1992-061-00

Albeni Falls Wildlife Mitigation Capital Land Acquisitions

The Albeni Falls Wildlife Mitigation Project (Project) was developed to protect, restore, enhance, and maintain the long-term quality of wetland and riparian habitat in northern Idaho and eastern Washington as ongoing mitigation for the construction and inundation of the Albeni Falls hydroelectric project (Northwest Power Planning Council 1995 Program measures 11.2D.1, 11.2E.1, 11.3D.4, 11.3D.5). The long-term conservation potential for the Project is primarily the protection of existing high quality wetland habitat and associated target species, but also includes protection of habitat with high restoration potential. The Project objectives address many of the fish and wildlife goals, objectives, and strategies identified in the Kootenai, Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene Subbasin Plans. High quality floodplain and riparian habitats, including cottonwood forests, emergent wetlands, and scrub-shrub wetlands will be perpetually protected and managed for all species that depend on these habitat types for all or a portion of their life history requirements.

The Albeni Falls Interagency Work Group (Work Group) is a coalition comprised of wildlife managers from tribal, federal and state agencies. The Work Group directs where wildlife mitigation implementation occurs in the Kootenai, Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene subbasins. The Work Group will continue to recommend only those projects that are 1) the most cost effective, 2) biologically sound, 3) meet regional wildlife criteria, and 4) are located in predetermined focus areas. The Work Group is unique in the Columbia Basin. The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) wildlife managers in 1995, approved what was one of the first two project proposals to implement mitigation on a programmatic basis. The maintenance of this kind of approach through time has allowed the Work Group to implement an effective and responsive habitat protection program by reducing administrative costs associated with site-specific project proposals.

The Project goal is to fully mitigate wildlife habitat losses associated with the construction and operation of Albeni Falls Dam. The Work Group envisions the protection and enhancement of 28,587 Habitat Units (HUs) over the next 15-20 years with the understanding that those HUs will be maintained in perpetuity. The primary objective for fiscal year 2007 - 2009 is to protect through acquisition of fee-title and/or conservation easements an estimated 2,500 acres and credit the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) approximately 1,875 HUs. The Work Group assumes there will be adequate funding and willing sellers to continue protection efforts at the same rate annually until full mitigation for construction and inundation impacts is attained. The Work Group will continue to modify that goal through time until wildlife habitat losses associated with Albeni Falls construction and inundation are fully mitigated. Other significant objectives for fiscal year 2007 -2009 include habitat enhancements on at least 4,935 acres and the maintenance of existing protected habitat areas totaling 8,587 acres (6,602 HUs) in northern Idaho and eastern Washington. Long-term operations and maintenance of the protected sites with ongoing monitoring and evaluation will ensure the protection of habitat quality and target species life history requirements. The Work Group will continue to document mitigation progress through annual reporting and will monitor the effectiveness of management actions by using the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) process (USFWS 1980) and other standardized, peer-reviewed monitoring and evaluation methods.

None

2004

2032

Virgil Watts III

Implementation - Project Status Report

Province	Subbasin	%
Intermountain	Pend Oreille	100.00%

Habitat

Restoration/Protection

Bass, Largemouth
Bass, Smallmouth
Burbot
Carp, Common
Catfish
Crappie, Black
Crappie, White
Cutthroat Trout, Westslope
Freshwater Mussels
Kokanee
Perch, Yellow
Pike, Northern
Pikeminnow, Northern
Trout, Brook
Trout, Brown
Trout, Bull
Trout, Interior Redband
Trout, Lake
Trout, Rainbow
Walleye
Whitefish, Mountain
Wildlife

Anadromous: 0.0%   Resident: 0.0%   Wildlife: 100.0%

Wildlife Categorical Review (Public Tags)
Exclude Council Folio (Public Tags)
Council Recommended Projects (Public Tags)

None

None