The Clearwater: A Landscape Rich with Story
Idaho's landscapes have stories to tell. In the Clearwater, the richness of the stories seems endless. The culture, ecology, geography and history of the area represent one of the wonders of Idaho. Experience the Clearwater for yourself and you'll know what we're talking about!
The Clearwater's old growth forests remain some of the best habitat for numerous sensitive wildlife species. Jonathan Oppenheimer photo.
Many of Idaho's landscapes have stories to tell. Over the course of millions of years glaciers sculpted Idaho's peaks and valleys, great lakes swallowed the plains then burst forth with near-nuclear force, superheated magma exploded to create moonscapes, and that same magma gently prunes our toes with the heated water that gurgles up and fills our secluded hot springs.
Across Idaho, you've experienced these wonders.
In the Clearwater, the richness of the stories seems endless. Whether it's the story of the salmon, the water, the land, the forests, the culture and history—the Clearwater's got em all.
Since time immemorial, the Nez Perce Tribe has depended on this landscape to sustain their people, the Nimi'ipuu. It was their connection with this land and the salmon that provided Lewis and Clark the nourishment they needed to survive as they stumbled half-starved from the mountain snows in mid-September 1805 after a harrowing journey across the Lolo Trail. Today, the 17-mile segment of the Lewis and Clark Trail through the North Lochsa Slope Roadless Area (aka Fish and Hungery Creeks) is the longest remaining pristine portion of the trail in the entire nation.
Due to the Clearwater's location, many unique plants found only on the coast of Oregon are also found in the Clearwater. These are known as "Coastal Disjunct Forests". They harken to a time gone by when rainforests dominated the region. In places, towering rain-soaked cedar behemoths still dominate, including some rare high-elevation cedar stands found in few other places on earth.
It's also a landscape crafted by the Great Fire of 1910. The fires burned across 3 million acres of North Idaho and Western Montana. The firestorm swept away communities and lives, but left behind a clean slate upon which the legacy is still being written.
Today, the Idaho Conservation League is a proud partner in the Clearwater Basin Collaborative, a group of 24 stakeholders convened by Senator Mike Crapo. Together with the Nez Perce Tribe, county leaders, timber representatives, economic development interests, wildlife advocates and others, we are charting a path for the next hundred years and beyond.
With nearly 1.5 million acres of pristine roadless National Forest lands, there is tremendous potential for landscape-scale Wilderness, Wild and Scenic and National Recreation Area protection. Together, we are working with the Clearwater's rural communities to build the necessary support for a package that will support sustainable resource development (logging, thinning and restoration work) in the front country forests where roads and management have occurred, while protecting many of the backcountry areas that remain in a natural condition.
Together we are working to strike a balance, but we can't do it alone. Learn more about what you can do to help our efforts in the Clearwater, or contact joppenheimer@idahoconservation.org.
