Conservancy buys land along St. Joe River

A patch of timberland on the banks of the Saint Joe River is expected to move into public ownership next year, giving anglers a reason to celebrate.

In November, the Western Rivers Conservancy finalized the purchase of 585 acres along a mile of the Saint Joe and just over a half-mile of Fishhook Creek with plans to transfer it to the U.S. Forest Service.

The group bought the land from the timber company PotlatchDetlic. A purchase price was not disclosed.

Jessica Inwood, of Western Rivers Conservancy, said the deal grew out of a chance encounter with representatives of PotlatchDeltic, which is the largest private landowner in Idaho.

They found that the property just west of the town of Avery fit the idea of what the conservancy likes to do – buy land that’s valuable for public access and river habitat and transfer it into public ownership.

Much of the land in the Saint Joe drainage upstream of Avery is already held by the Forest Service, which Inwood said helped make the transfer a good fit.

She said the group likes that it would secure recreational access to the river and help its native species.

“It’s great habitat for bull trout and also native westslope cutthroat trout,” Inwood said. “We’re always excited to see more land protected along rivers like that.”

In a statement, Bill DeReu, the vice president of real estate for PotlatchDeltic, said the deal “provides perpetual public benefit on the Saint Joe River.”

The Forest Service has to put up money to complete the transfer. Inwood said the agency got Land and Water Conservation Fund money for the project, and that they’re hoping that happens in the next few months. An appraisal put the property’s value at more than $2 million.

Patrick Lair, a spokesman for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, could not provide any further details.

The Saint Joe is considered one of the best cutthroat streams in the country.

Long, wide and gin-clear, it flows 140 miles from its source in the Bitterroot Mountains and drains into Lake Coeur d’Alene. Bull trout are found in the uppermost portions of the drainage.

The lower river flows through mostly private land.

At the town of Avery, the patchwork gives way to public ownership on both banks all the way upstream to the river’s source.

The property purchased by the conservancy is about 2 miles west of Avery, near where Fishhook Creek pours into the river. The property includes a little more than a half-mile of the smaller stream.

Mike Thomas, a fisheries biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said the agency doesn’t have recent survey data for the creek, but it’s a significant piece of the drainage.

“It’s a large tributary of the Joe that provides important spawning habitat for cutthroat trout and also provides an important cold water input in the summer months,” Thomas said.

The confluence of the two streams is not part of the deal. A smaller parcel there is owned by a separate landowner.

Chip Corsi, the president of the Panhandle Chapter of Trout Unlimited, said the deal is a big win for the public.

The chapter sent a letter supporting the project in 2024.

Corsi said the deal ensures the long-term status of the prime riverfront property, meaning access for anglers and relatively undisturbed habitat for trout, deer, elk and more.

“Wildlife and fish are better served with it in long-term public ownership,” Corsi said.