History of Mud Lake WMA
History
(The first portion of this History that is in quotes and is italicized, is taken directly from Stearns et. al. 1939)
“Some of the early fur traders and explorers traversed the borders of this region. It is reported that the first American trading post on the Pacific slope was Fort Henry, erected in 1810 at Egin, by Andrew Henry, of the Missouri Fur Co. This post was soon abandoned. In 1870 a stage station on the route from Salt Lake City to Butte was established at Sand Hole Lake. About 10 years later settlement began with the establishment of a few cattle ranches along Camas, Beaver, and Medicine Lodge Creeks, on which considerable hay was raised. At that time, according to early inhabitants, Mud Lake was a more or less intermittent pond, never covering more than a few hundred acres, whereas Sand Hole Lake never went dry. About 1895
irrigation began on the terrace southwest of St. Anthony, known as the Egin Bench. About 1900, according to several witnesses, water was noticed standing in pools just east of the railroad about 1 mile north of the present site of Hamer.
It appears from Russell’s account, based on a visit to Mud Lake in 1900, that there were then numerous ephemeral lakes in the eastern part of Snake River Plain. Of these, Mud Lake was the only on that did not dry up every summer. He stated that Mud Lake fluctuated in area from month to month and at its maximum had an area of 40 to 50 square miles, and added that the lake was dry in the summer of 1891 and was lower in the summer of 1900 than it had been at any other time in the 9 years since 1891.Surveys made at intervals from this time on give more accurate data as to the fluctuations of the lake and indicate that the extremes have not been as great as those indicated by Russell. In May and June 1899 a meander survey of Mud Lake by the General Land Office showed a water surface of 2,460 acres and dry lake beds to the south and west of Mud Lake occupying about 3,000 acres. From 1899 to 1908 the lake rose very little, if at all. In 1908 a survey of the lake by O. E. Peterson showed practically the same area covered by water as was shown by the General Land Office survey hi 1899. Mr. Peterson found all except one of the original Land Office monuments around the lake. From 1908 to 1914 the lake rose about 5 feet, as indicated by a survey made by D. P. Olson in 1914, which showed a water surface of about 14,200 acres. This is the latest survey of any consequence until the present investigation was begun in 1921. Unfortunately, no gage readings to show the rise and fall of Mud Lake were made prior to 1921.
In 1908 the first water filing was made on Mud Lake for irrigation, and in 1921 more than 150,000 acres was included in several projects for which it was planned to obtain water from Mud Lake and nearby lakes and sloughs. This acreage was divided among two large Carey
Act projects aggregating about 30,000 acres and numerous private irrigation enterprises. Dry farming has been attempted in several parts of the region and has been partly successful on the high slopes north of Dubois, between Medicine Lodge and Camas Creeks, and in the vicinity of the Juniper Buttes. Close to Mud Lake it has met with failure.
During recent years the cattle industry of the Mud Lake region has been largely replaced by the sheep industry, until now about a quarter of a million sheep are raised here annually. The United States Government has established an experiment station at Dubois, where efforts are being made to breed sheep that will be good for both mutton and wool.
The Wood Live Stock Co., with headquarters at Spencer, and the Wool Growers Association, of Sugar City, controls most of the range. They usually feed the sheep in the winter at the irrigated tracts, such as Egin Bench, Roberts, or Mud Lake, and graze them in the spring on the lava plains at the foot of the Centennial Mountains. Later, as the grass dries and water becomes scarce, the sheep are driven into the mountains for the summer. In the fall they return over the same route, using the spring range on the way to the feeding ground. Several large branding and shearing corrals are located in the region. The principal towns within the region, with their population in 1930, are St. Anthony, 2,778; Ashton, 1,003; Dubois, 312; and Roberts, 297. Of these only Dubois lies within the drainage basin of Mud Lake. Other villages within the drainage basin are Camas, Hamer, Spencer, and Kilgore. The Lidy Hot Springs are also in this drainage basin.
The annual inflow into Mud Lake, which reached a peak of 83,000 acre-feet in 1923, gradually declined thereafter until 1929 and 1930, when it was only about 40,000 acre-feet. This decrease in water supply resulted in the abandonment of the lands holding the later water filings and a gradual decline in the population of the area in the vicinity of Mud Lake.”
The above history covered up to about the mid-1930s in the Mud Lake area. Around 1940, dikes and levees were begun around Mud Lake in order to maintain a storage water basin for irrigation. Water delivery canals and infrastructure were built to deliver water to agricultural producers. As flood irrigation has given way to sprinkler irrigation, much of this infrastructure has been abandoned or filled in.
Sheep grazing has given way to more cattle operations, although there are still a number of operators that move and winter sheep bands throughout the Mud Lake area. The long history and high stocking rates of livestock grazing across the Mud Lake area has had long lasting and significant impacts to the habitat types and conditions that we see on the landscape today.
Mud Lake WMA itself, is made up largely of old homesteads and farms that the Department has purchased over time in hopes of preserving the wildlife values associated with Mud Lake. Many of the acres that were historic farm sites are still actively managed for agricultural production and wildlife food and cover resources. Mud Lake WMA has two sharecrop agreements (North and West Agricultural Fields) and one agricultural production lease (Marty Tract Lease) currently under contract.
With the sharecrop agreements, the Department retains a share of all the crops produced. The department can then leave its share of the crops standing for wildlife or trade them for goods and services from the sharecropper. Under the Marty Tract lease agreement, the lessee simply pays a flat per acre fee to lease the farming rights to the property. With both farming scenarios, there are signed contracts that explain the details of the agreement. The awarding of these contracts is the result of an open competitive bidding process. The agricultural production agreements have allowed the department to provide higher quality habitat, control noxious weeds, maintain equipment, exercise water rights, increase game availability for the public, and
sometimes generate revenue that is used to better manage wildlife in the area.
The restoration of many of the old farmed parcels has proven to be a difficult undertaking. Mud Lake WMA staff has attempted to seed perennial grass stands over much of Mud Lake WMA in order to provide nesting and security cover for birds and other wildlife. Noxious weed infestations and low precipitation makes establishment of these habitat plantings a frustrating endeavor.
The original land acquisition for Mud Lake WMA was the North Lake area. It was once a productive wetland, but is now dry. Fortunately, the department followed up the North Lake purchase with others that essentially buffered Mud Lake itself. The value of the wetlands and the associated upland communities cannot be overstated. Mud Lake WMA provides migrational habitat to hundreds of thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds, breeding habitat to numerous wetland bird species, year-round habitat for moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, ring-necked pheasant, greater sage-grouse, and a few elk.
Mud Lake WMA and other WMAs serve as the cornerstones for wildlife conservation across Idaho. Many conservation efforts are built around Department WMAs. It is very important that the department and the public continue to recognize and protect the wildlife values that WMAs provide.
Background Information Pertaining to the Withdrawal Lands on Mud Lake WMA
The following information is taken directly out of the Camas National Wildlife Refuge draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (2014).
“Currently, a total of 11,468 acres are managed as Mud Lake WMA. This includes 259 acres of land that are leased from the IDL, and 2,705 acres of U.S. Government withdrawn land (the North Lake Wildlife Management Area) that is administered by the IDFG as part of the Mud Lake WMA (IDFG 1999).
The North Lake State Migratory Waterfowl Refuge (later known as the North Lake Wildlife Management Area) was created by Public Land Order 278 (10 FR 6313, May 21, 1945) which withdrew 313 acres of Federal lands. On October 1, 1954 an additional 2,392 acres were withdrawn under Public Land Order 1014 for a total of 2,705 acres. Both PLOs stated that:
Subject to valid existing rights, and to the provisions of existing withdrawals, the following— described public lands in Idaho are hereby withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under public- land laws, and reserved under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior for use of the Department of Fish and Game of the State of Idaho, in connection with the North Lake State Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.
Under the National Wildlife System Improvement Act, a Wildlife Coordination Area is defined as:
a wildlife management area that has been previously acquired by the Federal Government and subsequently made available to a State—
(A) by cooperative agreement between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the State; or (B) is acquired by the Federal Government and subsequently made available to a State—
(i) by cooperative agreement between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the State fish and game agency pursuant to the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661-666c); or
(ii) by long-term leases or agreements pursuant to the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (50 Stat. 525; 7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.).
The Act also notes that Coordination Areas are specifically excluded from the definition of the term “refuge.” As such, they are exempt from the requirement to develop Comprehensive Conservation Plans and other requirements of the Improvement Act.”