Foes of Trestle Creek project need to hear the facts

Many speakers at the Sept. 6 public hearing on the proposed Trestle Creek marina project showed a total lack of understanding of the project.

After an Idaho Department of Lands official prefaced the meeting with the blatantly false statement that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife biological report had been rescinded, the excellent presentation by Jeremy Grimm fell mostly on deaf ears.

Here are some facts that project foes should understand. When the original marina was built in 1983, the man-made north channel was redirected into a slack-water pond that became a death trap where bull trout fry are eaten by predator fish. The proposed project will restore the north channel to its original configuration and eliminate the death trap.

Trestle Creek itself will be untouched. Anyone interested in preserving the bull trout population should want this project to proceed. There are no plans to develop the 5.8-acre parcel that was formerly a dense RV park along the north side of Trestle Creek from the lake to the railroad tracks — that’s about 1000 feet of creek frontage that will be untouched. Those interested in fish viewing should urge the county to purchase that parcel. It would make a great little park.

DAVID REED

Sandpoint