Lemhi River Sub-basin

1. Lemhi River Sub-basin • Lemhi River has 31 tributaries and drains over 1260 sq.mi, 897 stream miles • Major land uses on public lands are grazing and recreation • 82% publicly owned • >90% of occupied Chinook salmon habitat is on private property Lemhi Basin

2. Historical Perspective ……"Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it.“ (George Santayana)……

3. Historical Perspective Lewis and Clark - 1805

4. Historical Perspective Mainstem Lemhi River …. he found the weir extended across four channels of the river which was here divided by three small islands. three of these channels were narrow, and were stoped by means of trees fallen across, supported by which stakes of willow were driven down sufficiently near each other to prevent the salmon from passing…… First recorded historical observation of Lemhi Shoshone-Bannock Fishing (Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Moultin 1998) Courtesy of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia

5. Historical Perspective • On the 23d (August) (1832) we arose in the morning, and found ourselves in the valley of the east fork of Salmon river (Lemhi River). There were large herds of buffalo slowly moving up the valley, which led us to believe, that the Indians were not far below us. One of their encampments appeared to have been evacuated, but five or six days since; and was at this time a rendezvous for wolves, ravens, and magpies. We likewise saw numbers of salmon, forcing their way up the small streams, in this valley - many had so worn out their fins, that they could with difficulty avoid us when we endeavored to catch them, in our hands.With clubs and stones, we killed several of them, with which we regaled ourselves at noon, and my companions, amused themselves, whilst our horses were feeding,by adding to the numberless carcasses scattered along the shore, that had been taken and thrown away by the Indians. Warren Angus Ferris – Life in the Rocky Mountains

6. Historical Perspective • Broad Fertile Valley • Wide Vegetated Floodplain • Complex Anabranching Channel Gebhards 1958

7. Historical Perspective Upper Lemhi Courtesy of Lemhi Historical Society

8. Historical Perspective • ….they remember salmon were in about every creek within the Lemhi River drainage…. • ….creeks that they remember where the salmon were taken prior to the whiteman farming and ranching the valley and drought conditions….. • Eighteen mile Creek • Big and Little Timber Creek • Canyon Creek • Big Eightmile Creek • Hayden Creek • Agency Creek • Patee Creek • Kenney Creek • Sandy Creek • Wimpey Creek……

9. Historical Perspective Lemhi Shoshone-Bannock reliance on Anadromous and other Fish Resources(Walker 1994) • 30,000 to 60,000 pounds of salmon captured annually • During 1832 Captain Bonneville drew a useful parallel between reliance of Plains tribes on bison and reliance of the Lemhi Shoshone-Bannock on Salmon The Salmon River Mission of 1855 (Nash 1974) • Mormon missionaries at Fort Lemhi first commercially exploited the Shoshone and Bannock subsistence fishery • It is reported in their journals that they exported seven wagonloads of dried salmon to Salt Lake City in 1857

10. Historical Perspective U.S.Bureau of Commercial Fisheries1920-1947 Reference of the amount of salmon trapped (1926- 20,000,000 eggs ~ 5000 females were collected) Reconnection of Tributary Habitats - Historical Estimates ~ 20,000 Adults Targeted Restoration

11. Indian Agent Wright: “Being so effective that it was a rare thing for any fish to be caught anywhere on the Lemhi River In 1878, to forestall an impending armed conflict with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes due to their shortage of food, settlers in Salmon collected $400 by public subscription and paid Garvey to let fish pass up the river”.

12. Historical Perspective Productive Spawning Habitat to mouth of Lemhi Gebhards 1958

13. “History of Lemhi development • Trapping – loss of beaver • Habitat alterations • Mining • Power plant • Railroad -> highway 28 • Ag • Flood control

14. History of Lemhi Development Beaver Removal (Early 1800 – 1830’s) The first large-scale habitat alterations occurred in the early 1880s. In an effort to keep the expanding American presence from moving into their historic trapping territories, the Hudson’s Bay Company deliberately attempted to create a biological desert, devoid of trappable beaver populations. By 1830, John Work of the Company notes of the Lemhi in his field journal, “The men complain of a great scarcity of beaver considering the fine appearance of the river for them, and the numbers which were formerly found in it (Haines 1971).” The extirpation of the beaver population undoubtedly completely changed the hydrologic characteristics of the river and its tributaries. Loucks (2001)

15. History of Lemhi Development Salmon Power Plant • 1897 – 1949 (300 CFS)

16. Diversion Dam Relocated 1909 • Fish Passage High Water Only • Effluent Return to Salmon River • Loss of Summer Chinook

17. Lemhi Development Railroad • Operated 1910 – 1939 • County Transferred to State of Idaho • First Substantial River Alteration “Started from no place, ran through nothing, ended up nowhere”

18. Lemhi Development Railroad Lemhi River Confinement and Erosion Railroad was removed in 1939, and transferred to the State of Idaho 1952. The highway engineers preferred to “move the river” rather than construct the many bridges required.

19. Mining History • Drew pioneers to area • 1870 – First Placer Mines • Early 1890’s - Dam Constructed to support Hydraulic Mining

20. Bohannon Creek Historical Habitat Degradation • Dredge Mining • Widespread Floodplain Effects

21. Lemhi Basin Water Development 1880-1920 50,000 acres 700+ POD’s, 1500 CFS

22. Lemhi Basin Water Development Water withdrawals= Reduction of: -instream flow -mainstem spawning areas -juvenile rearing habitat -tributary/floodplain connectivity -thermal refugia 700+ gravity diversions Source: Idaho Dept. of Water Resources, 2014

23. Lemhi Basin Water Development Loss of Access to Tributary Habitat Only 2 of 31 Tributaries Maintain Functional Connectivity Channel Complexity Intact Floodplain

24. Lemhi Basin Water Development Mainstem River Effects

25. Lemhi Development Mainstem Channelization – 1958 Flood Control ……after the flood waters receded and the river reached a period of low flow in late August, a considerable amount of stage reduction and channel relocation was carried on. In January, 1958, a ground survey was conducted to determine the extent of work done on the river and its effect on fish production, particularly salmon… ……most of this work appeared to have been accomplished with bulldozers. The operator would work from the middle of the stream pushing the upper strata of fine gravel in the stream bed out on each bank forming a sloping levee of loose gravel. The height of these gravel levees varied from about 2 feet to 15 feet. In all cases boarding vegetation was pushed back and overlaid by several feet of gravel. Any meander of the channel was straightened to increase velocities through the channeled areas…… Gebhards 1958

26. Lemhi Channelization • Long Riffle Sections • No Rearing Habitat

27. Lemhi Channelization • Long Riffle Sections • No Rearing Habitat Rip Rap - Confinement

28. Lemhi Habitat Restoration Actions History of Planning/Implementation • 1954 (- Pres) IDFG Screen Program • 1986Lemhi River Habitat Improvement Report (Ott) • 1990Lemhi SWCD Five Year Plan • 1992Irrigators Plan to Improve Fish Passage • 1992 - 1993Lemhi River model watershed designation/office • 1992 – 1999 USBR Conservation Demonstration Project • 1995Model Watershed plan • 2001 – 2004Salmon sub-basin Summary/Assessment/Plan • 2005Upper Salmon Sub-basin Screening and Habitat Improvement Prioritization/work windows What can be done? Landowners are key. Property owners have provided the leadership and willingness to locally address the challenges. Improving flows, connectivity, riparian habitat improvements, as part of a voluntary program has been, and will need to be, the only effective and sustainable approach. Evolution of knowledge/technology………….

29. Questions?