Idaho Fish and Game lends a hand to its partner
Jun. 23—The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest is getting a little help from Idaho hunters and anglers via the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The state agency is giving its federal partner more than $500,000 to clear overgrown trails and perform other actions that improve backcountry access. The money will augment funding from the Great American Outdoors Act and target trails favored by hunters and anglers.
The grant comes mostly from a fund established by a 2017 state law that added a $5 surcharge for residents and a $10 charge for nonresidents when they purchase hunting and fishing licenses. Half of the money generated by the fee goes toward improving access to private and public land. The other half goes into a fund that helps compensate landowners for damage caused by wildlife.
"One of our most common themes is frustration over not being able to access places. This gives our sportsmen more access up there in the Clearwater," said Don Jenkins, Fish and Game's Natural Resources program coordinator at Boise, who previously worked as a habitat manager based in Lewiston. "It's always been a priority in the region to get these trails opened up and this was an opportunity to jump on that wagon."
Many Forest Service trails have fallen into disrepair — the result of budget cuts and the agency's spending priorities. According to Forest Service estimates, only about 25% of trails on national forests are in good shape. The agency steers most of its trail money to projects on what it calls "system trails," those that function as main thoroughfares. The rest of the trails, which often link into the main trails, are in varying stages of disrepair, with some disappearing altogether from lack of maintenance.
In 2016, the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act directed the Forest Service to prioritize trail maintenance in designated areas. One of those was the Central Idaho Wilderness Complex, an expanse of wild country stretching from the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area through the Mallard Larkins Pioneer Area. Funding to boost that assignment came in 2020 from the Great American Outdoors Act that was co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, but opposed by Rep. Russ Fulcher and Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, all Republicans from Idaho.
The Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest used the two acts to tackle a backlog of maintenance and put together an ambitious plan of work. But inflation skyrocketed over the past few years and the labor market withered. The tough financial conditions eroded the scope of what the agency hoped to accomplish.
"The prices for trail contracting have gone way up," said Carol Hennessey, recreation manager for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest.
So she and her team applied for the grant that, when added to other funding, will help care for 154 miles of trails on North Fork, Moose Creek, Red River and Palouse ranger districts. Most of the work, 130 miles, will be on nonmotorized trails. Other projects include repair of two pack bridges, the Kelly Creek and North Fork of the Clearwater River drainages, repair of boat ramps at Carey Creek and Spring Bar along the Salmon River east of Riggins and the construction of fishing platforms at Five Mile Pond along the Crooked River.
"It's going to allow them to get more of the trails done then they were going to with the funds they had," Jenkins said.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
