The Hangman Restoration Project was originally funded in August of 2001.  The Project was initiated to partially address the loss of anadromous fish resources incurred by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe during the establishment of the Columbia River Federal Hydropower System.  The Hangman Watershed was one of the major fisheries for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.  The loss of the anadromous fish resources forced the Tribe to rely more heavily on resident fish and wildlife to fulfill subsistence needs.  Modern agricultural methods have reduced resident fish and wildlife populations and currently the waters of the Hangman Watershed support no resident fishery and the native wildlife species are largely restricted to the upper forested elevations.    
The initial Project focus was on development of a Prioritization Plan to direct native fish and wildlife habitat restoration efforts.  The Priority Habitats that were identified in the Plan fell along Hangman Creek and its fish bearing tributaries upstream of the Hangman Creek / Mission Creek confluence in the Upper Hangman Watershed.  A set of three properties centrally located within this Priority Area were selected as the first to be acquired.  According to the original intent of the Hangman Restoration Project, the acquisition of these properties were to provide needed wildlife and fish habitats as substitution for anadromous fish losses.  Since there are no crediting policies in place for resident fish or anadromous fish projects, the Bonneville Power Administration's criteria for Capitol expenditures prevented the acquisition of these properties for these purposes.  
In order to complete negotiations with the landowners, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe chose to seek crediting for these properties against Albeni Falls Construction and Inundation Losses.  The Albeni Falls Work Group agreed with the crediting of HUs for these acquistions and future enhancement and restoration of wildlife habitats on the properties will also be credited against Albeni Falls losses.  All pre-acquisition activities on the targeted properties were completed in FY2004.  One acquisition was completed in December of 2004, one was completed in January of 2005, and the third acquisition is expected to be completed in late February or early March.  With these acquisitions comes management responsibilities which begin immediately.
The Northwest Power and Conservation Council recommended $2,090,000 in Capital funding for the Hangman Restoration Project in FY2005, however the Council did not make an Expense funding recommendation.  The recommendation by the Council was used to acquire the properties but without an expense recommendation, no funds were available to manage the properties.  The Coeur d'Alene Tribe submitted a rescheduling request in an attempt to use unspent FY2004 funds to complete at least a minimum of management on the acquired parcels and a Within-Year Project Modification Proposal for funding to begin developing a management plan for the properties in FY2005.  The rescheduling request was denied by the Budget Oversight Group, however the Within-Year Project Modification Proposal was approved.  This Scope of Work is based primarily on the tasks of  completing an assessment of the acquired properties as the first step toward writing a management plan.  However, Some of the Work Elements necessarily cover basic management needs for the acquired properties.