St. Joe River May Be Too Pristine For Logging Outstanding Resource Designation Could Thwart Timber Plans

While boaters rave about its sparkling stretches, pickup drivers praise the accessibility of the St. Joe River: “Of course I’m dirty. I drive the Joe,” proclaims one bumper sticker spotted recently in Coeur d’Alene.

Now the St. Joe is up for more permanent praise, with potentially controversial results.

The river is one of five around Idaho nominated in a close vote this week by the state Board of Health and Welfare for recognition as an Outstanding Resource Water.

The classification brings lofty water quality protections that could conflict with future plans to log in the upper St. Joe watershed, state officials say.

It also recognizes a river with a thriving cutthroat trout population, healthy wetlands and a strong public following, conservationists say. “The shadowy St. Joe - it’s one of the best-kept secrets in Idaho,” said Marti Bridges, a former St. Maries resident who now works with Idaho Rivers United.

That group, along with the Idaho Conservation League, also wants the state to bestow the new designation on the Selway River, the Middle Fork of the Salmon, the three forks of the Boise River and the South Fork of the Snake River.

The board approved the nominations by a 3-2 vote Thursday.

No Idaho waterways have earned the designation since 1991, when the state’s Outstanding Resource Water program began.

The status applies to waterways that already exceed pollution standards. It means the current water quality must be preserved.

On the Joe, that could affect plans to log areas on the upper river burned by fires that swept through in 1910, said Geoff Harvey, of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality.

“Ninety years later, those trees are coming to saw timber age,” Harvey said. “At the same time, those are the places where people go to recreate.

“They’re going to be real battle zones.”

The Citizen’s Advisory Committee, a citizen group that advises public agencies on natural resource issues, wants the state to hold hearings on the issue.

There will be a public comment period for the designation, and there may be future hearings, Bridges said.

Based on public input, the new board for the Department of Environmental Quality will recommend which rivers the Idaho Legislature should consider for final designation. The Division of Environmental Quality becomes a department on July 1, and the board has yet to be named.