Kayakers paddle past from the drift yard boat launch into the Clark Fork Delta at the northeast end of Lake Pend Oreille. (RICH LANDERS richl@spokesman.com)

A $6 million project to arrest erosion in the Clark Fork delta has a multitude of beneficiaries, including paddlers.

Waterfowl and hunters, fish and fishermen, birds and birdwatchers are finding more attraction to the area as a partnership of agencies and groups works to restore islands and wetlands through which the Clark Fork River pours into Lake Pend Oreille.

Several hundred acres of land has gradually sloughed and washed away since dams began unnaturally fluctuating the level of Lake Pend Oreille in the 1950s. Along with the land and islands, the delta farming disappeared, habitat diversity was lost and waterfowl production plummeted.

That’s why Idaho Fish and Game, and Ducks Unlimited, are among the project partners engineering an ambitious project that hit the field two winters ago.

Kayakers and canoeists also are finding their niche among the first phase of newly landscaped breakwaters, weirs and restored land forms that make the delta more interesting – and safer should the wind pick up.

Kathy Cousins, Idaho Fish and Game Department biologist, recently led a group organized by the Idaho Conservation League on a paddling tour of the ongoing restoration effort/Rich Landers, SR. More here (subscription).