Partnership cleaning up CDA River

For decades, Tundra Swans have been dying because of heavy metal pollution in the Canyon Marsh area of the Coeur d’Alene River corridor. But help has arrived from the Restoration Partnership and Inland Northwest Land Conservancy.

The Canyon Marsh project (including the Walker conservation agreement) is part of the larger Restoration Partnership. In their own words, the partnership is “a collaborative effort led by the Coeur d’Alene Basin Natural Resource Trustees; the U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the State of Idaho. It was created to work with the public in natural resource restoration efforts in the CDA Basin.” The goal is “returning our natural resources to a healthy condition.” The partnership unites landowners, agencies, and governments to undo the damage to the land from the historic mining in the Silver Valley. Specifically, it first does the difficult work of remediation: removing toxic waste such as lead, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium. Then, it restores the wetlands by deepening water areas, creating ponds and hillocks, restoring native shrubs and trees along the edges, adjusting water levels seasonally, and myriad other activities.

Inland Northwest Land Conservancy is a solid partner in the Canyon Marsh project area. With the generous help of our supporters, we work with willing landowners to place conservation agreements on their lands so that they will be permanently protected from development, and will never again be contaminated. For more information about the Restoration Partnership, visit their website, www.restorationpartnership.org. Be sure to see the details about the Canyon Marsh area, https://www.restorationpartnership.org/wetlands_conservation_project.html.