Final Environmental Assessment for Kootenai Floodplain Reconnection Project

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) released a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposal to amend selected wildlife, habitat, and public use objectives and strategies described in the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and restore floodplain connectivity to the historic Kootenai River floodplains within the Refuge in Boundary County, Idaho near Bonners Ferry, Idaho. 

The Service is a Cooperating Agency for Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) proposal to fund the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (KTOI) to implement floodplain reconnection activities on the Service-managed Refuge. Reconnection activities include breaching levees, raising roads, replacing flood control structures, enhancing wetlands, and re-establishing wetland connections.

BPA’s final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) can be found on BPA’s website.

The Service has adopted BPA’s final EA and has issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) which can be downloaded below. 

Public meetings took place on April 30, 2024, and October 1, 2024. The meetings were an opportunity for the public to learn about the proposed reconnection project. 

Project Background

The cooperative project will restore the connection between the Kootenai River and 830 acres of floodplain habitat. The project is designed to improve habitat conditions for the federally listed Kootenai River white sturgeon, bull trout and other native fish species, in addition to improving habitat for migratory/breeding birds and other wetland-dependent wildlife, and to promote the natural regeneration of wetland and riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.

Learn more about riparian plants. Additionally, alterations to the auto-tour route and a county road will improve the visitor experience with increased wildlife viewing opportunities. 

Specific restoration actions will include: 

• Breaching the levees in 4 locations, 2 on the Kootenai River, 1 on Myrtle Creek and 1 on Deep Creek
• Realigning and raising the auto-tour route and installing flood control gates to prevent inundating of Riverside Road during high water years.
• Raising Riverside Road to prevent inundation.
• Improving wetland/riparian areas and installing woody habitat structures to promote natural regeneration of wetland and riparian plants while encouraging water flow.
• Planting and seeding to restore native vegetation. 

Since 2012, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s Habitat Restoration Program has worked with its partners including the Service, private landowners, and other stakeholders to identify habitat restoration projects within the Kootenai River Valley. The intent of this program has been to improve river conditions for white sturgeon while also promoting wetland and riparian habitat for area wildlife. They gathered public input, collected biological data, and utilized an engineering analysis to evaluate alternatives for improving the habitats found within the Kootenai River watershed. The Kootenai Floodplain Reconnection Project is one of the many projects analyzed and now being implemented in the river valley. 

Public Comments on the Draft EA

The comment period for the draft EA ended on October 18, 2024.

BPA with the Service has evaluated and responded to the comments received and informed the public of our decision. A proposed action is often iterative and may evolve during the process as the cooperating agencies refines its proposed action and continuously gathers feedback from the public, tribes and other agency. Thus, the final proposed action may include changes from the original.