While the upper Wood River Valley got a bit wilder last spring, testing in the lower valley dashed the notion that we're immune from environmental contamination by far-flung sources.
From denning wolves to contaminated (and scarce) water resources to the recreational use of the area's vast public lands, 2007 was a busy one on the area's public lands.
Valley wolves make den
This was the year that the howl of the wolf became almost commonplace in the Wood River Valley. While wolves have certainly been seen in and have passed through the valley in recent years, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists for the first time verified that a breeding pair had given birth to three pups in the upper valley.
The band's denning site near Phantom Hill along state Highway 75 gave it its name—the Phantom Hill wolf pack—but also set the stage for a confrontational summer, pitting their interests with those of local sheep ranchers. While one sheep producer—Carey-based Lava Lake Land and Livestock—chose to forego grazing on one of their federal allotments, Gooding sheep rancher John Faulkner decided to graze his sheep not far from the pack's denning site.
In the end, estimates placed Faulkner's wolf-incurred losses at 17 sheep as of early August, which in turn led Fish and Game officials to consider eliminating the Phantom Hill pack. But as of year's end, the pack remains alive and well, with sightings of the pack by locals continuing to filter in.
How well the pack gets along next summer once the sheep return to graze remains as big a question mark as ever. Their future is tied to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to delist wolves from the federal Endangered Species List soon, after which state Fish and Game officials intend to implement a state wolf hunt.
Water woes surface
Following up on a record-setting snow year in 2005-2006, last winter was quite the opposite. As of April, the local snowpack in the Big Wood Basin was about 30 percent of normal, which portended bad things for irrigators, municipal water managers and wildland fire managers.
Following up on a mid-May request from the Blaine County Commission that an emergency drought declaration be issued for the county, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter went even further and declared a statewide drought emergency declaration. Such declarations are issued by the Idaho Department of Water Resources and are approved by the governor. The declarations allow for the administrative processing of emergency water rights transfers.
Mercury in Silver Creek
The contamination of what is arguably the most significant fishery in Blaine County—Silver Creek—was at the top of the news in late 2007. Based on the sampling of 20 large brown trout in June, the Idaho chapter of The Nature Conservancy made the surprising announcement that unhealthy levels of mercury exist in fish in the creek.
But while the testing indicated high levels of mercury in their flesh, it didn't point to the source of the contamination. However, ongoing work by Idaho conservationists and some scientists is pointing to gold mines in northern Nevada as the largest likely source of the airborne element. Up to 25 mines in the area use oven roasters to superheat the gold-bearing ore to recover the precious metal.
But this method also leads to the vaporization of naturally occurring mercury—an element considered especially harmful to pregnant women and children—which sends it aloft where it mixes with atmospheric winds. This, then, sends it downwind to places like Idaho's Magic Valley region, experts say.
State officials will reportedly be releasing a fish-consumption advisory for the creek in the months ahead.
BLM Travel Plan
A sweeping plan that seeks to manage the many recreational uses of the approximately 160,000 acres of U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands located in the lower Wood River Valley sparked intense emotions from all sides—motorized and non-motorized recreationists alike—in 2007.
Formulated by the Blaine County Commission with help from BLM officials and various recreational focus groups, the plan envisions 16 different summer and winter recreation management zones on the often heavily used lands. However, unlike what many participants seem to think, the plan doesn't restrict each of these zones to a particular use. Rather, they would be managed for a priority use, but most roads and trails in the zones would remain open to motorized and non-motorized uses.
The Blaine County Commission's next meeting on the plan is set for Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Old Blaine County Courthouse. Once the plan is complete, the commission will recommend a draft travel plan to the BLM for consideration.
Wood River Legacy Project
The Idaho Legislature approved a controversial bill earlier this year that seeks to increase water flows in two Bellevue Triangle waterways: the lower Big Wood River and Silver Creek. Championed by Hailey resident Rich McIntyre, the plan is in the process of being implemented.
The legislation gives local water rights holders the opportunity to keep some or all of their water instream. Current Idaho water law forces people to take all of their allotted water or risk losing their rights to it, a policy known as "use it or lose it."
The legacy project originally envisioned keeping all donated water in the Big Wood River, but under pressure from local irrigators that was changed. Based on the revisions, donated water north of Bellevue will be directed to the Silver Creek system, while below there it will remain in the Big Wood.
A lone black wolf walks through tall grasses north of Ketchum in this June photo. The wolf is a member of the Phantom Hill wolf pack, which state biologists discovered had given birth to the valley?s first wolf pups since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced wolves to Idaho in 1995.
