Thank Idaho For Wildlife if you

Thank Idaho For Wildlife if you hike Myrtle Creek

April 19, 2011

The Bonners Ferry Mayor and City Council would once again like to thank Idaho For Wildlife for their efforts last year in installing new signs in the Myrtle Creek Preserve, and if you happen to be hiking there if we ever get a spring and summer here this year, you should thank them, too.

The preserve encompasses the Myrtle Creek drainage on the West Side, which is the source of Bonners Ferry's drinking water. There area has long been off-limits for hunting and fishing, but over the years the signage marking the boundaries of the preseve had deteriorated, and state regulations not always enforced.

On September 2, 2003, the Myrtle Creek Fire started, quickly burning 3,600 acres and forcing the city to begin taking water from the Kootenai River while intensive restoration work was done. During that process, many of the already deteriorating signs were knocked down or destroyed.

Although not an advocate of the area being closed to hunting, Idaho For Wildlife President Guy A. Patchen, his wife, Christine, daughter ReiAnna and fellow member John Swenson took time from their busy schedules on the first weekend in October, 2010, to hike in and set the new signs.

With cooperation from Idaho Fish and Game, it's the city's hope that this year's hunting and fishing regulations will better define the area and the restrictions placed within the preserve, and the signs are an important first step.