History of Boundary Smith Creek WMA

History

The Boundary Smith Creek WMA property was acquired through three separate parcel acquisitions, the Boundary Creek property, Smith Creek property, and Sullivan property. The Boundary Creek and Smith Creek properties are enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). 

Boundary-Smith Creek WMA is comprised of three continuous properties managed together. The three properties are Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) wildlife mitigation properties that were purchased and managed to compensate, in part, for losses in wildlife habitat due to the development and operation of hydropower projects on the Columbia River system.

The Boundary Creek property, consisting of 1,405 acres, was acquired by the department in 1999 using funds provided by the sale of Idaho hunting licenses, tags, and state waterfowl stamps, and the BPA. Funding for the conservation easement and restoration of the property’s historic wetlands was provided primarily by the NRCS WRP, together with grants from the IWJV, Ducks Unlimited (DU), the USFWS, and Crown Pacific Limited Partnership. 

In December 2003, DU, a wetland conservation and waterfowl hunting advocacy organization, acquired the 620-acre Smith Creek property in the Kootenai Valley near Smith Creek. The previous owner obligated the land for wetland restoration through the WRP and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA). Ducks Unlimited signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department to manage the property for them, including implementing the requirements of WRP and NAWCA, as well as implementing management actions that are complementary to those programs and desired by the public. In 2007, DU donated title ownership of the property to the Department and management of the property was brought under the umbrella of the Boundary Smith Creek WMA.