By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Idaho Conservation League filed suit Dec. 18 against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers, challenging their permit approvals for the proposed Idaho Club marina and housing development near the mouth of Trestle Creek. The Corps subsequently put a halt to construction work with a Dec. 22 letter, which alleged that the then-ongoing work violated the permit’s conditions of approval.
The organizations filed a similar lawsuit in 2022, arguing both times that the development would negatively impact the local bull trout population.
The Center further announced its intention to file an additional lawsuit against the USFW and Corps for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act.
The Dec. 18 suit further argues that developers have violated the USFW and Corps’ conditions of approval, which stipulated that construction would take place in the offseason when the North Branch is not flowing. After reports from ICL and CBD on the construction at the site, the Corps issued a Dec. 22 letter to developers warning that the work “was not in compliance with the terms and conditions of your permit.”
As stated in the letter, signed by Chief Kelly Urbanek of the Corps Regulatory Branch, “Work occurring in the NBTC [North Branch of Trestle Creek] cannot occur until the stream has no-flow or dry conditions. Work in the marina area cannot occur until such time that the restoration of the North Branch of Trestle Creek has been completed.”
The Valiant Idaho, LLC property near the mouth of Trestle Creek. Courtesy image
In a Dec. 23 news release from CBD and ICL, the organizations estimated that, with current precipitation levels, the north branch will not run dry until August of 2026. Work on the adjacent housing development is not impacted by these limitations.
“We’re glad to learn the Corps took action to stop the Idaho Club’s very damaging work that is in violation of their permit conditions, and urge them to reevaluate the entire project,” said ICL North Idaho Director Jennifer Ekstrom. “Unfortunately, significant harm has already occurred to this critical habitat. We will continue watching to ensure the stop work order is adhered to and will continue to seek repair and restoration of the damage done.”
The proposed development, currently helmed by Valiant Idaho, LLC and Valiant Idaho II, LLC, has gone through multiple iterations over the past 17 years, including a significant reduction in scope approved in November by the Bonner County board of commissioners. The current proposal includes seven single-family dwelling units with private docks, an 88-slip public marina, a breakwater, a pedestrian bridge, a boat bilge pump-out station, a 46-space parking lot and boat storage.
Developers also plan to remove existing docks and a culvert, known as the North Branch Outlet, which they argue will help direct juvenile bull trout into the creek’s healthier main branch and away from shallow-water predators.
Despite the reduced proposal, environmental protection agencies argue that the development’s construction and future use near the mouth of Trestle Creek would negatively impact area bull trout, which are listed as threatened in all of their known habitats — including Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington — and are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
“If we want to see bull trout survive and possibly even thrive, we need to do everything we can to save them now,” stated Ekstrom in a recent news release. “Protecting the critical habitat near the mouth of Trestle Creek is imperative.”
According to ICL and CBD, more than half of the Pend Oreille Basin’s bull trout population spawns in Trestle Creek, making it “one of the Pacific Northwest’s most important spawning streams.” The fish not only grow from eggs to fry within the stream, but also migrate between it and Lake Pend Oreille to spawn multiple times throughout their lives.
“With construction crews already plowing ahead, federal agencies need to protect threatened bull trout from this misguided zombie project once and for all,” said Sarah Brown, Northern Rockies staff attorney for CBD, in the same news release. “Carving up the North Branch of the creek could worsen polluted runoff into Lake Pend Oreille and put crosshairs on bull trout right in their critical spawning area. It’s time for the agencies to seriously consider the many threats this project poses.”
The Dec. 18 lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho argues that the USFW and Corps “failed to consider the various ways that the marina and houses may harm bull trout and their critical habitat, resulting in violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act,” according to the release.
The 2022 lawsuit made a similar argument, though the development at the time included a 105-slip community dock, 13 townhouses, 83 condominium units and a pool, among other amenities. The Corps subsequently pulled its permit, which developers later reapplied for and received.
In addition to the aforementioned permits, the development received various permissions from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho Department of Lands and the Idaho Department of Water Resources.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s original biological opinion determined that the development would harm and possibly kill bull trout. The agency recently reversed course, however, and now claims that the housing, marina and creek reroute are unlikely to harm bull trout,” continued the news release.
For more information on the proposed development, visit bonnercountyid.gov/FileMOD0003-24.