The goal of the Idaho Clearwater Focus Program is to facilitate implementation of the objectives and strategies of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program in the Clearwater subbasin and the lower Salmon subbasin.  Since assistance is provided to a diversity of interests and authorities, facilitation increases the efficacy of program delivery. The project will strive to continue to expand project sponsorship to increase restoration capacity and maximize use of multiple funding sources to serve common program habitat restoration goals.

The Clearwater Focus Program is a subbasin-scaled facilitation effort to implement the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP).  The primary goal of the project is to facilitate and coordinate the restoration of salmonid habitats in the Clearwater and lower Salmon subbasins in order to rebuild abundant, productive, and diverse anadromous and resident fish populations in sustainable and healthy ecosystems. The foundation for this work is the Clearwater Subbasin Management Plan, adopted into the Council’s FWP in 2005, and the Salmon Subbasin Management Plan, adopted in 2004. The vision for the Clearwater subbasin is a healthy ecosystem with abundant, productive, and diverse aquatic and terrestrial species, which will support sustainable resource-based activities (Council, 2005).  

The Clearwater Focus Program was created under the Council’s FWP of 1994 (Council, 1994) which directed states to identify subbasins to develop coordination programs for watershed restoration activities. Model watersheds were created first throughout the Northwest, followed by the focus watersheds; the Clearwater Focus Program has existed since late1996 and is co-coordinated by the State of Idaho and the Nez Perce Tribe.  Watershed habitat restoration projects were initiated in1999 through the Focus Program and since that time, some projects have concluded and additional projects have begun.

A Clearwater Policy Advisory Committee (Clearwater PAC) was created by the Focus Program in late 1999 to advise and provide policy direction for subbasin planning, which was coordinated through the Focus Program. This activity culminated in the adoption of the subbasin management plan into the Council’s FWP.

After the adoption of subbasin planning, the state and tribe co-coordination functions began to evolve and to reflect their respective authorities and agency missions. The Nez Perce Tribe Focus Program component is a division within the Department of Fisheries Resources Management, and the division implements watershed restoration programs throughout the Nez Perce Treaty Territory.  The Idaho Focus Program component facilitates and coordinates project development and information dissemination in the Clearwater subbasin and lower Salmon subbasin.  The Clearwater PAC no longer has a formal function in the subbasin so the Clearwater Technical Group and the Clearwater Core Review Team were formed by the Idaho Focus Program to further organize coordination, facilitation, and technical review of project proposals for funding consideration.

The Idaho Focus Program was originally sponsored by the Idaho Soil Conservation Commission; in 2010 reorganization assigned this program to the Idaho Office of Species Conservation (Idaho OSC), which also sponsors the Upper Salmon Basin Watershed Project and several Idaho Accord projects.

There are several funding programs available for habitat restoration work in the Clearwater subbasin. Two programs are managed through the Idaho OSC, for which the priorities are to address limiting factors to ESA-Listed salmonid populations; they are the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) and the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA) fund. Funding by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) may be matched with PCSRF funds, while the SRBA funds cannot.  The projects that receive funding are coordinated by watershed and program objective priorities.  Project and proposal development for these two programs are facilitated and coordinated by the Idaho Focus Program coordinator in the Clearwater subbasin and lower Salmon subbasin. Restoration project sponsors have included the following: Five conservation districts, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, University of Idaho, Nez Perce Tribe, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Northwest Management Inc., and Potlatch Forest Holdings. Any potential project sponsor may request assistance from the Idaho Focus Program.

There are a number of watershed restoration projects funded through the Council’s FWP by BPA.  The sponsors for these projects include the following: Idaho OSC, the Nez Perce Tribe, Latah Soil and Water Conservation District, the Nez Perce Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.  Coordination and facilitation in the Clearwater subbasin provides the structure to prioritize habitat restoration project development to focus on the goals and objectives common to funding sources, thereby maximizing funding efficiencies and restoration efficacy.

The Idaho Focus Program has one FTE in the Clearwater subbasin funded by this project. Support, management direction, and coordination with the Upper Salmon Basin Watershed Project are provided by Idaho OSC.

Specific duties of the coordinator include:

• Assist BPA contractors, as requested, with Council FWP solicitation cycles
• Coordinate and assist BPA funded project sponsors to plan, develop, and implement projects that will meet the goals of the Clearwater or Salmon subbasin plans
• Secure funding sources through grant writing and proposal development for cost share with BPA funded projects and other subbasin projects that meet the goals and objectives of subbasin plans and/or associated draft recovery plans, and biological opinions for ESA listed fish species. Coordinate BPA funded projects with other habitat restoration funding programs.
• Connect habitat restoration project sponsors with technical experts to assist with planning, design, and implementation of projects. Provide technical review, editing, and writing assistance as requested by project sponsors.  
• Provide advice and assistance with environmental consultations including NEPA, National Historic Preservation Act, and state and federal permitting
• Offer general management, support, and contract administration assistance
• Manage the Subbasin Implementation Database

Groups the coordinator oversees and/or facilitates:

• Clearwater Technical Group (CTG) is composed of agency personnel, organizations, individuals, and conservation districts interested in restoration project coordination and collaboration.  Purpose:  Develops partnerships and project proposals to restore fish habitat and populations.

• Clearwater Core Review Team (CCRT) is composed of technical personnel from the following: Bureau of Land Management, Clearwater - Nez Perce National Forest, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and two retired agency fish biologists. The function of this group is to review project proposals developed for various habitat restoration programs using review criteria the team has developed. None of the team members, by design, have a stake in the project proposals they review.  Project proposals will be reviewed in response to solicitations from the Idaho PCSRF and SRBA programs. The Idaho PCSRF allows BPA funds to be used as non-federal cost share; the SRBA does not.