Idaho
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Wild and Scenic RiversUnder the sponsorship of Senator Frank Church of Idaho, Congress created the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1968 to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act created three categories within the WSR system: wild, scenic, and recreational. Wild rivers are free of dams, generally inaccessible except by trail, and represent vestiges of primitive America. Scenic rivers are free of dams with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads. Recreational rivers are readily accessible by road or railroad, may have some development along their shorelines, and may have been dammed in the past. The BLM is currently developing a management plan for 16 WSR segments designated in the 2009 Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (PL 111-11). Of the total 324½ miles, Congress designated 316.9 miles of river in the wild category and 7.6 miles of river in the recreational category.
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Owyhee River System | Big and Little Jacks Creek | Jarbidge River System | Bruneau River System
Owyhee River System
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North Fork Owyhee River | Almost 6 miles from the Idaho-Oregon border to the upstream boundary of private land at the Juniper Mountain road crossing are designated as a recreational river. Just over 15 miles from the recreational river section to the upstream boundary of the North Fork Owyhee Wilderness are designated wild. |
Battle Creek | Over 23 miles of this creek are designated as wild, from the confluence of the Owyhee River to the upstream boundary of the newly designated Owyhee River Wilderness. |
Deep Creek | This 13-mile waterway is designated as wild. |
Dickshooter Creek | 9 miles upstream from the confluence with Deep Creek are designated as wild. |
Owyhee River | 67 miles of the river from the Idaho-Oregon border to the upstream boundary of the Owyhee River Wilderness are designated as wild. |
Red Canyon | Just over 4.5 miles of this waterway are designated wild, from the confluence of the Owyhee River to the upstream boundary of the Owyhee River Wilderness. |
South Fork Owyhee River | Along this fork, 31 miles are designated wild, from the Idaho-Nevada border (the upstream boundary of the Owyhee River Wilderness) to the confluence with the main Owyhee River. A short portion of this stretch, where the river crosses private land, is managed as a recreational river. |
Big and Little Jacks Creek Wilderness areas
Big Jacks Creek | 35 miles of the creek are designated as a wild river. |
Little Jacks Creek | 12 miles of this waterway are designated as a wild river. |
Cottonwood Creek | Over 2 miles upstream of the confluence of Big Jacks Creek is designated as a wild river. |
Duncan Creek | Almost 1 mile of this waterway is designated as a wild river, before its confluence with Big Jacks Creek. |
Wickahoney Creek | 1.5 miles of this waterway is a wild river, from the confluence of Big Jacks Creek to the upstream boundary of the Big Jacks Creek Wilderness. |
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Jarbidge River System
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Jarbidge River | Nearly 30 miles of the Jarbidge River are designated as wild, from the confluence with the West Fork Bruneau River to the upstream boundary of the Bruneau-Jarbidge Wilderness. |
Sheep Creek | More than 25 miles of Sheep Creek are designated wild, from the confluence with the Bruneau River to the upstream boundary of the Bruneau-Jarbidge Wilderness. |
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Bruneau River | Nearly 40 miles of the River's 50-mile total length are designated as wild, with a small stretch at the Indian Hot Springs access point designated recreational. In addtion, a small portion of the West Fork Bruneau River upstream from the confluence of the Jarbidge River is also designated wild. |  |
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