Straight Reach project work is continuing

BONNERS FERRY — Excavation and reconstruction work continues on the Kootenai Tribe Straight Reach project as crews transition from rock spur buildup to driving timber piles into the riverbed where pools can form to protect and attract spawning sturgeon. They will also be back grading the south bank of the river throughout September, according to an update from the Kootenai Tribe.

“Pool-forming structures made of wood piles and rock create eddies and other complex habitat used by fish and also redirect flow to protect the bank and maintain pools,” according to the update. “Building out the bank helps to limit erosion and provide floodplain services. Revegetation with native plants creates a riparian buffer and helps enhance the food web.”

The Bonners Ferry Islands Project focuses on construction a pair of islands mid-stream and the creation of three deep pools in the river. It is part of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s Habitat Restoration Program, which is a multi-year undertaking. The Islands portion of the project will be completed by the end of the year, the update said.

Another critical component of the Habitat Restoration Project is the Kootenai River White Sturgeon Conservation Hatchery, located near Twin Rivers Resort.

“During the last century, agriculture, logging, mining, flood control and impoundments dramatically changed the Kootenai River basin. The cumulative impacts put the Kootenai River white sturgeon on the endangered species list,” according to information from the Tribe. “The goal of the Tribe’s hatchery is to prevent extinction, preserve the species’ gene pool, and begin rebuilding the population.”

So, until the restoration pieces of the project fit into place, making the Kootenai River a nurturing habitat for the dwindling sturgeon, the Tribe is ensuring the survival of the species in its hatchery. At the state-of-the-art facility, technicians harvest eggs from river-caught females, fertilize them with milt from wild male sturgeon and put them in upwelling jars for incubation. The hatched fry move with water overflow into collection tanks. Techs move the larval fish into large circular tanks at about 8 weeks, and when the fish are 6 to 12 inches long, they reenter the wild, either during a fall or spring release.

In safeguarding the white sturgeon in the shorter term and working to restore their ancestral habitat for the long term, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho honors its mandate to honor, guard and celebrate the land and its wildlife, according information from the Tribe.