Floods Tore Apart Campgrounds Millions Will Be Needed To Repair Recreational Areas In Panhandle

February flooding inflicted an estimated $2 million damage to roads, campgrounds and watersheds in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, an internal Forest Service memo says.

“Direct flooding seriously affected roads, trails, campgrounds and other facilities located in valley bottoms,” said the memo, addressed to Forest Supervisor Dave Wright from his engineering staff. “Replacement or relocation for entire sections of roads can be expected.”

Forest Service officials could not be reached Tuesday, so it isn’t clear where money will come from for the repairs. The Federal Highway Administration administers a fund that national forests often tap into to fix flood-related damage to roads.

The $2 million estimate - which is “very preliminary” - came after Forest Service officials scouted the Panhandle Forests by airplane earlier this month.

Those estimates put the cost of fixing roads, trails and campgrounds at $1 million.

Watersheds also were damaged “and may continue to erode throughout the Forest as a result of road-related failures,” the Feb. 12 memo said.

Stream restoration efforts were ruined by the flooding and there likely is long-term harm to fish.

The cost of fixing this part of the forest picture could easily exceed another $1 million, the memo said.

The flood damage was exacerbated by excessive logging and road building, said Mike Mihelich of Kootenai Environmental Alliance. “The Forest Service’s response is to continue to log these watersheds under the guise of salvage.”

Industry and Forest Service officials blame Mother Nature.

In any case, the need to fight fires, harvest timber, get to private and public land and stop further harm to endangered fish makes fixing the damage urgent, the Forest Service memo said.

The problems come on top of early December floods that also inflicted between $500,000 and $750,000 in damage to roads alone. The Panhandle Forests were planning to ask for help from the Federal Highway Administration to fix those wounds.

Idaho Fish and Game officials have warned that using emergency federal money to rebuild roads is akin to resetting time bombs. Federal rules say the money can only be used to replace exactly what was there before the storms.

That could mean an undersized culvert that blew out this year is replaced with an undersized culvert that plugs up in the future. The plugged culvert creates a dam that washes out in a big storm, much as it did this winter, the Fish and Game said.

“We still have concerns about roads and how they will be dealt with in light of the flood damage,” said fisheries biologist Chip Corsi.

But “we’ve got a dialogue opened up with the Forest Service” Corsi said and “we have assurances that we will have input into how the repairs are made.

“Hopefully, things will be better the next time the big water comes.”

The most serious flood damage appears to be in the St. Joe River drainage and on the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River. The total picture won’t be assembled until after the spring thaw.

“I suspect there is stuff out there that is undiscovered,” Corsi said. “It’s going to be a situation where people are out trying to drive somewhere, drive around a corner and find the road is gone.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ASSESSING THE DAMAGE Preliminary Forest Service estimates put the cost of fixing roads, trails and campgrounds damaged by February flooding at $1 million. An additional $1 million may be needed for repairs to damaged watersheds.