Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s Kootenai River White Sturgeon and Burbot Hatcheries Project Preliminary EA
The following comments were submitted in response to the open comment period described below.
The Bonneville Power Administration is proposing to fund the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho to upgrade their existing Kootenai white sturgeon aquaculture facility and construct a new facility to expand their white sturgeon and burbot artificial production programs. The new facility would be located on property owned by the Tribe at the confluence of the Moyie and Kootenai Rivers near Bonners Ferry in Boundary County, Idaho. Current production of Kootenai River white sturgeon at the existing Tribal Hatchery is restricted by capacity limitations and adequate facilities for artificial burbot production do not exist.
BPA has prepared a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the potential environmental consequences of this proposed action and we would like to hear your views. Please submit your comments by March 18, 2013 so that they are considered in our decision on this project.
If you would like a copy of the Preliminary EA please visit the project webpage or call our toll-free document request line: 1-800-622-4520. Leave a message naming this project and giving your name and complete mailing address. If you have any further questions or need more project information, please call me toll free at 1-800-622-4519, or directly at (503) 230-5756. You may also e-mail me at esgresh@bpa.gov. Thank you for your interest in our work.
View previous comments received during the initial public scoping period when the project was formerly called the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho Native Fish Aquaculture Program:
http://www.bpa.gov/applications/publiccomments/CommentList.aspx?ID=141
For More Information:
http://www.bpa.gov/goto/kootenaiaquaculture
Comments are numbered consecutively as they are received. Breaks in the number sequence result when comments are deleted because they
were submitted in error or have inappropriate content (such as SPAM). If you do not see your comment two business days after
you submit it, please contact (800) 622-4519.
Close of comment: 3/18/2013
- KTEA13 0004 -
bourassaThis is another waste of tax payer money. It is designed to assuage guilt in regards to Indians who did the very things the Europeans did when they came here, the displacement of one tribe by another. We need to end this cycle and accept that it was a part of history. As long as the Indian population receives the largess of the federal government the longer they will be dependent upon the federal government. It is time for assimilation.
- KTEA13 0005 -
Klipper
View attached document
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- KTEA13 0006 -
Brannon/USDA-NRCSThe Natural Resources Conservation Service has a vested interest in working with private landowners to implement conservation practices that help to restore and maintain soil, water, plant and animal resources and especially for the Kootenai River white sturgeon because of its endangered status. The tribe, as a key partner with NRCS, helped to achieve an award of ~$1.6 million to Boundary County over a 5-year period. These dollars allow our Bonners Ferry Field Office to work with landowners to apply conservation practices to reduce erosion, increase streambank stability, treat weeds, and restore natural vegetation along waters critical to sturgeon habitat.
- KTEA13 0007 -
Riddle/Boundary SCDThe Boundary Soil Conservation District works with private landowners to implement water quality and conservation practices that reduce erosion protect streambank stability and treat noxious weeds. The district has a great working relationship with The Kootenai Tribe and they are a key partner in this work. We believe that the work they are doing with the White Sturgeon and Burbot is vital for the species survival. We feel a new hatchery would be a step towards progress in their goals and we support their efforts. Sincerely, The Boundary Soil Conservation District Board
- KTEA13 0008 -
Higgins/Three Mile Water District
View attached document
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- KTEA13 0009 -
Corsi/Idaho Department of Fish and GameView attached document
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- KTEA13 0010 -
Ashworth/Boundary County LibraryI have had the opportunity to share my enthusiastic support for this project at an earlier public meeting held here at the library. This is a crucial element in the conservation strategies for both the Burbot & White Sturgeon.
- KTEA13 0011 -
Redline/DEQ, IdahoView attached document
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- KTEA13 0012 -
Hoffman/USACE1.2 Are the desired “recreational” and “sport” sturgeon and burbot fisheries described public, tribal, or both? Please clarify. 1.4.4 Suggest expanding this to explain that there will be fewer individuals per family, but more families meets the goals of preserving more genetic diversity. 2.1.1 The work to the existing hatchery has already begun - why is it termed a "Proposed Action"? 2.1.2 Also need to consider the strong likelihood that there will be issues with Didymo with these intake structures, and subsequently in the hatchery water. 3.8.2 The burbot program is still in infancy, and before the proposed expansion is moved forward, it is critical to thoroughly evaluate the success of the current program related to the fish released thus far producing wild progeny in the river. Until this is completed this portion of the hatchery should be suspended. Initial indications are that the released fish to this point are surviving quite well, growing well, and possibly even spawning and recruiting.
- KTEA13 0013 -
Hallock/Retired USFWS
See comment #14 for complete comment attachment
- KTEA13 0014 -
Hallock/Retired, USFWS
View attached document
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- KTEA13 0015 -
Hoffman/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Please add the attached clarification to the comments I submitted re: Kootenai River White Sturgeon and Burbot Hatcheries Program, Preliminary Environmental Assessment, February 2013.
(Referencing comment #KTEA13 0012 -received after comment period closed)
Thank you,
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Finance & Rates
