Bonneville conserves land for future generations

On a clear-spring day near Idaho Falls, Gore-Tex-clad birdwatchers – packing binoculars and cameras – creep along the shore of Idaho’s Market Lake Wildlife Management Area. Most are hoping to snap a special photo of an elusive bird or other wildlife. Thousands of people visit the historic marshland each year to catch glimpses of their favorite songbirds, colorful waterfowl and upland game birds. What they may not realize is, work done by the Bonneville Power Administration and its ratepayers support this popular pastime.

In 2021, BPA ratepayers purchased 489 acres of marshland at Market Lake for Idaho Fish and Game which owns and manages the area. The acquisition was added to the original 2,845 acres first set aside in 1956 when Idaho established the wildlife area. With the recent BPA land purchase and many others since the 1950s, today Market Lake has more than 6,000 acres protected for wildlife.

For decades, the farms of early settlers, a railroad, flood control of the Snake River and conversion from flood to sprinkler irrigation, significantly reduced Market Lake’s water level. However, thanks to valuable partnerships with local farmers, the federal government and the state of Idaho, Market Lake is regaining its historic marshland and bird populations.

“With the BPA purchase we are replacing lost habitat,” says Steve Elam, a staff biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “As we return this historic marshland back to Market Lake it helps to guarantee that this beautiful area will continue to be a healthy place for wildlife and for people to visit for years to come.”

For more than 40 years, Bonneville’s land conservation program has worked across the Northwest to protect valuable fish and wildlife habitat such as Market Lake. In 2021, that impressive legacy continued with BPA and its partners conserving nearly 8,000 thousand acres across the Columbia and Snake river basins. 

The thousands of acres protected in 2021 not only promise to provide long-lasting environmental benefits to fish and wildlife, but in some cases, such as at Market Lake, there are recreational opportunities for people. And under special federal conservation easements, most land acquired by BPA is protected from development in perpetuity.  

“While BPA has its own mitigation goals and responsibilities for purchasing and protecting land, these projects also need to align with our fish and wildlife conservation goals,” says Elam. “We routinely work with BPA to accomplish such things as reconnecting stream channels, protecting cold water springs for fish and conserving and protecting important habitat for birds and other wildlife.”

Through its land conservation program, BPA funds efforts by states, tribes and regional conservation organizations to own and manage properties that support BPA's fish and wildlife mitigation goals. In return, BPA receives a conservation easement or other real property interest ensuring the acreage remains protected. This ratepayer-supported mitigation effort offsets the environmental impacts of maintaining and operating federal hydroelectric dams in the Columbia and Snake river basins. Since 1980, it’s estimated BPA ratepayers have helped to protect hundreds of thousands of acres through the program.

BPA uses several criteria to determine what land parcels to pursue and how to capitalize acquisitions. First, the property must provide a credit against the Federal Columbia River Power System's legal obligations, which for wildlife mitigation comes in the form of acres protected. Second, lifespan: Property interest for fish or wildlife habitat acquisitions must be protected for at least 15 years – most are protected in perpetuity. And finally, cost. BPA pays the market rate to compensate the seller and an external certified appraiser conducts an appraisal to determine the property value. Since power rates are set to recover BPA's costs, including the cost of these land acquisitions, staff must consider the costs of the transaction against the conservation values that the properties provide.  

The nearly 8,000 acres BPA conserved in FY 2021 benefit a wide range of species, such as prehistoric lamprey, several species of salmon, steelhead, westslope cutthroat and bull trout, many of which are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Many acquisitions, such as the Market Lake acquisition in Idaho, also benefit wildlife habitat for deer, elk, moose, bobcats, mountain lions, bear, frogs, turtles, and many important species of birds. 

“Acquisitions that add acres close-by or adjacent to existing wildlife areas, such as with many of the properties in Southern Idaho, are particularly important for ecological connectivity and conservation corridors,” says Hannah Dondy-Kaplan, BPA Land and Wildlife Program lead. “We’re providing funding to our partners to own or permanently conserve land that restricts future development and other negative uses, and that protects valuable habitat for a multitude of species for decades to come.”