We have a plan. It’s audacious, but not outrageous. It’s been done before. Just not by us. My husband and I are rowing Route 66 in eastern Idaho.
That’s what we call the South Fork of the Snake River because it’s 66 miles long from its tailwaters at Palisades Dam to its confluence with the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. The two forks form the Snake’s main channel which flows across Idaho, flirts with Oregon then funnels into Washington where it folds into the Columbia River flowing toward the Pacific Ocean.
Our plan is to experience every mile of Route 66 in three days.
It’s a bold commitment to our home water, as was evident by the pile of gear on the boat ramp the morning we launched. Our two boys (then ages 8 and 10) ran circles around our rig in lifejackets, swim trunks and rafting shoes while we sorted our stash making sure to leave room for four people.
The rarely seen yellow-billed cuckoo is protected by the Endangered Species Act as threatened. It’s on the South Fork.
“Some of the most important habitat for cuckoo in Idaho is the South Fork,” says Rob Cavallaro, Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional wildlife habitat manager. “They are tied to the cottonwood forest. They are never going to be numerous and they are hard to detect, but they are there. We get consistent sightings.”
The other constant is cutthroat. Native Yellowstone cutthroat trout are in the South Fork. Rainbow trout and brown trout introduced decades ago are pressuring their birthright, but “cutties” remain on Route 66 while many other Western watersheds have lost them. Most of the cutthroats spawn in tributaries contributing to the South Fork but they are found throughout and the farther you float, the bigger they get.
Conservation
The temperature rises on our second day as we drop in elevation, entering the lower end of the Fork. The water is morphing from easy-to-read to a tangle of braided deadfall. It’s hard to find a place to camp. We overnighted in the canyon and had plenty of accessible, public land, camping spots to choose from. Now we’re restricted to midstream gravel bars where the approach is sketchy. The difference is striking. There’s development on both banks of the lower stretch. In the canyon, the banks are mostly undisturbed. That’s no accident. A miracle, maybe, but ignited by fervent foresight in the late 1980s.
“I started with The Nature Conservancy in 1987,” says Mark Elsbree, The Conservation Fund senior vice president. “One of the first file folders on my desk was the proposed Hays Ranch development. Fifty-five homes with a jet boat marina and a golf course in the heart of the canyon. That’s what inspired conservation of the South Fork.”
The Nature Conservancy bought its first conservation easement on the South Fork in 1989. It was 177 acres neighboring the proposed ranch development. That first parcel has a private owner now, but TNC still retains easement rights. That means the land can never be turned into a subdivision. That’s what conservation easements do. Protect.
Teton Regional Land Trus t. Together, they work with government agencies and private landowners to sustain the corridor’s natural resources long term.
“Natural, cultural and open space values make it one of the most important resources in the West,” Elsbree says. “Because of the mixed ownership with private and public, there was this distinct threat of altering the river and sacrificing the values we were trying to protect. To me it’s the whole combination of the community, wildlife habitat, recreation quality and scenic views that we see in the canyon that makes it unique. That all comes together and speaks to a lot of us as a really special place.”
To date, there are 58 conservation easements on the South Fork plus 41 fee acquisitions. Easements protect land from development while private ownership is retained.
Acquisitions are purchases of private land from willing sellers with easements added during the transaction so the managing entity, be it government or non-profit, doesn’t subdivide it either.
In total, the two protective measures shield more than 26,000 acres of the South Fork from future development. That protection also promotes public access, which is why my family and I can float the fork for three days whenever we feel inspired to.
On the final day of our float, we launch early under the shading branches of cottonwoods. Our littles, tucked into the bow of the boat layered in long sleeves and lifejackets, are playing rummy with a deck of cards.
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Mist rises off the water under us. A bull moose eats the willows across from us. An eagle pair nests above us. My husband lifts the anchor. I shove the boat from bank. He dips the oars. I string my rod.
We’ll reach mile 66, the confluence with the Henry’s Fork, before dinner. We’ll row up it a few strokes just to say we floated both forks in the same day.
But our sweet spot will always be southbound. The South Fork. Where my boys nap with the river’s sway. Where my husband rows with the river’s braid. Where I know I can always retreat into a river that is as it should be. Consistently wild.
Manas Ranjan Sahoo
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible.
I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
