Due to declining native salmonid fish stocks, particularly westslope cutthroat trout, redband trout, Bull trout and pacific salmon stocks, the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe provides compensatory subsistence harvest opportunities on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation through the Trout Pond project (Project #200702400) funded by the Bonneville Power Administration. The project was developed to partially mitigate for the loss of anadromous fish due to the construction of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams.

Operations and maintenance of the project involve planting approximately 11,450 pounds of triploid rainbow trout across three locations during the contract cycle.  This equates to approximately 4,643 fish at an average weight of 1.5-2.2 lbs/fish plus an additional 400 fish (special events) at an average weight of 4.0 lbs/fish.  These sites are very popular with the local angling community and exploitation is high.  Additional activities at these same sites included several educational events and fishing related experiences.