Lightning Creek drainage plan finalized

CLARK FORK — The U.S. Forest Service is hoping to strike a balance in its plan to restore transportation infrastructure in the flood-damaged Lightning Creek drainage.

Sandpoint District Ranger Dick Kramer has released a notice of decision on how the agency intends to proceed with the restoration of the drainage, which was hammered by flooding in the fall of 2006.

More than 30 miles of road were washed out or undercut in the flooding, which forced the Forest Service to close off the much of the drainage to motorized travel.

The 75,000-acre drainage is the wettest in the state and periodically floods because of its alignment and prevailing weather patterns, according to the Forest Service. The valley also has a fault running through it, which makes it prone to landslides.

Moreover, the drainage is a prime destination for a broad spectrum of outdoor enthusiasts and a haven for endangered species such as grizzly bear and bull trout.

A common theme which emerged from the public-involvement portion of the restoration plan’s development was a desire to reinstate the network of motorized routes in the valley. But between the drainage’s troublesome history and a scarcity of funding, Kramer said the wish for a return to the status quo cannot be granted.

“If there was an unlimited maintenance budget, and the geological and climate conditions in the drainage were more stable, I could have considered this request an option,” Kramer said in the Feb. 12 decision notice.

The Sandpoint Ranger District has secured a little more than $2.5 million in emergency relief funding from the Federal Highway Administration. The district also plans to use supplemental flood restoration funding within the Forest Service, Avista Utilities dam re-licensing mitigation funding, money from the congressional Legacy Roads & Trails Remediation program, and perhaps even federal economic stimulus funding, according to Jason Gritzner, a Forest Service hydrologist and team leader for the restoration project.

“There’s multiple funding sources going into making this project a reality,” he said on Wednesday.

The plan calls for the reconstruction of nearly 13 miles of road and the obliteration of 53 miles of road, 46 miles of which are impassible and already closed. Another 16 miles would be converted to non-motorized trail and about seven additional miles would be changed to routes for all-terrain vehicles no wider than 50 inches (4.17 feet).

The reconstruction effort will focus entirely on restoring nearly the entire length of Lightning Creek Road No. 419, which is the drainage’s transportation backbone.

One of the more significant changes in the drainage involves Rattle Creek Road No. 473, which would go from being a restricted road to a non-motorized trail. The route has been used for decades by vehicles and snowmobiles to access the Cabinet Mountains Divide on the Idaho/Montana boarder and a slate deposit of local renown.

Kramer said in his decision that Rattle Creek Road sustained more damage than initially thought and there was nowhere to reroute the road to guard against future failures.

Access to Porcupine Lake would also see a substantial change. Road No. 642 allowed unrestricted motorized access all the way to the mountain lake, but the bridge at the foot of the road would need to be replaced with a three-span structure to withstand future flooding, a size which the Forest Service said FHWA was unwilling to approve funding for.

Instead, a trailhead would be installed at the 419 road intersection and motorists wishing to proceed to the lake would have to ford Lightning Creek. As a result, Road No. 642 would be restricted to off-road vehicles 50 inches wide or less.

Although unrestricted motorized access to the Porcupine Lake would be eliminated, Kramer said the Forest Service plans to create permanent motorized access across East Fork Creek on Road No. 419, something forest visitors have been asking for repeatedly over the years.

“This is another decision with a trade-off, because removing the bridge to Porcupine allows us to finally get a bridge over East Fork Creek, which will allow a wider range of seasonal access into the entire Lightning Creek drainage,” Kramer wrote.

Gritzner said the restoration project will be divided into segments to limit disturbances to grizzly bear. Work on the 419 road, the road-to-trail conversion on 642 and the bridge at East Fork Creek are expected to be among the first slug of projects, which could start this year barring an administrative appeal of Kramer’s decision or litigation. Gritzner said the entire project could take five to eight years to complete.

“We’ve already been putting together contracts, so hopefully they’ll be awarded and we’ll start work this year,” Gritzner said.