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

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 watershed.