Restoring the Kootenai: A Tribal Approach to Restoration of a Large River in Idaho

The Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Program (KRHRP) is a large-scale, ecosystem-based habitat restoration program to restore and maintain habitat conditions that support all life stages of endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon, burbot and other native fish.  The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is implementing the KRHRP within a 55-mile section of the Kootenai River in Idaho. 

In 2009 the Tribe completed the Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Program Master Plan, which presented a framework for restoring native fish habitats and other ecosystem functions within existing constraints.  The goals of the KRHRP are to restore river morphology, aquatic and riparian habitat, and to foster river stewardship.  The plan identified reach-specific habitat conditions that limited the success of transboundary Kootenai sturgeon, burbot and other native fish, and restoration strategies and treatments to address those limiting factors.

Since completing the Master Plan, the Tribe in collaboration with multiple agency partners (B.C. Ministry of Forests Land Natural Resource Operations, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bonneville Power Administration) and a multi-disciplinary team of independent experts, has identified, prioritized, designed and constructed a suite of KRHRP projects that address multiple objectives.