Eldorado Creek Roadless Area

Size: 6,000 acres

This is the last natural area remaining in the more gentle and rolling forests that used to characterize northern Idaho. Sadly, the Forest Service drew a poor boundary during the Forest Plan of 1987 and some of the area has been logged. Fortunately it is still large enough for wilderness designation being well over 5,000 acres in size.

Kelly Creek Roadless Area (Great Burn)

Goat Lake

Approximate Size: 275,000 acres (including MT portion)

This vast expanse of wild country straddles the Montana/Idaho border and lies in the northern Bitterroot Mountains. The area burned heavily in the great fire of 1910, leaving charred snags, grassy slopes, and expanses of sub-alpine tundra-like meadows.

High cirques, impressive stands of mountain hemlock, and dozens of clear lakes also adorn the high country. While not as high and "craggy" as the main Bitterroot range to the south, the area displays magical pockets of ancient western red cedar, some individuals over 500 years old, and a carpeted underfoot with mossy beds of sword and maidenhair ferns. Peaks such as Rhodes and Williams rise to nearly 8,000 feet, and an abundance of moisture nurtures the area.

Kelly Creek Roadless Area is a critical biological link between the massive Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness complex to the south and the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem to the north. Full protection of this interestate wildland is essential to preserving populations of wide ranging large carnivores such as wolverines.

Lochsa Face Roadless Area

This is the steep face of the Lochsa River adjacent to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. It contains the famous Jerry Johnson Hot Springs and important tributaries to the Lochsa River. Much of it was formerly part of the old Selway Primitive Area.

Lolo Roadless Area

The Lolo Roadless Area is part of a large roadless area that encompasses the north flank of Lolo Peak, the northern boundary of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. It is mostly in Montana but includes a small section in the Clearwater National Forest in Idaho.

Moose Mountain Roadless Area

This is a rugged and scenic area with important headwater tributaries. It has few trails, which makes the area of interest to hikers seeking a challenge. It is home to elk and mountain goats, and is an important area for other wildlife, fisheries, and primitive recreation.

North Lochsa Slope Roadless Area

This area contains the most important steelhead habitat in north central Idaho and crucial wildlands north of Highway 12, known as the Lochsa River corridor. It also contains the largest unroaded section of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Pot Mountain Roadless Area

Pot Mountain Roadless Area

Size: 50,000 acres

Pot Mountain Roadless Area is next to the North Fork Clearwater River and is an integral part of the Northern Rockies Bioregion that extends from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Yukon River country in northwest Canada.

The Pot Mountain ridgeline contains seven major peaks, including 7,130 ft. Pot Mountain. Rough, steep slopes fall to below 2,000 feet along the North Fork Clearwater. Several alpine lakes can be found in this high country, with their own suite of macroinvertebrate fauna and plant life

Rawhide Roadless Area

Rawhide Roadless Area

Recent land exchanges have removed the private checkerboard land formerly found in the southern part of the Rawhide Roadless Area. This area provides a crucial fish habitat for bull trout.

Rawhide Roadless Area

Siwash Roadless Area

This area contains steep terrain with lower elevation, coastal disjunct plant habitat. This rare ecosystem needs protection as most of it has been lost to logging, dam building (Dworshak), and other development.

Sneakfoot Meadows Roadless Area

This wet area is home to a thriving moose herd. Along with White Sand and part of the Lochsa Face, this area used to be part of the old Selway Primitive Area but was administratively axed by the agency from the Wilderness in 1963. Because of the unique wet meadows, a portion of the area is a RNA.

Washington Roadless Area

Size: 5,000 acres

Weir/Post Office Proposed Wilderness

This wild section of land is remote with no trails. It has unique features like Ashpile Peak and Weir Creek Hot Springs and is adjacent to Indian Post Office. The Forest Service has yet to produce a desired future condition because the plan has been delayed on the Clearwater and Nez Perce National Forests. A draft policy has been circulated through the county roadless meetings. It is Clearwater National Forest policy (the three-prong approach) to not log or road roadless areas.

Weitas Creek Roadless Area

Weitas Creek

Size: 240,000 acres

Weitas Creek lies in the North Fork Clearwater drainage, separated from Pot Mountain Roadless Area to the north by a single road. This sprawling low elevation country is rare in our region and it provides crucial winter range for elk, as well as clear, cold water for bull and cuttthroat trout. It is home to at least one wolf pack and is also the location of recent unconfirmed grizzly sightings.
Weitas Creek provides clean water for the North Fork Clearwater River. Upper Cayuse Creek and the North Fork tributary contain some of the largest stands of old growth left in the entire Clearwater Basin.

Low elevation river valleys such as this often do not escape roading. It is for this reason as well as the unparalleled fish populations that make Weitas Creek a prime candidate for wilderness designation.

Wendover Roadless Area

Size: 5,000 acres

This area, just south of the Lolo Motorway, contains an important part of the Lolo Trail National Historic Site.

White Sand Creek/North Fork Spruce Roadless Area

Many of the streams and rivers in these areas still run wild with rare steelhead, bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. This is a wet, high elevation area in the upper Lochsa that is reported to contain the rare Harlequin duck. The Rudd Moore Lakes area should be evaluated to see if it is a logical addition to this area. A portion of the Upper Spruce Creek drainage was erroneously excluded in the newly defined roadless area and the boundary from 1987 should be adopted.

Grandmother Mountain Roadless Area

Grandmother Mountain Roadless Area

Size: 30,000 acres approximately

This area is a popular high elevation recreation area, especially for primitive winter recreation and huckleberry picking. However, ORV use creates damage along the trails and meadows, especially around Widow Mountain.

Much of the Grandmother Mountain Roadless area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This includes the headwaters of the Little North Fork Clearwater. A portion of this roadless area is protected as an Research Natural Area. Higher elevation lakes and unique wetlands make this area and the nearby Pinchot Butte Roadless Area (separated by one Forest road) incredibly valuable ecologically.

Several trails in this area were recently made off limits to 4 wheel ORV use.

Spectacular views can be seen from all of the peaks in this area, as it makes up part of the ridge dividing the Clearwater from the St. Joe River drainage.

Mallard Larkins Roadless Area

Mallard Larkins Roadless Area

Size: 260,000 acres

The Mallard Larkins is biologically diverse, including low elevation disjunct coastal rainforest communities. In the high country, extensive lodgepole pine and mountain hemlock forests mingle with subalpine meadows, high mountain lakes, and craggy peaks.

Impressive pockets of old growth western red cedar, western hemlock, and inland western white pine, some quite massive, remain in the lower elevations. The rare inland coastal rainforest habitat is well developed in Isabella Creek.

Here, large old growth red alder, pacific yew, and many different ferns thrive among the arboreal giants. Thirty-eight mountain lakes are large enough to be named, with Heart Lake the largest at 35 acres.

Clear Creek Roadless Area

Clear Creek Roadless Area
Approximate Size: 10,000 acres

Clear Creek Roadless Area is surrounded by development. This 25,000 acre gem has escaped logging because fires early in this century replaced some of the forests with shrubs. Clear Creek RA serves as crucial wildlife winter range.

Dixie Summit/Nut Hill Roadless Area

A unique RNA is inside this area. Much of it has been excluded since the RARE II inventory though it appears development was not as extensive as the boundary adjustment would indicate. Also, land to the north of the formal IRA is roadless.

Goddard Creek Roadless Area

Size: <5,000 acres

This area occupies the central position between O'Hara Falls and Middle Fork Face. This area contains habitat for unique coastal disjunct species including the rare and declining Pacific Dogwood and anadromous fish. It was erroneously removed from the RARE II inventory. Logging has already damaged this area and it may no longer be 5,000 acres of undeveloped land.

John Day Roadless Area

John Day Roadless Area
John Day has two streams with anadromous fish- John Day and Allison Creeks. Whitebark pines are fairly common. Some of the area has been damaged by ORV use.

Kelly Mountain Roadless Area

Size: 5,000 acres

This area drains into the Salmon River, east of Riggins. It was studied during RARE II but ignored in the forest plan inventory. However, this steep area likely still contains 5,000 acres of land missed by the flawed forest plan inventory.

Lick Point Roadless Area

Lick Creek

This is the headwaters of the American River and it is crucial that this habitat be protected for TES fish species. It is important moose range and much of the area was burned in fires early in this century.

Little Slate Creek Roadless Area

Little Slate Creek Roadless AreaSize: 5,000 + acres

This area contains important tributaries to Slate Creek, an important anadromous fish stream. A unique lake in Nut Basin and a RNA in No Business Creek are important natural features. RARE II advised development and logging divided this area into two smaller roadless areas, though each appears to be over 5,000 acres in size.

Little Slate Creek Roadless Area (taken from Nut Basin)

Little Slate Creek Roadless Area (north view)

Logical additions to the Gospel Hump Wilderness: John's Creek, Boulder Creek, et al.

Approximate former size: 53,000 acres
Approximate post-logging size: 44,000 acres

This is one of the remaining potential additions to the Gospel Hump Wilderness on the South Fork Clearwater drainage. Large ponderosa pines and steep open grassy slopes characterize this roadless gem known for its important anadromous and inland fishery. Bull trout, chinook, and steelhead spawn here.

The Otter-Wing and Mackey Day timber sales, carried out in the late 1990s and early 2000s, ecologically devastated this portion of the Gospel Hump's northern boundary. This split into half the most intact and healthy steelhead and west-slope cutthroat trout producing tributaries on the South Fork Clearwater.

The South Fork Clearwater suffers from decades of strip mining, overgrazing, and road-building. It is imperative that healthy tributaries like John's Creek remain to benefit this imperiled water shed.

Mallard Roadless Area

Size: 77,000 acres

This area is the site of the infamous Cove/Mallard timber sales. These sales, which would have decimated two roadless areas totaling 77,000 acres, were canceled recently after intense public pressure and citizen monitoring proved that the sales were not following environmental laws. This area is important forested habitat, adjacent to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, and a crucial wildlife corridor.

Meadow Creek Roadless Area (a logical Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Addition)

Meadow Creek (upper north fork) Roadless Area

Meadow Creek (East & West) Roadless Area

Size: 200,000 + acres

Meadow Creek is a spectacular drainage in the Nez Perce National Forest. This huge roadless area is a real gem, however, the over 200,000 acres encompassed in this area is under threat. satellite map

One of the most outstanding qualities of Meadow Creek is its clean, cold waters. Starting at its headwaters in the south, Meadow Creek flows first northeast through lush meadows which give the drainage its name. It then curves back west and north as it rushes down steep and narrow valleys, opening up before it joins the Selway river just above Selway Falls.

It is the most important tributary of the Selway not only because of the clear water it provides, but it also nourishes a healthy anadromous fish population of steelhead trout and Chinook salmon as exists in Idaho today. Bull and Westslope cutthroat trout find refuge in its waters. Many people return year after year to fish Meadow Creek's waters. The area is also home to huge cedars and firs, mixed with ponderosa and lodgepole pine. There are areas in the East Fork of the American River and Kirks Fork that need to be added. It includes some land managed by BLM. For decades it has been a priority in proposals for wilderness as an addition to the Selway-Bitterroot - though ignored by politicians.

Overwhelming citizen support for the area forced the Forest Service to recognize its natural values. However, there is currently no agency commitment to protect the area as it has long been a target for logging. Additionally, this large roadless area has been arbitrarily split into east and west sections by the Forest Service, along the creek bearing it's name. This was done in hopes of developing the west side and is one of many destructive changes the Bush administration's roadless rule repeal process has brought about.

Join Gary Macfarlane, FOC's forest watch director for a workshop dedicated to the ins and outs of timber sale monitoring from start to finish. Contact Gary at gary@wildrockies.org

Middle Fork Face Roadless Area

Size: <5,000 acres

This area contains steelhead and important winter range. Lawless logging under the infamous savage rider, which suspended laws, may have destroyed this area and it may no longer be 5,000 acres of undeveloped land.

North Fork Slate Roadless Area

Slate Creek is important anadromous fish habitat. Steep rim rock characterizes much of this country. It contains historically significant sites.

O'Hara Falls Creek Roadless Area

O'Hara Falls Creek Roadless AreaO'Hara Creek is a uniquely diverse drainage with an RNA and large ferns. A scenic waterfall and important anadromous fish habitat is within the unit. This area contains habitat for unique coastal disjunct species including the rare and declining Pacific dogwood.

Rackcliff-Gedney Roadless Area

Size: 90,000 acres

This large area occupies the divide between the Lochsa and Selway Rivers. It includes important historical sites, popular trails, scenic lakes, and winter range for ungulates.

Rapid River Roadless Area

Rapid River Roadless Area
Rapid River Canyon, seen here from Whitebird Ridge opposite the Seven Devils is a prime candidate for addition to the Hells Canyon Wilderness Area. Rapid River is designated as Wild & Scenic and contains crucial anadromous fish habitat for Chinook salmon. The area is unique in that it largely escaped fires early in this century.

Salmon Face Roadless Area

This area contains spectacular scenery adjacent to the Hells Canyon Wilderness. It also contains a significant, natural cave, which has created recent management controversy.

Silver Creek-Pilot Knob Roadless Area

Pilot Knob Roadless AreaThis area is of significance to the Nez Perce Tribe. Pilot Rock is a unique natural feature and several meadows are found below the peaks. The area was greatly reduced between RARE II and the forest plan, though the development was not as severe as the boundary deletions would indicate.

Upper Bear Creek Roadless Area

Size: 700,000 acres

This area has been in wilderness proposals though it was inadvertently neglected in the Nez Perce forest plan inventory. However, it appears to have been included in Bitterroot National Forest inventories as it is contiguous with the Selway Bitterroot additions on that forest (although it is in Idaho, on the Nez Perce National Forest).

West Fork Crooked River & Gospel Hump Additions

Most of this is roadless land that should be added to this inventory and was erroneously omitted from the forest plan though included in RARE II. This includes Johns Creek, Boulder Creek, Indian Creek, and other areas. Johns Creek is the best fish habitat in the South Fork Clearwater and should be protected. Indian Creek is rugged country along the Salmon River. The only area included is the upper West Fork Crooked River, which includes important high elevation watersheds and fishery habitat.