Field Reports

WILDLIFE HABITAT

Contest for landowners

Whether you have a ranch or simply a big yard you want to develop for wildlife, local members of Safari Club International want to showcase your efforts.

Entries are being accepted for the Wildlife Enhancement Contest, which has been awarding $500 in prizes since 1994 to people who go “above and beyond’” to establish wildlife habitat.

Items considered in judging include: wintering grounds, food sources, impact on wildlife, breeding and nesting grounds, long-term benefits and surrounding conditions.

Stan Flugel, chapter president, said the contest rewards projects that boost any wildlife species, not just game animals that are hunted.

“We all make a difference in the amount of habitat available, if and when we take an active part,” he said. Government-funded projects are not eligible.

Entries should be submitted by Aug. 16 to allow for on-site inspections. Entries should include photos or videos and a description of the project.

Mail entries to Stan Flugel, 17811 E. Scribner Rd., Spokane, WA 99217, telephone 921-0810 or e-mail kiwishell@aol.com.

Landowners from the Pomeroy area can get more information from Gary Cole, (509) 843-3748. In the Davenport area, contact Alan Knott, (509) 299-5206.

Rich Landers

RIVER CLEANUP

Clark Fork plan released

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released its final plan for cleaning up mining contamination along a 120-mile stretch of the Clark Fork River.

Tracy Stone-Manning, executive director of the Clark Fork Coalition, called the final plan “fabulous,” and said the reclamation requirements are more stringent than many conservationists thought they could expect from the EPA.

The entire cleanup is expected to take about 10 years and cost about $120 million, EPA officials said.

In a written statement, the EPA said the plan balances the myriad concerns of conservationists, Arco and landowners along the river and addresses the most significant issues brought up in the draft proposal.

The agency’s clean-up plan covers 120 river miles upstream of the Milltown Reservoir, a large chunk of the biggest Superfund site in the nation. The river is polluted with heavy metals from copper mining and smelting in Butte and Anaconda.

The EPA has already recommended removing Milltown Dam plus tons of contaminated soil in the reservoir behind it.

Associated Press

FISHING

South Fork open early

For the first time, anglers bloomed in April along the South Fork of the Snake River near Conant Valley as the entire river, starting this year was opened to fishing year-round.

The water was low in April — the river was roughly a 10th of its summertime flow — and anglers could cross almost anywhere.

Rainbow fishing was good to great in April, according to local reports, with anglers picking up fish in the deeper water with bead heads and lures. And if the rainbows weren’t hitting, the whitefish were.

More recently the rainbows were moving into shallower water to spawn.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game opened the upper river to fishing in January in the hopes that anglers will catch and kill as many rainbows as possible.

Rainbows are breeding with native cutthroat trout, which threatens the very existence of the natives.

Associated Press