocates: Tell the Forest Service to uphold protections for Idaho’s rivers.