The James Ranch airstrip on the main Salmon River was treated for noxious weeds.

Airstrip and Private Land Buffer

In 2009, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness CWMA initiated a weed treatment program on the private and Forest Service airstrips along the main stem Salmon River.  Agreements were established with seven private airstrip owners.  The agreements provided for contracts to complete the initial weed treatments with the land owners taking responsibility afterwards.  These contract efforts were completed in 2009 and 2010.  In 2011, emphasis was shifted to the Selway River drainage where four airstrips need assistance.  Agreements are currently being developed for the Running Creek and North Star private air strips which have been getting some treatment by the involved owners.  Inventory data for the Selway Lodge air strip shows it being clean and having no need for assistance!  The Montana Conservation Core assisted with treating the Moose Creek and Shearer Forest Service airstrips in 2011.  The Moose Creek air strip had also been treated in 2010 with other funds.  Plans include treating all four air strips in 2012 with the remaining funds.   Afterwards, they should all be in an maintenance mode.

Back Country New Invaders

The Red River District Recreation crews did not utilize any of the available funds in 2011.  Inventory efforts were instead completed in 2011 to help delineate those trails and camp sites most deserving in an attempt to keep the relatively clean weed free areas clean of noxious weeds.  Plans to treat those weeds and use the remaining balance on other trails will be emphasized in 2012.

Rachel Winston at the Forest Service Slate Creek yellowstar thistle bio control monitoring transect.

Bio-Control

In 2009, Idaho County Weed Control, in conjunction with the RAC, US Forest Service, USDI BLM, and MIA Consulting, initiated a biocontrol monitoring program to determine the effectiveness of numerous releases that have occurred throughout north central Idaho since 1979. Four weed systems were monitored utilizing the Standardized Impact Monitoring Protocol. These efforts were repeated and expanded in 2010 and 2011. A total of 57 permanent monitoring sites spanning seven weed species were visited throughout the 2011 growing season. For Dalmatian toadflax, insects appear to be contributing alone or in combination with favorable spring weather to the weed’s control at 11 sites, have no impact at two others, and more time is needed to draw conclusions at one final site. In the spotted knapweed system, insects have likely been a major contributor in the weed’s control at one site, they may be slightly effective at another site, and appear to be ineffective at all others, though more time is needed for sites where agents were released as recently as 2009.

For leafy spurge, insects have been the only consistent form of weed control at two sites, and they have effectively reduced the weed to small, relic populations. In the yellow starthistle biocontrol system, several years of biological control have not impacted the weed significantly; yellow starthistle is still the dominant species at all sites monitored. Three additional weed monitoring systems (field bindweed, houndstongue, and whitetop) are pre-release systems only. Sites were established on these weeds in 2010 and monitored again in 2011 for the purpose of gaining baseline data prior to the anticipated future approval and release of new biocontrol agents. Finally in 2011, a more intensive study was initiated on the spotted knapweed biocontrol system in order to identify trends in establishment, abundance, and efficacy of insects in the Clearwater Basin of Idaho County where biocontrol has been one of the widest forms of control utilized against spotted knapweed for the past three decades. Results from this study are still being analyzed.

Interface Areas

The RAC interface area project includes road weed treatment of USFS property connected to Idaho County, and interface areas of private property adjoining USFS property.  Nearly 750 miles of key road networks within the Salmon River, South Fork Clearwater, and Selway River Drainages have been monitored and treated to insure noxious weed growth is deterred.  These applications have been spot-spray, in nature, unless large infestations were reported. Two local, start-up businesses have benefited from this work.  They collect inventory data, treat the infested sites, record their treatment, and evaluate the work at a later time. This RAC project continues to be extremely important in keeping weeds on the public land from infesting private land, and vice versa. 

New Invaders

The RAC New Invader project is intended to provide funding to attack plants that are new to the county or parts of the county.  This funding provides labor to visit the sites of these new invading species a minimum of three times during the current growing season, and not allow that plant to reproduce.  In a county as large as Idaho County this is a difficult assignment.  However, crews have visited over 2500 sites to insure the plants were not reproducing.  During these visits, a new weed was recorded for Idaho County, viper’s bugloss.  This plant infested about 40 acres at its time of discovery.  All acres were treated with RAC funding, and repeat visits and treatments were made.  It is critical to land health, to continue to eradicate new invaders.

 

The Southwest Idaho RAC funded a project to improve water quality and habitat on Grimes and Granite Creeks. Many miles of both creeks are lined with mine tailings from past dredging operations.  The tailings have impinged the creek and limit riparian vegetation.  Grimes and Granite Creeks are listed on the Clean Water Act 303(d) list for temperature and sediment.  This project addresses both of these impairments through tested treatment methods.  Expected outcomes will be lower stream temperatures over time, as vegetation grows, and decreased sediment loads in the near term as erosive stream banks are treatmented.  These pollutant reductions will result in a healthier aquatic environment.  Grimes Creek, flowing through public lands, below the confluence of Granite Creek, will benefit from the improved quality of the water entering this reach.

 Specifically, this project outcomes address the purpose of the Secure Rural Schools Act by implementing stewardship objectives through public and private landowners and volunteer participation. The goal of improving and restoring land health and water quality is the foundation of all of a number of projects in the watershed that have been organized by Trout Unlimited.

Cooperative relationships between the Forest Service and adjacent landowners are strengthened by working together. 

The partnership has gained significant efficiencies and boosted the local economy by promoting the “restoration economy” concept.  Trout Unlimited hires work locally, as many skilled loggers and construction trades people are available to put their talents to work restoring the land. This approach is complimented by using schools, church groups, and conservation club members to volunteer.

The new Big Creek Bridge replaces a drivable ford through Big Creek used by the public and private landowners since the 1920s. Two cranes were trucked in to lift and lower the four bridge components into place.

  In the early 1990s, regulatory agencies and the Payette N. F. identified the Big Creek Ford as detrimental to spawning fish and their nests, which are called “redds” and other resident fish populations.  The regulatory agencies asked the PNF to remedy the situation, but funding, land ownership, and logistical issues hampered the project.  So the Forest began a lengthy process to develop a bridge design and identify a different route and crossing site that would serve various private and recreational access needs, while at the same time protecting sensitive fish habitat.  This area provides access to the Lick Creek/Cougar Basin Trail #004, a popular gateway into the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness; it is also used by private landowners in Edwardsburg to access to their property on the other side of Big Creek.

The new trailhead for Lick Creek/Cougar Basin Trail #004 features horse tie-offs, adequate turnarounds for trailers, and will include interpretive signs in the future.

The PNF analyzed several routes and potential bridge sites to eliminate the ford and provide an access solution.  The greatest problem was securing enough funding to pay for a bridge large enough to fully span the meandering Big Creek.  In addition, it was evident that the Forest would require easements across private property to provide legal public access into the Wilderness area from a new crossing site.   Substantial rehabilitation work would also be required to reclaim the ford area, which is legally designated as critical habitat for Chinook salmon; the former road, and trailhead in addition to construction work to create a new road and trailhead at the new location.

The solution to this multifaceted issue was found in developing partnerships with a variety of organizations.  The Nez Perce Tribe stepped forward to provide the bulk of needed funding for bridge design and construction.  Along with their own funds and personnel contributions, the Tribe applied for and was awarded two grants from the Bonneville Power Association and the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund for a total of $275,000.  In addition, Valley County and the PNF secured a 2011 Southwest Resource Advisory Committee (SWIRAC) grant for $100,000.    Also, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) secured a grant of $10,000 to pay for the rehabilitation of the old ford and other habitat improvement projects at the site.  Last but not least, nearby landowners provided right of way easements that allowed the PNF to secure public access across private land so that Trail #004 could be re-routed.  Nancy Kozlowski, owner of the Neal Ranch, donated an easement for the Lick Creek/Cougar Basin Trail across the northern edge of her property.  The new road leading from the bridge to the Lick Creek Trail has been named in honor of Nancy’s mother.  The new road is called the Rose Marie Neal Road. 

The former road to the ford was causing resource damage and needed to be rehabilitated to a foot path.

The new pre-fabricated steel bridge is self-weathering and has a wooden deck. A mechanically stabilized earthen wall serves as an abutment on one side of the bridge while the other one is made of pre-cast concrete.  The new 80 foot long bridge spans a stream channel that is 40 feet wide and was designed to withstand a 100 year flood event.  During construction and design extra care was taken to minimize impacts to Big Creek and its banks.

The bridge and its associated parts were trucked to the site in 4 pieces, along with two cranes that were needed to put the pieces together.  The construction project took 3 weeks to complete with construction crews camping out near the construction site.  The project included installation of the new bridge, and a new road and trail/trailhead into and out of the bridge location.  Kesler Construction of McCall, ID installed the bridge and constructed the new road. RTI Bridge out of Plains, Montana supplied the steel bridge and subcontracted Oldcastle Precast out of Nampa, ID to supply the concrete. 

The new trail where the full size road used to be. FWS provided funding for the plants and watershed crew time to transform the area into a pleasant hiking experience.

The PNF is proud to have facilitated these highly effective partnerships to complete a project of this scale and complexity.  The real winners in all this are the Chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and other native fishes residing in Big Creek.  Though this project may have taken a while to accomplish, once set in motion, things fell into place quickly so that this long-standing resource issue could be resolved to the benefit of fish, the recreating public, and nearby landowners.  The Krassel Ranger District and the PNF Engineering Section thanks all of the partners for their perseverance and generosity during the last two years.  The Forest also thanks the contractors who did an excellent job in challenging circumstances.

• The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act of 2000 (the Act) was enacted to provide temporary funding to help rural communities make the transition through precipitous declines in the natural-resource economy, particularly in forest-dependent communities of the West.

• Under the Act rural counties in 41 states received more than $5 billion in funding from the federal government for schools, roads and other projects since 2001.

• Under the current Act the last payment will be made by January 2012.

• If the Act is not reauthorized, counties will share in the 25-percent payment to states, based on a 7-year rolling average of receipts from the national forest.  The 25-percent fund act was passed in 1908 to help fund public schools and roads in counties in which national forests are located.  This payment will be significantly less than the annual payments under the Act since 2001.

• The President’s fiscal year 2012 Budget proposes a five-year- extension of the Act that provides funding to historically forest-dependent communities.  The budget proposal acknowledges the challenges that rural communities face, and the need to responsibly reduce the federal deficit.

• Thus far, two proposed alternatives to the Act have had hearings in the House, the “National Forest County Revenue, Schools, and Jobs Act of 2011”, which requires the Secretary to generate sufficient receipts to meet an annual revenue requirement, and the “Action Plan for Public Lands and Education Act of 2011”, which would grant millions of acres of public lands to states.

• USDA Under Secretary Harris Sherman has said that these two alternatives would do more harm than good, likely resulting in weakened environmental protections, inviting controversy and litigation, and adding to the federal deficit.  See the news release at http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2011/releases/09/secure-schools.shtml.

• Another proposal has been introduced in the Senate, S 1692, but no hearing has been scheduled.  The Forest Service typically does not take positions on bills until a hearing is held.

• The agency has worked closely with stakeholders to increase revenue in these communities while acting in a way that is consistent with environmental protection and multiple-use values.  Last year, 2.6 billion board feet of lumber were produced from National Forest lands.

• The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.  Recreational activities on our lands contribute $14.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy.  The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.

This project funds 159 miles of patrols and deferred trail maintenance/heavy maintenance on trails within Elmore and Boise Counties.   The project is needed to address a critical backlog of trail maintenance due to years of fires, wind events, beetle-kill trees and neglect.  Forest Service crews, youth crews and volunteer groups have been used to work on the trails but these efforts have barely been able to scratch the surface. In 2010 a large Federal earmark was given to the Sawtooth NRA to address declining trail conditions. Much headway was made; however, many of the trails were in such poor condition (in some burned locations there were up to 400 trees/mile) that progress was slow and many miles of trail are still in need of attention.

With the proposed funding these trails can be brought up to standard, will be easier to maintain in the future and will be made available for the public.  The trails being addressed include, but are not limited to the following:

• Baron Creek Trail #101,
• South Fork Payette River Trail #101,
• Mattingly Creek Trail #034,
• Little Queens River Trail #454, S
• cenic Lake Trail #456,
• Queens River Trail #458,
• Joe Dailey Creek Trail #469,
• Middle Fork Boise River Trail #450,
• Benedict Creek Trail #462,
• North Fork Baron Creek Trail #478,
• Trail Creek Trail #453,
• North Fork Boise River Trail #465,
• Ten Mile Ridge Trail #467,
• Johnson Creek Trail #459,
• Bayhouse Trail #457,
• Pats Lake Trail #494,
• Neinmeyer Trail #455

Funding will also support patrols by a trained Wilderness Ranger to perform light trail maintenance, clean and naturalize campsites and contact approximately 400 visitors with the objective of improving visitors’ stewardship of the wilderness/backcountry and their safety.

The Secure Rural Schools law included this deadline as part of the reauthorization in the fall of 2008.  RACs will continue to have the authority to meet to monitor the implementation of the projects that use Title II funds.

September 30, 2011 is also the deadline for counties and states to submit their allocations between Titles II and III for the upcoming payment.

The RAC typically begins reviewing projects in the fall, however, the legislation establishing the RAC’s authority to recommend projects to the Forest Service will expire September 30, 2011. Therefore the committee will finalize approvals for projects for the 2012 field season during this final meeting in September, prior to the legislation’s expiration date. The RAC completed project approvals for the 2011 field season at the February 21, 2011 meeting held in Coeur d’Alene.

Funding for RAC projects is made available to Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2008. The RAC works closely with the Forest Service to recommend projects that will benefit forest health, fish, wildlife, soils, watersheds and other natural resources. RAC projects must be located on National Forest System Lands within the five northern Idaho counties or on adjacent lands if the project will benefit the resources on the National Forests. Projects are typically completed by Forest Service personnel, through partnership agreements or by open-bid contracting with individuals and corporations.

The public is welcome to attend the RAC meetings and a public forum is schedule for 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on September 16. For more information on the Idaho Panhandle RAC, please contact Jason Kirchner at (208) 765-7211.

Two inmates were out splitting and stacking firewood next to the Grangeville Senior Center on Monday, Aug. 29, under supervision of (not pictured) ICSO Deputy Jailer and work program coordinator Rob Agee.

David Rauzi, Editor, Idaho County Free Press – August 31, 2011

GRANGEVILLE — Idaho County Jail inmates are helping with home heating costs for the elderly this winter.
Thanks to $5,827.50 in grant funds through the North Central Idaho Resource Advisory Committee (RAC), the jail, in conjunction with Community Action Partnership (CAP) purchased three logging truckloads of ponderosa pine logs, which are in the process of being cut and split, according to ICSO Chief Jailer Rick Shira.
Two inmates as part of the Idaho County Inmate Worker/Community Service Program started the project at the beginning of the month, according to Shira, “and it will be at least two to three more weeks before they get it all split.”
Credit for the idea goes to Harpster resident Don Morrow (now deceased) who first brought the project concept to the Forest Service, which in turn went to the RAC, according to Nez Perce National Forest public information officer Laura Smith.

The county’s inmate program started earlier this spring as an option for those with jail sentences and community service requirements to give back to the public. Their recent projects include restoration of the Idaho County Courthouse antique steam engine, and work at the Kamiah Pool and Sts. Peter and Paul School, and local food banks.
Handling the distribution end of approximately 60 cords, CAP will operate under income guidelines to provide firewood for home heating assistance to both the elderly and those disabled and physically unable to get their own wood, according to Mickey Emmert, community service provider.
A low income guideline example is $1,614 monthly for one household of one person.
Emmert said CAP was appreciative of the support for this project from the Grangeville Senior Center, Forest Service, Idaho Forest Group, and especially the sheriff’s office.
“If they [sheriff's office] didn’t come on as a sponsor,” Emmert said, “this wouldn’t have happened.”
For information contact Emmert at 983-0437.

9:00-9:10         Call To Order: Tom Bowman, Chairman

Introductions: RAC members and Guests

9:15-9:30  Public Forum:               

9:30- 1:15

Project Review:   

Ketchum Ranger District Youth Employment and Rec and Trails

Sawtooth NRA Maps and Information Signs   

Blaine County Noxious Weeds

Ketchum Ranger District

Sawtooth NRA  

Noxious Weed Inventory (Cassia and Twin Falls Counties)

Warm Springs Road Improvement

Sawtooth NRA YCC Crew

Fairfield YCC Crew    

Sawtooth Interpretive Assoc. Website

Fox Creek Trailhead Entrance

Coal Pit Creek Ford Improvement

Little Smoky Plantation Thinning

Fairfield ATV Trail Improvements

Fairfield Campground Improvements

1:15-1:30

Discussion:  Projects to be invited to present to RAC