Natural resources, including flora and fauna, have shaped the culture of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (Tribe) for thousands and thousands of years. The aboriginal territories of the Kootenai Tribal peoples (Ktunaxa) were far reaching with traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering activities extending into British Columbia, Western Montana, and all of North Idaho.

Many of the areas and resources traditionally used by the Tribe have been lost; anadromous salmonids no longer journey up the Upper Columbia River and its tributaries, and wapato no longer blooms on the drained wetlands. Even today, the Kootenai white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and burbot (Lota lota) struggle to exist in the Kootenai River.

It is the goal of the Tribe to promote full mitigation of the impacts suffered by the people of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the fish, water, wildlife, and plant resources which they depended, as a direct and indirect result of the development and operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS). The Reconnect project is but one component of a suite of projects that are conserving, restoring, and managing various aspects of the lower Kootenai River ecosystem. No single activity is sufficient to recover and rebuild fish and wildlife species in the lower Kootenai River subbasin.

This project is tied strongly to the scientific principles of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NPCC) Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (NPPC 2009); ecosystem function and ecological management are keys to the directed project objectives. Moreover, this project framework aims to assess, characterize and address many of the limiting factors and objectives identified in the Kootenai Subbasin Plan (KTOI and MFWP 2004).

The primary goal of the Reconnect Project is to investigate and implement actions that enhance biological, terrestrial and aquatic habitats by reconnecting the Kootenai River with its historic floodplain. The Tribe addresses the loss of floodplain habitats, wetlands, stream channels, and riparian habitat, where restoration actions are currently associated with wildlife mitigation projects that focus on avian and terrestrial populations as well as aquatic species. The Reconnect Project is one component of a complex matrix of projects that are designed to assess, conserve, restore, and manage various aspects of the Kootenai River ecosystem, including the fundamental processes that are necessary for the production of all other ecological systems.

To date, the Reconnect Project has examined the feasibility of reconnecting floodplain habitats with the mainstem Kootenai River and determined it to be feasible and beneficial for the health of the ecosystem. Major project components completed include: the identification and initial feasibility of reconnecting six tributaries to the mainstem Kootenai River; collection and analysis of baseline productivity data in existing floodplain water bodies; the examination of several restoration alternatives for the Ball Creek Ranch site; the completion of Ball Creek reconnection design plans; and the identification of restoration areas for sturgeon refugia. Since 2002, the Project has distributed data to other Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)-funded projects within the Kootenai Subbasin and has provided a variety of data-sharing benefits. For example, the Tribe collected LiDAR data that was later utilized in other BPA-funded projects. In addition, various aspects of hydraulic and hydrologic models were co-created with other projects to simulate water surface elevations, velocities and hydraulic parameters to estimate the extent of floodplain inundation.

The Reconnect project plays a critical role in the assessment and restoration of ecosystem services and ecological functions within the subbasin. The Reconnect project also acts as the feasibility and restoration arm of the Kootenai River Operational Mitigation and Evaluation (BPA# 200201100), and Albeni Falls Wildlife Mitigation Projects (BPA# 199206105).The most prominent aspect of the Reconnect Project is that this project is integrally linked throughout the procedural foundation of the Kootenai Tribe’s Wildlife Program:

1)  The Kootenai River Operational Assessment, Mitigation and Rehabilitation (OpLoss) Project (200201100) performs the primary ecological assessment function and provides the conceptual framework (research, modeling, hypothesis and monitoring development) that guides the Reconnect Project and tracks terrestrial floodplain ecosystem components.
2)  The Reconnect Project (200200800) identifies, prioritizes, and assesses the feasibility of floodplain reconnection/restoration opportunities based on the ecosystem threats and viability indices identified by the OpLoss Project and implements restoration designs to support floodplain ecosystem processes and the myriad of fish and wildlife habitats and functions that the ecosystem supports.
3)  Where there are protection/restoration actions, the Tribe employs mitigation funding from both the Albeni Falls Wildlife Mitigation Project (199206105) and the Libby Dam mitigation phase of the OpLoss Project.

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho endeavors to fully mitigate for the Albeni Falls and Libby hydroelectric projects within their aboriginal territory.  From time immemorial, their aboriginal homeland provided essential hunting and fishing, gathering, and cultural resources to members of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho. Kootenai elders speak of the area with reverence and state “there’s not a place that Kootenai feet did not touch” (R. Abraham, pers. comm.).