Friends of the Clearwater

I am an involved community member at Moscow, and Friends of the Clearwater has helped organize many events, such as the Climate Change Rally and Dance, sponsored by the Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition. I believe this organization exceeds its mission to save what is left of our environment. I highly recommend this organization!

I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for over twenty years now. I have also been very lucky to have had a job that allowed me to work outdoors in and around the Clearwater Basin. I have wandered through thousands of acres of heavily wooded mountains, surveyed all of the North Fork of the Clearwater River, that is now part of Dworshak Reservoir, and roamed over the rolling hills of open prairies. I have worked in many parts of the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests. I have lived many days, for many years, at campgrounds on the Upper and Little North Fork of the Clearwater River. All of it breathtakingly beautiful. It became part of me. Just experiencing the magnificence of the wilderness and wildlife of what is called, the Big Wild, has seeped into my soul. I have favorite places, but certain memories stay tucked inside my heart. One memory I will never forget happened while a group of us were surveying the Little North Fork. The reservoir was drawn down about 150 feet. We got to see the river free flowing as it should be. We had just sat down to take a break on the banks to admire the sounds and beauty of it when we heard a bull elk bugle. We sat in silence and watched him and his herd come trotting down from the treeline on the other side of the river. We were as still as stones, so they never knew we were just a few hundred feet across the river from them. It was again, as it should be and we got to be a part of it. Memories like that stay with you and are burned into your soul. I want that to be able to happen to others for generations to come. I am so happy to know that a non-profit organization like Friends of the Clearwater cares enough to help preserve and protect the Big Wild. This organization has the knowledge and expertise to keep the Clearwater Basin a protected wild and scenic part of our nation. Without non-profit organizations like the Friends of the Clearwater, wilderness areas like this will be depleted of all natural resources and some of the wildlife will become endangered or extinct. They are a very important part of keeping the Big Wild alive. Thank you Friends of the Clearwater for all you do and for helping to keep my memories alive. Thank you!!!

I became involved with the Clearwater country as a fishery technician with the US Forest Service in 1979, when I joined my mentor in extending my efforts to conserve the aquatic and land resources for fish and wildlife to my private life. "Economics" in the local area emphasized extraction of public resources as inputs to sawmill and pulp mill economies, with the result that the thin topsoil of the Idaho Batholith, a granitic shield rock, were washed away by rains and snows. This area of north-central Idaho was facing extirpation of chinook salmon, and recent natural establishment of gray wolves traveling from Canada. Both were considered endangered species, but the wolves were colonizing in the area and expanding their population (without human intervention). These two species apparently thwarted timber harvesting on National Forest lands. This organization formed after my departure to conduct stream surveys on the Tongass NF, where I thought the economics of commercial fishing might be considered in timber harvest plans on public lands. Nope, it doesn't happen in the US Forest Service... Friends of the Clearwater is the last of the organizations working to conserve the natural resource values of the area. The latest victory was in prevention of the transport of oversize "megaloads" of oilfield processing modules (Exxon/Mobil and Imperial Oil) across Idaho on US12 adjacent to the Clearwater and Lochsa Rivers, which are designated "Wild and Scenic Rivers". In 1979 and 1980, I experienced the incompatibility of commercial truck traffic on this road as 105,000 lb. grain trucks regularly went off the highway, either into the mountain or the river, on their loaded return trips from Montana and North Dakota to the Port of Lewiston. Spilled grain on US 12 did not help wildlife survival, due to the traffic. I submitted comments to various agencies on the issue, while still living in Alaska, and shortly after relocating to Idaho in, joined FOC after contacting my former boss, mentor, and friend.

I became an activist a year ago at a ripe old age due to the above issue. My personal concern over the extremely flawed exchange proposal linked me to a variety of other concerned people. I found it interesting that other environmental groups were ignoring the intricacies of the issue, and thus favoring the exchange. Friends of the Clearwater recognized the inequity associated with the exchange from its inception. I have continually been impressed by their effectiveness and their broad-based approach to handling this issue, and their appeal to a variety of people and groups. The work they do, on a shoe-string budget, is worthy of note, and puts them first on my list of environmental orgs. Gary Macfarlane, long term director, in his humility, deserves a world of credit for his diligence in promoting ethics in environmentalism. To Friends of the Clearwater--we are grateful for your presence, thank-you.

I served as the Education & Outreach Director for Friends of the Clearwater for 6 years. The number of important issues that this incredibly lean organization tackles is incredible. Not to mention the geographic area of concern, the Clearwater River drainage of North-central Idaho, is several million acres. The wildlands here and the rivers and their tributaries within the public land system are remarkable for many reasons. This "commons" serves thousands of visitors annually, provides wildlife habitat for rare species like steelhead, chinook salmon, wolverine, and lynx, and provides important services like clean drinking water, clean air, and tangible and intangible benefits. FOC knows this ground exceptionally well and has members in every community throughout the region. This is a true grassroots group that holds fast to its mission of serving the "public lands" and its inhabitants. These public lands, owned by all Americans,remain this way and will also remain thoughtfully cared for if Friends of the Clearwater remains an active participant and public service organization.

My experience with Friends of the Clearwater changed my life. As a graduate student at the University of Idaho, I was prepared to use my advanced degree in Natural Resources to work for a federal land agency. As my studies evolved, I became increasingly concerned and agitated with the utter mis-management and abuse of our public lands system by the federal government and corporate America. That's when I started volunteering with Friends of the Clearwater and eventually enrolled into an exciting internship program with them. At just over 9 million acres, Idaho contains more federal roadless land than any other state in the Lower 48. Friends of the Clearwater strives to protect each and everyone of these acres, including the proper management and protection of all native plants and wildlife species. They are strong advocates of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, HR 980, a bill which would designate the remaining 24 million acres of federal roadless land in the Northern Rockies bioregion as Wilderness. Besides the important wildland conservation work the group does, my favorite thing about them is the people that are associated with them. Because it always has been, and always will be a grassroots organization dedicated to serving the public, Friends of the Clearwater is about community, place, and voice. The longer you go through life, the more you realize that this is what matters. Thank you Friends of the Clearwater for changing my life for the better!

For 22 years Friends of the Clearwater has been successfully defending the rivers, forests, wildlife and wilderness in central Idaho's Wild Clearwater region. They are experienced, accomplished, dedicated and they are survivors throughout periods of economic turbulence. FOC remains the only public lands protection group with a physical presence in this vast, rugged and largely rural landscape. My interactions with them include as a citizen, member and volunteer and formerly as a colleague while working for another land advocacy group. Two things that impress me most about FOC are: 1)they work from a position of strong environmental ethics and principles rather than swaying to political expediency to claim empty "victories". They can articulate the principles that guide their work beyond the standard and sometimes hollow rhetoric employed by some conservation groups. This group has a huge amount of integrity!!! 2) FOC accomplishes SO MUCH for the Clearwater region and its wildlife on an extremely modest budget. When things are tough they tighten their belts and keep going. No posh offices, fancy catered board meetings or multi-million dollar advertising campaigns simply to market their name. Instead, every dollar donated to FOC stretches a long way toward getting real work done "on the ground". During some rough economic times over the last decade the staff has even taken itself off salary at times while continuing their full-time advocacy and protection work for this special landscape. I have worked/interacted professionally with many public lands protection groups around the country both large and small and FOC continues to garner my highest respect as one of the most dedicated, capable, principled, knowledgeable and accomplished groups out there in achieving real protections for wildlands and wildlife. They deserve our support!