Bear Lake Valley Community Submits NAWCA Grant Application to Complete Middle Bear River Restoration Initiative

After 27 months of comprehensive, community based environmental planning, the St. Charles Creek Working Group, Bear Lake NWR, and Ducks Unlimited submitted a $625,000 North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) proposal to complete the ten project, Middle Bear River Restoration Project, Bear Lake County Idaho. The overall initiative involves construction of 16 new water control structures; 4.85 miles of levee; development or renovation of six St. Charles Creek System irrigation structures; restoration of 6-11 miles of riparian habitat on St. Charles Creek, Spring Creek, and the Middle Bear River; and irrigation delivery improvement/wetland restoration on approximately 600 acres of private ranch land. From an ecological perspective, this equates to restoration or enhancement of 14,619 wetland/riparian acres in12 separate Federal and private management units, as well as direct water quality improvements on approximately 6-11 miles of the middle Bear River system.

The partnership base has grown from a modest 9 contributor, small grant to complete the first project (Rainbow Complex Wetland Restoration on Bear Lake NWR; December 2003) to 28 contributing partners and a 62 member working group to advance the proposed watershed restoration initiative. The vast majority of these individuals are local community based participants ranging from County government agencies, regional non-profit organizations, to local landowners. The remaining partners represent Federal, State, and local agency personal; corporations; and other local chapters of national non-profit organizations. Through two years of extensive analysis, this broad partnership has reached agreement on the appropriate course of action; and most importantly, initiative development and decision-making remained in the local Bear Lake Community. This allows the local community to address the appropriate course for pro-active environmental action, outside of the typical Federal regulatory processes.

An enormous amount of energy has been expended by the community, which is now beginning to see the ?fruits of their labor.? Over 2 years, the working group has met 17 times and developed numerous strategies and subsequent grant applications to realize their goal. Bear Lake NWR manager Rob Bundy, attended 43 separate public meetings and gave 17 presentations in 2004 alone, to help develop these applications and the vast partnership necessary to obtain funding to complete the initiative. To effect all restoration actions described in the Working Groups proposal, the overall price tag is $3,668,300 of which $1,565,000 will be grant funds and $2,103,300 will be applied Federal, State, corporate, and local community cash/in-kind match. In order to secure the necessary funding, a series of eight grant applications to complete ten projects, have either been initiated (2 projects), submitted for funding (4 projects), or funds have been received (4 projects), involving contributions from 28 separate partners. The March 4, 2005 NAWCA application (Bear Lake Valley Wetlands Restoration proposal) involved contributions from 17 of these partners and represents the ?crowning jewel? of the overall initiative.

The NAWCA grant is targeted to restore the 3,018 acre Bunn Lake unit on Bear Lake NWR which has been subject to continued carp encroachment and mixing with highly turbid Bear river inflow. The proposed project would isolate the new management unit from these threats and provide multiple benefits for the State sensitive, trumpeter swan, as well as a wide diversity of wetland dependent wildlife species. When combined with two other Middle Bear River Restoration Projects currently under construction (Rainbow Complex Restoration and St. Charles Creek Fish Passageway) the proposed project will result in direct restoration of 5,642 refuge acres. However, the overall initiative benefits fisheries, wildlife, irrigation interests, and overall water quality, which is why the working group and associated broad-based partnership was originally developed.