Lawsuit attempting to take property from rightful owners

The action by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Idaho Conservation League attempting to block development at the mouth of Trestle Creek, as documented in the Daily Bee on August 26, has one thing right: it is a bunch of nonsense.

I have been a resident at what is now The Idaho Club since the Hidden Lakes days, and I have witnessed all of the trials and tribulations of that enterprise for more than 20 years. When I purchased my property here in 2000 the Trestle Creek site now in contention was an active marina with more than 100 boat slips, and it was surrounded by a densely packed RV park. The bull trout population did just fine with the mouth of Trestle Creek in that configuration. That marina and RV park were closed when Pend Oreille-Bonner Development acquired the property in 2006, and the whole property fell into disrepair.

Trestle Creek splits into two channels within the area of the proposed development, with about half of the efflux flowing through the old marina and then exiting through a beaver dam that blocks access/egress by fish. Bull trout spawning in Trestle Creek are now constrained to use a channel with only half of the total flow, and that leaves them vulnerable to predator fish at the mouth of the creek.

Biologists for the U.S. Army Corps or Engineers have analyzed this situation and concluded that the proposed development will in fact greatly enhance the survivability of bull trout exiting Trestle Creek. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit have conveniently ignored this study conducted by experts. I conclude that the plaintiffs are not really interested in protecting bull trout, but rather they are attempting to steal a piece of lakefront property from its rightful owners.

DAVID REED

Sandpoint