Salmon River's South Fork

Idaho is home to many of the fantastic streams with unique western character and abundant wildlife.

The famous Snake, Salmon, and Clearwater rivers all all born, or at least grow up, in Idaho.

A noteworthy river in Idaho, the South Fork of the Salmon River, is a classic—a top-tier river noted for its wild character and world-class whitewater.

It is presently under threat from extractive industry.

Approximately 107,000 miles of rivers lie within Idaho’s amazing river system. The vast majority of these rivers drain to the Pacific as part of the Columbia River Basin. 

Some of Idaho's rivers, highlighted here, are recognized for their value and protected in some way to preserve their character and value for future users.

Click on a highlighted river in the map to learn more about it.

The landmark  Wild and Scenic Rivers Act , passed in 1968, sought to preserve the free-flowing condition of rivers across the Nation that possess remarkable natural, cultural, or recreational values. Two of the “original eight” Wild and Scenic designated rivers are in Idaho. 

In the decades since, stretches of 226 different rivers in 41 states have been designated as Wild and Scenic.

Idaho currently has 891 Wild and Scenic river miles and 2,745 miles of State protected rivers, allowing Idaho’s communities to continue to enjoy the benefits of its remarkable wild rivers.

At the heart of Idaho's river system is the Salmon River watershed in the central part of the state. Some river folk consider the Salmon system to be one of the crown jewels of America's outstanding rivers.

Two stretches of the Salmon watershed are designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers:

• The "Main" section of the  Salmon ; and
• The  Middle Fork  of the Salmon.

The Middle Fork of the Salmon, it  has been said , is "not so much a river as an exuberant expression of water at play." These rivers are in truly amazing places.

The full watershed of the Salmon River is overwhelmingly within federally managed public lands.

Most of the drainage is within US Forest Service boundaries and includes the  Boise ,  Payette ,  Nez Perce-Clearwater ,  Sawtooth , and  Salmon-Challis  National Forests.

Within these National Forests, a large swath of this land enjoys a high level of protection as federally designated Wilderness area.

The  Wilderness Act of 1964  provided mechanisms for setting aside sections of public lands for additional protections.

The  Frank Church – River of No Return  Wilderness is the largest such contiguous wilderness area in the conterminous US.

The South Fork of the Salmon River, a large tributary to the protected Salmon River, is similarly of unique and precious value as a free-flowing, wild river.  

The South Fork watershed is completely within the Payette and Boise National Forests. The  USFS Management Plan for this area  includes treating the South Fork and the Secesh rivers (both within South Fork watershed) as suitable candidates for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River system.

The Salmon River Basin is home to a broad suite of wildlife, none more important ecologically, economically, and culturally than the salmon and steelhead. These anadromous fish have evolved to take advantage of both the ideal spawning grounds in Idaho’s rugged interior and the rich abundance of the Pacific Ocean via an awe-inspiring migration of up to 900 miles.

The current runs of salmon and steelhead are a fraction of the fabled Columbia River runs that once returned to the Northwest in the millions.

 StreamNet  inventory data highlights much of the Salmon River—notably the South Fork sub-basin watershed—as Chinook habitat. The Salmon River Basin, represents an important wild, cold-water refuge for salmon and steelhead in a future with warmer rivers and increased human development. 

Snake River Chinook salmon and steelhead as well bull trout call the South Fork home, and are all listed under the Endangered Species Act. However, while their numbers are greatly depleted, the salmon and steelhead of the South Fork still represent an important cultural and economic fishery to communities that rely on the river.  

The South Fork’s value as a river worthy of our study and protection is jeopardized by many influences. Most notably, extractive industry is proposing large-scale projects within the South Fork watershed, specifically at the headwaters of the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon River.

This has the potential to dramatically affect the local ecosystem, but also the many miles of river downstream.

 Midas Gold , a Canadian mining company based in Vancouver, BC, is proposing to operate an open-pit mining operation here.

The mine is planned as a re-opening of historic mining operations in the Stibnite Mining District near Yellow Pine, Idaho.

The Stibnite Mining District has been in and out of operation for decades. It was critically important as a source of strategic minerals needed during WWII: In the 30s and 40s, these open-pit mines produced half of the tungsten used in the US war effort.

An element of the Midas proposal is that once their mining activities are concluded, they will rehabilitate the river to clean up artifacts of this historic mining. The East Fork South Fork Salmon River will be reconstructed on top of the back-filled Yellow Pine pit taking a course that resembles its historic streambed.

The Stibnite Mining District is in a remote part of Idaho, near the unincorporated town of Yellow Pine. This area straddles the border of the Payette and Boise National Forests.

Critically, the mine site is just outside of the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness Area, a protected status which would prevent mining all-together. In order to operate on the public lands within the National Forest, mining interests must own or control land "claims." Mining claims such as these land patents (in red) convey mineral rights to their holders, even though the land itself is within the boundaries of the publicly held National Forests.

In addition to these patented claims, Midas has filed and maintains unpatented claims (in green) for additional lands necessary to operate this mine site.

The footprint of the Midas unpatented claims is quite large, but hard to put into perspective in the remote forest.

If we take this same footprint and set it beside the Boise Metro Area, the relative size of the unpatented claim area footprint is more relatable.

The footprint of direct mining operations is a portion of this footprint, but the unpatentend claims will permit Midas to expand into these areas on its non-patent claims if it discovers minerals on those claims.

 Midas Gold’s proposal  is to re-open the Stibnite mining area for mining, principally for the extraction of gold. 

The infrastructure on-site will be consistent with a large-scale industrial operation. Buildings must be constructed, heavy machinery and ore processing facilities are also planned for the site. Employee housing is also included

The operations at the mine site includes open pits, mills, and a diversion of the river itself.

Note that the open pits used to expose and extract gold lie on top of the stream bed of the river. Stream water must be diverted in some way in order to permit ore extraction.

At the south end of the site, water flowing from Meadow Creek will be diverted to either side of the tailings and rock storage piles before re-forming near the southernmost pit.

The  tailings  storage is a pond where mining waste and bi-products are stored. Midas' pre-feasibility study discusses the engineering necessary to prevent this storage from leaking the cyanide, arsenic, and antimony expected to be present in tailings from this mine.

The placement of this tailings pond within the stream bed at the head of the South Fork is a source of obvious concern in the event of an unintended release.

The greater impact will be a diversion near the Yellow Pine pit at the north end of the site. Midas proposes a tunnel to divert the river around this pit.

The tunnel will carry the full flow of the East Fork of the South Fork of the Salmon river for the duration of mining operations. The project lifecycle is expected to be 20 years. The river will be returned to its historic stream bed once mining operations are shut down and the pits filled in.

The water diversions at Meadow Creek, plus this dramatic tunnel re-routing of the river around the Yellow Pine pit are grave causes of concern. It is not known how migratory fish will respond to such detours.

The footprint of the total operation is larger than just the mine site itself. 

Because Forest Service roads are not suited for the heavy trucks and other machinery needed for a modern mining operation, existing backcountry roads must be widened and improved. 

In some cases, entirely new roads must be constructed in order to facilitate access to the mine site. The road construction portion of the project will re-shape hillsides to accommodate wide roads suited for the travel of this heavy machinery.

Roads are only part of the story: 

Mine operations will consume electricity far beyond what Midas’ proposed solar panels will generate. The electrical grid in western Idaho will need some upgrades and some new equipment in order to provide this power.

New and upgraded electrical transmission lines must be built through the Boise and Payette National Forests and across the South Fork watershed.

Essential sub-stations must be upgraded and new facilities built in order to operate these new transmission lines.

Solution: Lobbying Support

Consider lending your financial support to organizations attempting to sway the legislative process in favor of these valuable natural resources. Here are a few to consider:

 American Rivers 

 Idaho Rivers United 

 Idaho Conservation League 

All of these are non-profit legal entities, so your financial support is tax-deductable (in the U.S.).

📸Idaho Rivers United