Forest Service spends $1.2 million for fish-friendly bridge

Chokepoint and bottleneck are terms often heard in regard to traffic congestion, but not often with fish. But a steep, dark, narrow culvert under Idaho 21 created aquatic gridlock for fish and other water creatures traveling Five Mile Creek about 11 miles east of Lowman. The Idaho Transportation Department and U.S. Forest Service's solution was to remove the 300-foot-long, 72-inch-wide culvert and replace it with a 125-foot-wide bridge, opening up Five Mile Creek. Restoration of the fish passage will allow bull trout and other fish and aquatic organisms better navigation and re-establish Five Mile Creek’s connections to the South Fork of the Payette River, according to ITD. The $1.2 million project, paid for by the Forest Service, is scheduled to wrap up by early December. Crews will return in the spring to complete seeding, paving and roadway approaches, and other minor work....more