Eric Barker

LEWISTON, Idaho -- Some predicted that salmon and steelhead runs would be wiped out, bountiful big-game herds would crash and a beautiful canyon would be turned into a mud-lined reservoir.

Others said a gorgeous lake would be born, downstream floods would be a thing of the past and a recreational playground would bring economic stability to a rural outpost.

In the end the pro-dam forces won the argument. But when the millions of yards of concrete dried and the North Fork Clearwater River backed up behind a new dam at Bruces Eddy, neither side could claim to have been 100 percent accurate in their forecasts.

BOISE, Idaho --Two Idaho state agencies have taken opposing views of the effect motorized recreation can have on elk habitat.

BOISE, Idaho -- U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell is optimistic the agency's new planning procedures will lead to needed restoration and protection of soil, water and wildlife habitat while also reducing appeals and lawsuits.

Tidwell visits Boise Monday at the invitation of Sen. Mike Crapo and plans to discuss the proposed rules that were unveiled earlier this month and expected to become final in March. The rules outline procedures individual forests must use when updating their guiding documents known as forest plans. The new rules have been criticized both for being too lenient and too strict in the approach they take to protecting biological diversity.

The storms of the past week have lifted some of Idaho's snowpacks from well below average to within a storm or two of normal.

TROY, Idaho -- A cow moose and her twin calves that have become a fixture in and around the Latah County town of Troy were evicted Wednesday over concerns for the safety of school children.

Wolf sightings in the Blue Mountains are becoming more frequent this summer, but wildlife officials for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have yet to document firm evidence of a pack forming in the southeastern corner of the state.

Paul Wik, district biologist for the department at Clarkston, said the canyons and timbered ridges southeast of Dayton have been a hot spot for wolf reports this year. Some hunters have even captured images of wolves with trail cameras, he said.

ELK CITY, Idaho -- Four more wolves were killed near Elk City last month as part of an ongoing effort to push the animals away from the small mountain hamlet.

Dave Cadwallader, supervisor of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's Clearwater Region at Lewiston, said four wolves have been caught in foot-hold traps since late June when another wolf was shot and killed by Idaho County deputies.

The traps were set by agents from the federal Wildlife Services Agency and are being monitored by the agents, conservation officers from the department and sheriff's deputies.