BACKGROUND

In 1994, the Northwest Power Planning Council amended its Fish and Wildlife Program to include the following language in Section 10.8.B.21:

"Conduct a NEPA analysis, a habitat analysis and a land value appraisal of a 2,100 acre wetland/riparian and associated upland parcel in the Lake Creek drainage and Windy Bay area of Lake Coeur d'Alene.  This is to be credited for 1.) 250 acres of wildlife habitat losses due to Albeni Falls Dam impacts on Lake Pend Oreille, an aboriginal use area for the Tribe, and 2.) as a resident fish substitution for extensive salmon losses due to the construction and operation of Grand Coulee Dam."  

Efforts to implement this measure of the program were ongoing from its inception in 1994 until the Project scope was redefined in the 2000 Rolling Provincial Review.  Initially, the primary objective of this project was the purchase of the Godde Property from Kootenai Properties Inc.  The Bonneville Power Administration was to be credited a minimum of 760 wildlife Habitat Units for Albeni Falls Construction and Inundation Losses for the Godde Property purchase.  The process of negotiation with Mr. Godde, the majority shareholder in Kootenai Properties Inc, was a series of starts and stops that was never resolved.  Negotiations began late in 1994 and continued through December of 2000.  Despite intensive efforts by the Tribe to negotiate an agreed upon price with Kootenai Properties Inc., the disparity between the asking price for the property and the appraised value was insurmountable.  Kootenai Properties Inc. continually expressed interest in selling the property to the Tribe in all negotiation attempts; however, Kootenai Properties' asking price was never reduced to approximate the appraised value of the property.  The Tribe even pursued the idea of protecting the property through alternative means including both a perpetual conservation easement and a long-term lease agreement.  These options, however, were unappealing to the landowner and the majority of the identified project funds remained unspent throughout much of the project's life due to the focus on securing the management rights to a single priority property.  

Despite the overall importance of this single property to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's mitigation efforts, the decision was made to suspend negotiations for the Godde Property and focus efforts on other properties in the watershed that provide similar benefits to wildlife and westslope cutthroat trout recovery efforts.  As part of the first 3-year Provincial Rolling Review in 2000, the Tribe identified a series of target areas for protection and restoration based on a variety of factors and the scope of the Project was changed from focusing on a single property to encompassing a number of priority properties that allowed for flexibility in accomplishing the objectives of mitigating the Tribe.  During the Review process the reworked Lake Creek Project was recognized as High Priority by the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) (March 16, 2001).  The ISRP recommended the Lake Creek Project be combined with the newly proposed Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Project (original Project # 24015) (April 6, 2001).  At the close of the 2001 Rolling Review, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (then the Northwest Power and Planning Council) recommended the Lake Creek Project be funded under the conditions stated by the Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) (October 19, 2001).  On March 25, 2002, the Bonneville Power Administration recommended this Project be funded in combination with the Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Project.  On July 10, 2003, the Bonneville Power Administration and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council once again recommended these Projects be combined additively at the meeting to project FY2004 funding levels.

During the Rolling Provincial Review a Scope of Work for Lake Creek Land Acquisition and Enhancement was contracted (August 14th, 2001).  Initial efforts to combine the Lake Creek Project with the Coeur d'Alene Wetland Project failed as the Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Project was never contracted.  No cost contract extensions for the Lake Creek project were approved on 10/3/02, 2/26/03, 8/7/03, 9/19/03, and 12/23/03.  Additional efforts were made to combine the Lake Creek and Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Projects with the submittal of a Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Scope of Work on 11/10/03, and 11/17/03.  No contract to finalize that combination was returned to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.  All attempts to subsume this Project into the Coeur d'Alene Wetlands Project according to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's intent, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council recommendations, and BPA agreement have failed.  In order to proceed with mitigation activities and attempt to fulfill the intent of the original Lake Creek Project, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe relied on a series of contract extensions from August of 2002 until April 1, 2004 when a new contract was established.  

In 2002, a portion of the funds originally allocated to purchase the Godde Property were used to purchase the 147.6 acre Ramsey Property (since refered to as the "Windy Bay Property," which is downstream and adjoining the Godde Property and at the mouth of Lake Creek and at the head of Windy Bay on the east shore of Coeur d'Alene Lake.  The Bonneville Power Administration was credited a minimum of 30 HUs for the Ramsy Property acquisition, leaving a residual of 730 baseline Habitat Units that are still to be credited to Albeni Falls for lands purchased in Lake Creek.  The 2004 contract centered on initiating management actions on the Windy Bay Property and beginning assessments in preparation of a management plan for the property.  This Scope of Work establishes the objectives and tasks for completion of the management plan for the Windy Bay Property, the continuation of protection actions for the Property, and the pursuit of fee title to additional properties in the Lake Creek Watershed to further reduce the HU ledger that was initially associated with the Lake Creek Land Acquisition and Enhancement Project.  

It is the intent of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe to continue to fully implement projects designed to compensate the Tribe for losses due to the establishment of the Columbia River Federal Hydropower System.  The Coeur d'Alene Tribe participated in the writing of a Subbasin Plan for the Coeur d'Alene Subbasin and the Tribe intends to implement projects consistent with that Plan.  

FY2006 SCOPE OF WORK

The FY2006 Scope of Work and Budget is to; 1) continue management of the 147.6-acre Windy Bay Property and 2) pursue additional property(s) in the Lake Creek Watershed to fulfill the original intent of the Lake Creek Land Acquisition and Enhancement Project, which was to credit the Bonneville Power Administration a total of 760 Habitat Units for mitigation efforts in the Lake Creek Watershed on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation.  The draft management plan will be released for review during October of 2005, and FY2006 will be the first year of the Windy Bay Management Plan implementation.  Management efforts will be directed at protecting the high value of habitat units on the wetland portions of the property while responding to the State mandated efforts toward weed control.  Minimizing the risk to the Habitat Units and neighboring private property due to of the spread of wildfire on the Windy Bay Propety will also be a management priority in FY2006.  

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is investigating the potential of purchasing Godde Property, which was the original purpose of the Lake Creek Project.  Initial indications are the the owners of the Godde Property may be interested in selling to the Tribe in FY2006 and the Tribe wants to be ready to complete that purchase within Fiscal Year 2006.