The Hangman Restoration Project was initially contracted in August of 2001.  Hangman Creek once supported a run of Chinook salmon and steelhead and a site near the current town of Tekoa, Washington was one of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe’s main fishing areas.  Recent management of the landscape has greatly degraded the wetland habitats and stream conditions till native salmonids are no longer found in the Hangman Mainstem within the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.  The Hangman Restoration Project was initiated to restore native habitats by pursuing duel benefits through both Wildlife Mitigation and Resident Fish Substitution within the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program.  The first years of the Project were focused toward identifying priority habitats and pursuing the purchase of parcels that offered the greatest potential to support native fish and wildlife habitats.  Properties ... were purchased in FY2005 that are credited to Albeni Falls construction and inundation losses.  Assessments of the properties were completed in FY 2006 and 2007.  A management plan for the properties, which the Tribe refers to collectively in the Coeur d'Alene language as hnt'k'wipn, was completed and approved in the spring of FY2008.  The restoration of hnt'k'wipn was initiated in FY2008, with the planting of 36.4 acres with native grass seed and the removal of drain tiles that dewatered 287.3 acres of floodplain and potential wetlands within the property.  In 2009, an additional 72.9 acres were planted with native grass seed and 6,100 cy of fill was removed from a 1 acre site near the south eastern boundary of the Property.  The fill was stockpiled for the eventual decommissioning (filling) of "Ditch A," which directs water off the flood plain and straight into Hangman Creek, and for filling in the lower reaches of Sheep Creek after the Sheep Creek channel is realigned to closely follow its original course.  In FY2010, an additional 196.4 acres were planted with native grass seed, and the channel that will eventually carry the waters of Sheep Creek along its original alignment was dug.  The dense stand of ponderosa pine within the forested habitats of hnt'k'wipn was thinned in FY2010 to standing tree densities more reflective of historic pine open woodland conditions.  The more open coniferous forest will allow increased diversity within the understory,    Also in 2010, native trees and shrubs were planted along Hangman Creek within enclosures to protect them until they can become established.    

During Fiscal Year 2011, the year of this scope of work, a variety of native deciduous trees and shrubs will be planted in the pine open woodland and along stream courses and close to wetlands, an additional 114 acres will be planted with native grasses, and Ditches B and C will be filled and the waters rerouted across the flood plain in a slower, less erosive fashion.  The freshly dug Sheep Creek channel will be watered only during the dry season so vegetation can establish along its course prior to it carrying the large volumes of waters that flow through Sheep Creek during the wet season.  The improvements to native fish and wildlife habitats are consistent with the yearly, stepwise implementation of restoration activities outlined in the hnt'k'wipn Management Plan.  This strategy will minimize risks, build on successes, and spread the financial burden over a longer period.  

Also in FY2011, the HEP report on the hnt'k'wipn mitigation property will be written.  The report will be completed in accordance with the 5-year schedule of HEPs.  Undoubtedly, the HU values for the models used in the FY2005 report will decline as the initiation of restoration activities has temporarily reduced habitat for those species.  However, as habitat develop along the desired progression, HU values for those species will increase rapidly.  Additional models will be reviewed for this cycle of HEPs in order to ensure fair and accurate credits for the protection and enhancement of habitats within hnt'k'wipn.

The ultimate goal of the Hangman Restoration Project and the Hangman Fisheries Project (BPA Project #2001-032-00) is to prepare the Hangman Watershed for the return of the salmon and steelhead spawning runs.  In order to accomplish this task, the focus of the Hangman Restoration Project must remain on the Hangman Watershed at large.  In this current scope of work, the Hangman Restoration Project plans to to partner with the NRCS and FSA to implement Continuous Conservation Reserve Programs (CCRP) on priority parcels in the Hangman Watershed.  In previous years, only one property was successfully enrolled in NRCS/FSA Programs.  Other efforts to partner with the NRCS and FSA failed due to 1) a lack of interest by landowners at large and 2) the rules for eligibility disqualified properties where landowners were willing to enroll.  A new Farm Bill was passed in the spring of 2008, however, the implementation of that bill has been delayed due to litigation.  There are two solid prospects for partnering with NRCS and FSA.  A general CRP sign-up was released in August of 2010 and efforts are being made to enroll the tilled portion of A326 into that Program.  Also, the owner of a property in the lower reaches of Smith Creek is enrolling in CRP and the Fisheries and Wildlife Programs may be able to initial habitat restoration on that property as part of that sign up.

The completion of a recent Environmental Protection Agency funded project identified downstream characteristics as holding the highest hydrologic priority for wetland and stream flow restoration and enhancement.  In order to return base flows to the Hangman Watershed, therefore, the Hangman Restoration Project must increasingly concentrate on returning proper hydrologic function to downstream riparian and wetland habitats.  Other partnerships will be sought to initiate restoration activities along the watercourses through the valley bottoms in the Hangman Watershed.   Show More