Threatened and Endangered Species

Two species of aquatic snails, the Banbury Springs limpet ( Idaholanx fresti ) and the Bliss Rapids snail ( Taylorconcha serpenticola ) live in springs along the middle Snake River in south-central Idaho. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed these species as Endangered (Banbury Springs limpet) and Threatened (Bliss Rapids snail). Both species need clean, cold spring water to survive.

The Kootenai River white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. The Tribe has undertaken a large-scale restoration project and needs objective information on which to base restoration decisions.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published a plan for recovering the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon. This study supports the objectives of that plan by quantifying white sturgeon habitat preference within a recently restored reach of the Kootenai River. Fine-scale acoustic telemetry positioning data will be integrated with quasi-three-dimensional hydraulic model simulations for the...

The Kootenai River white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. White sturgeon and burbot have not successfully spawned in the Kootenai River since the completion of Libby Dam upstream in Montana. In recent years, most...

To help protect critical salmonid spawning habitat, we are monitoring streamflow, water temperature, turbidity, and suspended sediment concentrations on Clear Creek upstream of the confluence with the Middle Fork Clearwater River. We are conducting this monitoring in cooperation with the Nez Perce Tribe.

Sedimentation of Lower Granite Reservoir, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, affects commercial navigation and reservoir storage capacity. Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir to remove excess sediment may negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.

Some groups are concerned that dredging the reservoir and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers to remove excess sediment may mobilize contaminants in sediment that could negatively affect endangered species such as steelhead and salmon.

The endangered Bruneau hot springsnail (Pyrgulopsis bruneauensis) exists only in a geographically limited habitat of thermal springs and seeps in southwestern Idaho. As a part of its 2002 recovery plan for the springsnail, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) targeted conservation efforts to increase groundwater levels in the Bruneau area to protect the geothermal spring discharges necessary...