IDFG Accepts Land Donation At Hidden Island

On a spectacular, sunny Fall day a few weeks ago, a group of local conservation minded people gathered on Hidden Island in Killarney Lake, east of Coeur d'Alene. The event marked the acceptance and dedication of a generous land donation to the people of the state of Idaho by local authors and historians Marie Russell and her late husband Bert. Scott Reed, Mary Lou Reed and Pat Powers, all friends of the Russells, facilitated the donation. The donated parcel consists of approximately 40 acres of land, marsh, and floating sphagnum bog. The property is particularly attractive to wildlife. Numerous waterfowl are produced there and waterfowl stage in the wetlands complex during their annual migration. Moose are often seen wading in the wetlands feeding on succulent aquatic plants. Deer, elk, black bears, wild turkeys, muskrats, beavers, birds of prey, songbirds and shorebirds have been observed using the island and surrounding wetlands. The parcel's high wildlife value is one of the many reasons Bert Russell purchased the property in 1953. Duck hunting was a passion of Bert's, and Bert and Marie went there on many duck hunting outings over the years. "Bert always wanted to go to Vermont in October, to see the area his family came from. He wanted to go in the fall during the peak of the autumn colors. We never got there, because Bert couldn't tear himself away from the duck hunting here," said Marie as she reminisced about special times spent on the property. The high wildlife values that attracted Bert and Marie to the property make the donation one the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is pleased to accept. The parcel is being incorporated into the Coeur d'Alene River Wildlife Management Area, stretching from Harrison to Cataldo. "Our management of the area will be mostly custodial," said Bryan Helmich, Regional Wildlife Habitat Manager for Idaho Fish and Game. "The area is already good wildlife habitat. Fish and Game's role will be to keep it in the public trust as a place for wildlife and for public recreation." As a result of this donation, all of Hidden Island is now publicly owned. A group called the American Game Association donated the remaining 360 acres to IDFG in 1964. While the Russell property has been privately owned, the public has used the area for decades. Many locals have gone to the property all of their lives to pick cranberries. Marie remembered that their friends Irv and Ern Hanson, trappers from Medimont, planted the cranberries. "That was probably back in the 1930's. They had them shipped out from Minnesota, and they planted them here. They have done so well, I am surprised there aren't more grown in the area." Bert and Marie didn't mind that many people came to the island to pick cranberries for their own use. "I didn't really like it when I heard some people were picking cranberries and selling them commercially," said Marie at the dedication. "That was until one of the commercial pickers pointed out to me that most of the berries were being purchased by people who once picked them but were no longer physically able to get to the island. Then I thought it was reasonable, but still, the cranberries should be taken mainly by people willing to make the effort to pick them themselves." Bert did a little of everything. Among other endeavors, he was a sawyer, timber cruiser, timber buyer, a trapper, a sawmill owner and a marine electrician in WWII. He and Marie also raised Appaloosa horses, and trapped muskrats. "Times were hard then, and any little bit of income helped," said Marie. They bought a ranch that Marie lives in 43 years later. Folks in the Idaho Panhandle know Bert and Marie Russell as writers and historians. They 1 six books about local people. "Bert always wanted to write. He was an avid reader. He read the whole Harrison library when he was young. He wanted to write short stories but mostly ended up tape recording and editing oral histories of the ordinary working people," added Marie. They 1 one book of short stories, one novel based upon a true story, and four oral histories that cover homesteaders as well as loggers, miners, schoolteachers, railroad workers and many others. The Russell's style of writing would not earn them a living. The types of tales they wanted to write had local appeal to people who understood the area, but didn't fit the template of best sellers that earn lots of money. Hearing the same accounts of events from several people would result in some inconsistencies about events, places and times. The Russells wrote individual versions of the incidents, keeping the flavor of the storytellers. "Bert wanted to write about the people at the bottom of the totem pole, the real workers in the natural resource industries during a romantic time in our history of the northwest," added Marie. Their last book, "Rock Burst", is about mining and the people who worked the mines. Marie wrote most of the book, as Alzheimer's had begun to affect Bert's ability to write by that time. While she tried to copy Bert's style, readers of their books say they can detect a difference. In a small ceremony on the island, Bryan Helmich presented a plaque to Marie Russell and accepted the property. "On behalf of the people of the state of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, I am pleased to accept your generous donation of this fine parcel of land. It will be held in trust for the benefit of the people and wildlife of Idaho for perpetuity," said Helmich. A permanent bronze plaque was placed at the southwestern edge of the island by some rock outcroppings, near one of Marie and Bert's favorite places on the island. The plaque says, "The property on which you stand was donated to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game by Bert and Marie Russell in 2003. Their generous donation perpetually secured this property for Idaho's citizens and wildlife resources." Their writings, and now their land donation, will be treasures to Idahoans for generations to come. Editor's note: Books by Bert and Marie Russell: "Calked Boots and other Northwest Writings"- collection of short stories and articles. "Hardships and Happy Times" "Swiftwater People" "North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River" "Rock Burst" "The Sawdust Dream" All are available in local bookstores and from Lacon Publishers, Harrison, ID 689-3467