The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is proposing to fund the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to purchase 50 acres in the upper Beaver Creek area.
The Beaver Creek Valley View property, south of Balky Hill Road, comprises 3 1/2 acres of lowland riparian habitat and 850 feet along Beaver Creek, as well as 7 acres of irrigated alfalfa fields and 35 acres of shrub-steppe uplands.
The Colville Tribes would grant a conservation easement to BPA to enhance fish and wildlife habitat and would develop a land-management plan to protect the land in perpetuity, according to the BPA.
Much of the land has cultural significance for the Colville Tribes as an area for gathering traditional cultural resources. The land provides habitat for birds, mammals and endangered and threatened spring Chinook, steelhead, bull trout and coho salmon.
Funding the acquisition would go toward fulfillment of BPA’s ongoing commitments to mitigate for Columbia River dams.
BPA determined that the proposed acquisition is exempt from environmental review because it falls within the categories of cultural-resource protection, habitat preservation and wildlife management.
For more information, contact BPA project manager Kyle Goeke Dee at krgoeke@bpa.gov.
