America’s Most Endangered Rivers - Clearwater Basin
The Clearwater River Basin
American Rivers, in partnership with Idaho Rivers United and American Whitewater, has named the Clearwater River Basin in Idaho’s Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest as one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2025. The basin includes the North, South and Middle Forks of the Clearwater River. Seven-hundred miles of river within the basin are at risk from dredge-mining, dam-building, and a four-fold increase in commercial logging due to a controversial new land management plan.
As we’ve covered in the past, at stake are the administrative protections for the headwaters of the Lochsa River—which joins the Selway River to form the Middle Fork—as well as for the North and South Forks of the Clearwater, all of which have been found to be eligible for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Prior to the new land management plan that was finalized last January, these waterways had been protected for nearly 40 years.
The Lochsa, Selway, and Middle Fork Clearwater rivers are permanently protected as Wild and Scenic Rivers, but the scale of the mining, road-building, and commercial timber harvest that could now occur on the other forks threatens the health of the entire basin. Be assured that our concern with this new land management plan is not out of proportion. It is clear through the actions and Executive Orders of the current Administration that our fears are their hopes.
On April 4th, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a memo establishing an “Emergency Situation Determination” on more than 112 million acres of National Forest lands, including the Nez Perce-Clearwater. Part of the emergency determination calls for “field leadership to increase timber outputs, simplify permitting, remove National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes, reduce implementation and contracting burdens, and to work directly with states, local government, and forest product producers to ensure that the Forest Service delivers a reliable and consistent supply of timber.”
This new emergency determination, coupled with the already clear intent to dramatically ratchet up timber production in sensitive areas within the Forest, has the potential to severely impact the areas we all know and love. Road construction along these rivers to access timberlands would result in increased sedimentation, threatening fish eggs and aquatic insects; while logging in river corridors would remove shade and increase water temperatures, threatening coldwater fish and degrading world-class angling opportunities.
At IRU, we understand that there is a need for active management of our forests to reduce wildfire risk, disease, and support rural economies that depend on these resources. We also know that it is possible to strike a balance between no-holds barred production and protecting the critical and sensitive habitats that will be impacted.
We are calling on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest to: 1) Update the Comprehensive River Management Plan for the Wild and Scenic designated Lochsa, Selway, and Middle Fork Clearwater rivers to provide guidance on how to design projects to ensure these rivers are protected; and 2) Issue a forest plan amendment to provide project-specific guidance to mitigate harm to the 700 miles of streams now at risk throughout the basin.
Learn more about America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2025, including other rivers and the selection process.
Thank you for your continued support or IRU and Idaho's rivers!
