Lake study leaves citizens high and dry

The University of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game recently shared the results of their two-year study on kokanee survival and concluded that higher winter pool levels on Lake Pend Oreille did not enhance kokanee survival rates.

Later in the same article, Pend Oreille Basin Commission Chairman Ford Elsaesser said the only people advocating higher winter pool levels on Lake Pend Oreille are the stakeholders — the people who live around and recreate on Idaho’s largest natural lake.

It sounds like the white flag is being raised and everyone has conceded that Bonneville Power’s demand for more water to support power production and other downstream interests trump all others.

Lake Pend Oreille is a naturally occurring lake, not a reservoir. Residents who live around the lake and rely on the economic benefits derived from its natural beauty and bountiful fisheries are being treated like an incidental problem in the greater demands coming from outside our region.

In stating that kokanee survival rates were still high even when the lake was drawn down the past two winters, the study seems hardly conclusive in presenting evidence of a kokanee recovery. Fish and Game has been studying ways to restore the kokanee fishery on Lake Pend Oreille for 40 years.  

And, while kudos for the recent turnaround are commendable, it’s hardly time to take a bow when the only thing a fisherman has seen to date is the ability to legally catch and keep a kokanee.

We’ve got a long way to go to get back to the days when fishermen caught millions of kokanee annually, and fishermen came from all over the country to enjoy the bounty on Lake Pend Oreille in a year-around fishing season.

Chairman Elsaesser’s comment that everyone else is going to be basically saying “Take it Down” sounds like a retreat. “The stakeholders around Pend Oreille” seemed to be referenced as the least important concern and should defer to the greater demand of power production and other downstream interests.

The state of Idaho and its representatives need to wake up to the influence that is being exerted on its citizens and its resources. It’s time for the state to be a leader and come to their defense. Part of that mandate is to insist Pend Oreille be managed as a lake and that its fisheries be restored and managed with sustainable practices.

Only then can citizens be assured that the lake returns to the same condition in which it was found before dams were installed and natural ecosystems were disrupted.