We're humbled and grateful here at Idaho Rivers United for the outpouring of support we received during our Indiegogo campaign, which concluded September 25, 2014. More than 200 of you helped exceed our $25,000 goal and raised $27,600 to fight industrialization of the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers, and Wild and Scenic Rivers across America.

From the bottom of our free-flowing rivers, thank you!

If you're new to this issue, please read on to learn about big oil's attempts to turn two of America's original Wild and Scenic rivers into industrial thoroughfares. This work is ongoing, and you can still donate to Idaho Rivers United at idahorivers.org.

The Fighting Goliath story

The goal of this campaign is to protect the beautiful Lochsa and Clearwater rivers of north central Idaho from the oil industry and tar sands-bound “megaload” traffic on U.S. Highway 12. These two rivers were among the first protected by the federal Wild & Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. 

The outcome of this campaign will have profound impacts on the future of these watersheds, and on the management of Wild & Scenic Rivers across the U.S.

The Clearwater, Lochsa and the landscapes around them are threatened today by an oil industry fixated on transforming U.S. Highway 12 (a winding, two-lane road that runs along and through the river canyons) into a permanent ‘high and wide’ transportation route for space shuttle-sized, road-closing, recreation-stopping, scenery-destroying megaloads of mining equipment. The industry hopes to transport these loads from ports on the Snake River near Lewiston, Idaho, overland to the Canadian tar sands mines and other fossil fuel hotbeds east of the Rockies.

Among our nation’s natural treasures, the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers are real gems. They boast crystal clear waters, towering cedars, steep canyon walls and moss-covered rocks. In addition to their beauty, the rivers are significant nationally because:

• They offer world-class destinations for whitewater boaters, anglers, hikers, bikers, campers, backpackers, skiers, wildlife watchers and hunters.
• They provide critical habitat for federally protected salmon and wild steelhead.
• They are home to important populations of native westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout, elk, bears, wolves, nesting harlequin ducks and songbirds.
• They are rich in history — the river canyons provided travel corridors for the Nez Perce Indians for centuries, and for the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805.
• They lie at the heart of the Nez Perce homeland and include sacred tribal sites.

Megaloads threaten those values — and the health and integrity of America's entire Wild & Scenic River system. If we lose the Lochsa and Clearwater, which river is next? If we lose the Lochsa and Clearwater, what does Wild and Scenic mean for other protected rivers?

Together, we can convince the U.S. Forest Service to implement permanent protections for two of America’s original Wild & Scenic Rivers. With your help, we can stop big oil from converting these gems into an industrial shipping route for the tar sands mines.

Please watch our video, and please support this important campaign today!

IRU is Idaho's only river-specific conservation group

Idaho Rivers United is a result-driven, campaign-oriented, non-profit conservation group formed in 1990 to help citizens defend the rivers they love. Since that time we’ve stopped construction of over 18 unnecessary and destructive dams, led grassroots campaigns to protect and designate federal Wild & Scenic Rivers, and have been a driving force in the national campaign to save Columbia and Snake River salmon from extinction. 

Today, IRU has 3,500 members, 14 active volunteer directors, and a staff of four full-time and three half-time river activists. Our annual budget is small, but diverse, including some foundation funding, member and individual contributions, business support and income from events, such as chartered river trips. IRU’s mission is to protect and restore the rivers of Idaho. We achieve our goals using a mix of direct advocacy, education, grassroots organizing and citizen involvement, collaboration and, when necessary, litigation. Learn more at www.idahorivers.org.

About the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in October 1968. The intent of the Act was to protect rivers in their free-flowing state, and to prevent the degradation of natural, scenic, recreational, cultural, historic and other values identified at the time of designation. The Lochsa and Middle Fork of the Clearwater (along with their sister river, the Selway) were among the first eight designations under the Act.

Today, the National System protects 12,598 miles of 203 rivers in 38 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; this is less than one-quarter of one percent of the nation's rivers. By comparison, more than 75,000 large dams across the country have modified at least 600,000 miles, or about 17%, of American rivers.

The U.S. Forest Service has the authority and the responsibility to protect the Lochsa and Clearwater Wild & Scenic Rivers. The agency’s refusal so far to ban megaloads from the protected river corridor has put the integrity of the entire Wild & Scenic Rivers System in jeopardy. 

Campaign Background

The oil industry and their contractors began their quest to turn the Clearwater-Lochsa Wild & Scenic River corridor into a permanent, “high and wide” transportation route for tar sands bound 'megaloads' in 2008. Originally, much of the super-sized equipment was to be manufactured in Asia, shipped to Snake River ports and then overland through our river corridors enroute to Alberta’s tar sands.

Engulfing both lanes of winding, rural U.S. Highway 12, megaloads stand up to three stories tall, 30-feet wide, are longer than a football field and weigh up to 1 million pounds. With hopes of moving hundreds of megaloads through the Cleawater-Lochsa river canyons, a steady stream of megaloads and their convoys would pose safety hazards for residents and travelers, block access for recreation, disrupt wildlife, and destroy the rivers aesthetic, spiritual and cultural values.

Megaloads have no place in America’s Wild & Scenic River corridors.

Idaho Rivers United has been fighting the ‘megaload’ battle since 2010. In 2012, our group and our allies, including the Nez Perce Tribe, filed a lawsuit to stop Canada’s Imperial Oil (an Exxon-Mobil subsidiary) from using the rivers for hundreds of loads. Favoring IRU’s position, the court placed megaload-regulating authority in the hands of the Forest Service. Sadly, in August 2013 another megaload — this one owned by General Electric and bound for the tar sands — traveled through the river corridors. Despite protests by the Nez Perce Tribe and IRU members, the Forest Service took no action to stop the loads.

IRU and the Tribe went back to federal court and obtained an injunction blocking megaload traffic until permanent rules and restrictions can be developed and put in place. In August 2014 our organization, the Tribe and the USFS began court-supervised mediation to attempt to resolve the issues.

That means our work to win permanent protections is just beginning.

Mediation with the Forest Service will require considerable manpower, grassroots organizing, media work, travel and direct advocacy. We must make sure the Forest Service writes acceptable, legal and protective transportation regulations for the Wild & Scenic corridor and Nez Perce homeland. That won't be easy. So far the agency has seemed reluctant to buck big oil.

What We Need and What You Get

Since 2010, this campaign has put significant stress on our small non-profit’s annual budget. Big oil and the U.S. Forest Service don’t face such financial constraints. That’s why we’re reaching out to you via Indiegogo. Short term we need $25,000 to keep our campaign running effectively. We’ll use your contribution help us:

• Continue to build grassroots support for Wild & Scenic River protection — in the Clearwater-Lochsa region and across Idaho.
  
• Tell this story nationally with an eye toward convincing the government to do the right thing for the Lochsa-Clearwater, and Wild & Scenic Rivers nationwide.
  
• And, engage fully and effectively in court-supervised mediation with the Forest Service in an attempt to resolve our differences over the management of the Lochsa-Clearwater Wild & Scenic corridor.
  

As an incentive to secure your support, key business partners from the Lochsa-Clearwater region have offered several incredible perks for our donors. Check out the list at the side of this page!

Other Ways You Can Help

In addition to making a financial contribution to our campaign, there are other ways that you can help:

• Please write an email to Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell (ttidwell@fs.fed.us) and tell him 1) it's the Forest Service's responsibility to protect America's first Wild & Scenic Rivers, 2) the Lochsa-Clearwater is too precious for big oil and 3) failing to act will threaten Wild & Scenic Rivers across the nation.
• Also, share this campaign with your family and friends. We're working with our valued partners to engage river lovers around the nation, but a campaign like this is most effective when people like you spread the word. Please pass it along via email or via social media, and help us keep the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers megaload free for generations to come.

This issue has achieved national attention and has been featured by media outlets coast to coast:

Media converge includes this five-minute news report from from PBS affiliate This American Land:

Last, and far from least, thanks to our business partners who are supporting this work and helping to avert this threat to our Wild & Scenic Rivers: