St. Joe property moves into public ownership | Field Reports

The public now owns more riverfront property on one of Idaho’s best cutthroat streams. 

A 585-acre parcel along the St. Joe River near Avery officially entered public ownership this month with a transfer from the Western Rivers Conservancy to the U.S. Forest Service.

Called the Fishhook Creek property, it was an inholding along a mile of the St. Joe and just over 1/2 mile of Fishhook Creek. It’s west of Avery.

Western Rivers Conservancy bought the land from PotlatchDeltic last fall with plans to transfer it to the Forest Service.

Forest Service ownership means the property will be open to the public and that habitat for both fish and wildlife will be conserved. 

In a news release, Noe Reyes, the Forest Service’s St. Joe district ranger, said the acquisition “reflects a thoughtful balance between environmental conservation and community benefit.”

Forest Service closes road along West Fork Eagle Creek

Flooding, road damage and timber blowdown has prompted the U.S. Forest Service to close another road in North Idaho. 

Forest Service Road 805, along the West Fork of Eagle Creek near Murray, is closed from the forest boundary north to its intersection with Trail 162, known as Ancient Settlers Grove. The trail winds through a grove of large cedar trees.

Photos posted to Facebook show that part of the road washed out completely and another part is blocked by fallen timber. 

The closure joins a number of others that have been ordered across North Idaho since flooding wreaked havoc on the region in December. Information on which roads are closed is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/idahopanhandle/alerts.