WINTER SPORTS — Snowmobiling restrictions have been eased in a state lands portion of caribou habitat in the Idaho Selkirk Mountains — as long as no caribou activity is detected in the area. 

Sounds like a guarantee of sorts.

See the announcement posted this week on Pecky Cox's blog, As the Lake Churns:

The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) has revised the closure criteria for the Restricted Winter Access Unit (RWUA) located on State endowment trust land in Abandon Creek. This area will now be treated similarly to other preferred caribou habitat located near Temple Mountain, Standard Lakes, Eddy Peak and Horton Ridge. A closure will be implemented only after there has been a confirmed caribou sighting in the Selkirk Crest near the preferred habitat. Since there hasn’t been a caribou sighting since 2004, the Abandon Creek area will be open to motorized use this winter unless a caribou is sighted within 2.7 miles of the RWUA perimeter or upon recommendation of Idaho Fish and Game.

Previously, confirmed sightings south of B.C. Highway 3 (i.e. Snowy Top) triggered a closure in the Abandon Creek area. The change in criteria for the Abandon Creek area is reflective of IDL’s review of the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service critical habitat designation for caribou, and it has now been 8 years since the last confirmed caribou sighting (2004) on State endowment trust land in Abandon Creek.

PUBLIC LANDS — The crowds that trashed the prized North Fork Coeur d'Alene fishing waters this summer have subsided back to the places they leave their garbage the rest of the year.

So it’s time for a river cleanup.

On Saturday, Sept. 15, the North Fork Coeur d’Alene River Watershed Advisory Group and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests are organizing a public clean-up day including a free BBQ lunch and prizes for the “most interesting” garbage collected.

• The river cleanup event will begin at 9 a,m. 
• Volunteers check-in at Albert’s Landing, 2 miles north of Kingston on Old River Road.
• Barbecue and prize drawings will start at 1 p.m.

Info: Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District at (208) 769-3028.

”We are thrilled to host this much-needed river cleanup,” said Kajsa Stromberg, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality scientist and WAG facilitator. “All summer-long, there have been boaters, floaters, campers, and other visitors enjoying the North Fork and now we have cans and garbage piling up along the river banks and filling up its deep pools. Sometimes the river shines with all the cans.”

PUBLIC LANDS — Several roads in the Coeur d'Alene region will be closed during construction starting Tuesday, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests announced this afternoon.

Beauty Creek Campground Road 438 from the junction with Highway 97 to the junction with Forest Road 453.  The first mile will be open to local traffic only to allow access to Beauty Creek Campground. 

Forest Road 202 will be closed from the junction with Deception Creek Road 612 to the junction with Forest Road 434 near Wolf Lodge Saddle. 

Forest Roads 422, 911, and 6310 in the Tepee Creek area will not be closed but expect delays as road improvements are conducted. 

Construction is expected to last two weeks at the sites listed above and each road will be re-opened as the repairs are completed. 

Glidden Lake access via Forest Road 615 will be blocked by powerline work through Thursday.

REOPENED:

Wolf Lodge Road 202 has been re-opened from the County Road 202 to Wolf Lodge Saddle.  Trailer use is not recommended due to the narrow road width caused by a road failure.

Info: Silver Valley office, (208) 783-2363; and Fernan Office, (208) 664-2318.

PUBLIC LANDS — As the Idaho Panhandle National Forests gear up to revise their forest management plansfor the next 15-20 years, conservationists are sizing up the potential impacts on recreation and wilderness.

Brad Smith of the Idaho Conservation League will give a presentation about the Panhandle plan revision and possible impacts on the Selkirk Mountains. The program is set for MondaySept. 19, 7 p.m., at Mountain Gear's Corporate Headquarters, 6021 E. Mansfield. See map.

Chimney Rock, Harrison Peak, the Lion's Head, Long Canyon and the Idaho side of the Salmo-Priest Wilderness are among the premier recreation sites included in the planning area, he said.