The deadline is approaching for public comment to the Idaho Department of Lands on the Idaho Club’s proposed Trestle Creek development project, which envisions an 88-slip commercial marina, breakwater, pedestrian bridge and parking lot, as well as seven houses with corresponding private docks near the mouth of the waterway.
Comments are due to IDL by Monday, Oct. 7, with submissions taken via email at navigablewaterways@idl.idaho.gov.
Meanwhile, an in-person, two-day public evidentiary hearing is scheduled on the project for Monday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Sandpoint High School auditorium (410 S. Division Ave.).
The hearing, which is scheduled to run 5 p.m.-8 p.m. on both days, will be conducted by the Office of Administrative Hearings and will focus on the application for encroachment and modifications made to the proposal since the initial application.
Public comment will also be taken on Oct. 7 and, should testimony run over the allotted time, more will be taken on Oct. 8.
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Hats off in gratitude to all the people involved in the Pack River Delta restoration endeavor. The $3.5 million project is a perfect model for the restoration of a waterfowl and wildlife habitat with new islands and more than 60,000 native plants put in place. This project will improve the spawning and rearing of endangered species and provide a migration corridor for fish and fowl.
Not to be left out, the public has been provided with a free and easily accessible launch area for canoes and kayaks, as this delta is now designated as a no-wake zone.
It is estimated that somewhere around $20 million has been spent rebuilding the wetland habitats between both the Clark Fork and Pack River deltas, all in an attempt to recover what was lost after the construction of Albeni Falls Dam in the 1950s.
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The Idaho Department of Lands is engaging in reckless environmental practices with the Around Round Lake Timber Sale. This sale, adjacent to Round Lake State Park, threatens heavily used trails used by campers and day users. The clearcuts will be visible from the park and surrounding areas.
IDL's actions include clearcut logging of old growth, goshawk nesting stands, and logging large very old and biologically significant western white pine, redcedar, grand and Douglas firs, and western larch. The removal of large, fire-resistant carbon-storing ponderosa pines, larch and redcedar to a lesser degree is particularly concerning. A huge 52" DBH western red cedar in an old growth patch that is a fire refugia and the biodiverse larch veteran marking the trail north of the the dam are also slated for removal.
Contrary to IDL's draft analysis, which claims no Idaho species of concern are present, black-backed woodpeckers have been observed and documented in the units. Detailed botanical surveys are urgently needed, especially in moister areas and old growth patches.
This timber sale must be stopped, and the adjacent land transferred to Idaho Parks and Recreation. IDL's actions are not in the best interest of residents or our forests. Contact Chad Ramsey, Pend Oreille Supervisory Area, and your legislators demanding sale cancellation and transfer of management to State Parks with a no logging clause. These forests better serve Idaho as climate reserves than for timber.
PAUL SIERACKI
Priest River
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