Foundation Buys Research Facility

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has been able to keep a research crew in Bayview thanks to the efforts of the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation (IFWF). The Foundation recently purchased the research center on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille and will rent the building to Fish and Game. Fish and Game has conducted investigations on the fisheries in this magnificent and scenic lake since the 1950's, and plans to continue the research program in an attempt to restore the kokanee population. The fishery in Lake Pend Oreille has traditionally had enormous economic benefit to local communities around the lake and throughout the Idaho Panhandle. The IDFG research team has been housed in 792 square feet in the bottom floor of the Research Center. The IFWF acquisition enables the program to begin use of the entire building, more than doubling the space available. According to Dr. Melo Maiolie, IDFG Principal Fisheries Research Biologist, the program "badly needed the additional office space for the biologists working on Lake Pend Oreille." Plans include not only expanding the office space, but also developing interpretive displays for the public. "Having this building will allow the public to have a place in Bayview where they can go to get questions answered about the lake," added Maiolie. Real property in the Bayview area is in short supply and the current Research Center was listed for sale, but had not been actively marketed. The owner offered the property for sale at a reduced price so the research center could stay. "By purchasing this property, the IFWF can assure that the research facility stays in Bayview," said Sandy Emerson, IFWF President and Coeur d'Alene resident. "The facility is in very close proximity to the research vessels moored at the nearby marina docks. Sale to another entity would have resulted in the IDFG moving to a distant location with increased travel time and costs and a loss of efficiency that would have an adverse effect on the research program", added Emerson. The US Army Corps of Engineers operates a dam on the Pend Oreille River downstream from Sandpoint. The lake level fluctuations resulting from dam operations have adversely affected fish populations through negative impacts on natural reproduction of kokanee salmon, a forage fish for the huge kamloops rainbow trout that is famous in Lake Pend Oreille. Two years of unusual flood events exacerbated the situation and the floods seriously impacted the fishery. The research program is critical to the restoration and ongoing management of the fishery on this 86,000-acre lake. The Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of natural resources including fish, wildlife and habitat. Among its goals are habitat conservation and restoration, public education and community/grassroots organization, and funding of resource projects. The Foundation meets these goals by forging partnerships between the public and private sectors and by supporting conservation activities that inform and educate the general public. With this acquisition, Foundation projects in the Idaho Panhandle now total more than $400,000 in the last 10 years. Projects in northern Idaho have included funding harlequin duck surveys, a Sandpoint High School wetlands restoration and education project, education programs about bull trout, and maintaining the Sullivan Springs kokanee spawning operation. The Foundation is currently working on an educational facility at the Sandpoint Fish Hatchery. Rental income from the acquisition of the Bayview Research Center will be used to fund future projects.