Pack River Delta focus of KNPS program

The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society is hosting a program on the Pack River Delta wildlife restoration project” this weekend.

Speaking will be Pete Rust, mitigation staff biologist at the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, on Saturday, May 18. The in-person program begins at 10 a.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave. Snacks, coffee, and tea will be served at 9:30 a.m. 

The public is welcome to attend this free program, which is co-sponsored by Sandpoint Parks & Recreation and the East Bonner County Library District.

At the program, Rust will speak about wetland mitigation and habitat restoration on Lake Pend Oreille and why it is needed. The IDFG staff biologist will also share Idaho Fish and Game’s restoration methods and the previous projects completed on Lake Pend Oreille’s deltas. Among those projects is the  Pack River Delta restoration project, which Rust will discuss as well as future restoration plans.

Rust has been working at Idaho Fish and Game since 2002, primarily involving fisheries recovery investigations on the Kootenai River and Lake Pend Oreille. He has as a mitigation staff biologist since 2021, implementing the North Idaho memorandum of agreement between Idaho and the Bonneville Power Administration. He works with federal, state, tribal, and private entities to restore and rebuild wetlands on Lake Pend Oreille that were lost due to inundation and operations of Albeni Falls Dam.