Friends,

We observed severely damaged riparian conditions caused by cattle permitted to graze by the Challis National Forest and the Challis Field Office of the BLM. Looking at the map we noticed that one-mile of this damaged area on Lake Creek was located on a 640-acre section of Idaho State school endowment land.

Idaho Watersheds Project was created shortly after that experience to apply for and competitively bid for that very same grazing lease. After six years of legal fights and a number of court decisions, all won by IWP, the grazing lease was awarded to IWP in 1999.  Thanks to long-time WWP members Bob and Barbara Dargatz, WWP has held the lease ever since.

These photographs taken in 1993 and 2007 show the dramatic and remarkable improvements since 1993 to the damaged riparian area on Lake Creek that resulted simply by removing livestock.

© Lynne Stone - July 24, 1994 - Riparian habitat deprived organic matter like grass dries more quickly, erodes more easily, weeds replace beneficial vegetation, and the water level lowers, dropping below the roots of willows and other riparian vegetation.

photo: Idaho Department of Lands - July 18, 2007 - Beavers return and their dams restore the floodplain, cool water and filter sediment for fish, store water recharging the aquifer, and promote general stream-bank (riparian) health

© Lynne Stone - July 24, 1994 - Sediment pollutes the stream as livestock trample the bank. The sediment settles in between gravels depriving salmon fish eggs of the oxygen they need to thrive. © Lynne Stone - July 24, 1994 - Deprived of rich organic matter, these soils do not hold as much water, lush vegetation is replaced by weeds, the whole area loses moisture.

photo: Idaho Department of Lands - July 18, 2007 -  The ungrazed vegetation feeds wildlife, provides habitat for voles, shrews, bugs and insects that nourish fish, birds, and other wildlife - forming the basis for the entire food-chain  photo: Idaho Department of Lands - July 18, 2007 - Lush grasses feed riparian soils too - the rich organic matter resulting from dead and decaying plant-life become a part of the soil acting like a sponge, filtering and holding more water longer, promoting even more plant-life

These photographs illustrate Western Watersheds Project's vision for riparian areas across the West.  

photo: Idaho Department of Lands - July 18, 2007

  Lake Creek State Lease
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Western Watersheds Project Is A West Regional Conservation Organization Working To Protect And Restore Western Watersheds And Wildlife

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Banner photo: Lake Creek State Lease, taken by Idaho Department of Lands

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