Caribou coordination resumes at Priest Lake

COOLIN — Bonner County commissioners and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service resumed coordination talks Tuesday on designation of critical habitat for woodland caribou.

But the two sides struggled to find themselves on the same page during the meeting.

Commissioner Mike Nielsen contended that the designation does not follow a National Environmental Policy Act preamble which promotes productive harmony between natural and human environments.

“It does not show how you’ve looked at the ‘productive harmony’ aspect,” Nielsen said.

Fish & Wildlife officials said the designation is a rule-making process, not a NEPA process.

Commissioners pressed for the agency to de-list woodland caribou in the southern Selkirk Mountains from the Endangered Species Act and argued there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the designation of habitat would be beneficial to the species.

“We just have to simply say, ‘Duly noted,’ ” said Ben Conard, Fish & Wildlife’s northern Idaho field office supervisor.

Officials from Fish & Wildlife said they were unable to answer the county’s legal questions and the county would have to stake its positions during the public comment process of the rule-making effort.

About the only common ground during the meeting was both sides’ seemingly genuine desire to have an open dialogue about the caribou issue.

The proposed designation has stoked fears that it will close off more snowmobile trails, thwart timber harvests and jeopardize businesses at Priest Lake which depend on recreation tourism.

Nielsen said there were around 3,000 snowmobile groomer tags issued at Priest Lake in 2007. Tag issuance slipped to 1,800 last year.

“That’s a significant impact on this community,” said Nielsen.

But Fish & Wildlife emphasized that its designation of habitat would have no immediate effect on forest use.

“It will not swing any gates open and it will not swing any gates closed,” Conard told commissioners. “The designation of critical habitat is not in and of itself a closure.”

However, the designation is expected to influence the U.S. Forest Service’s land management at Priest Lake, including forest recreation plans.

Caribou considerations a few years ago led to a particularly unpopular closure of part of the forest at Priest Lake. The restricted area is depicted in purple on recreation maps.

“We watched the snow turn from white to purple,” Commission Chairman Cornel Rasor said.

Brian Kelly, Fish & Wildlife’s state supervisor, noted that that closure was the result of a federal judge’s ruling that was prompted by environmental groups’ suit against the agency for not listing caribou. The litigation also compelled Fish & Wildlife to initiate the habitat designation process.

Further coordination talks are planned, although the next meeting date is pending.