Clean sites for camps proposed

There’s a need for campgrounds not contaminated with mine tailings and heavy metals along the Coeur d’Alene River between Rose Lake and Harrison.

With an increase in recreational use of the nearby Chain Lakes and the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes bike trail, more people are pitching tents in areas where high water has covered the land with dangerous silt.

That’s why the Coeur d’Alene Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission wants to get government agencies, user groups and property owners together this fall to find locations for designated – and clean – camp sites.

“I’m not proposing developing a whole bunch of new sites,” said Terry Harwood, the commission’s executive director. “My proposal is to figure out ways to clean up existing sites being used or provide a substitute site that’s clean.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Idaho Fish and Game and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality recently scrapped a plan to put up to 30 tent and RV sites on the shore of Rose Lake, south of Cataldo on state Highway 3. The 26 acres of state-owned land already has a boat landing and bathroom.

Property owners in the area overwhelmingly opposed the idea because they didn’t want increased boat traffic on the small lake that has struggled with algae blooms. They also disliked the idea of constructing a bike trail that would hook into the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes because it would have to cross busy Highway 3.

DEQ’s Mark Stromberg said the agencies wanted to turn the Rose Lake area into a campground to keep people from camping at the nearby Bull Run trailhead on the river, which is contaminated.

Stromberg said the Rose Lake site was desirable because it is free of heavy metals and is at a higher elevation so it won’t flood.

Potential for recontamination is one of the problems with finding safe campsites, Harwood said. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ dollars to clean up contaminated campsites that may eventually flood, redepositing heavy metals in the area, he said.

Yet the agencies don’t want to upset the locals, such as those who showed up at a May 16 hearing on the Rose Lake proposal.

Resident Dale Brown is glad the agencies listened and are looking for other options. “They listened when we spoke,” Brown said.

Even though the Rose Lake idea is dead, Stromberg said the agencies still need to find alternatives.

“People need a legal, clean place to camp,” Stromberg said.