The Selway River is a large tributary of the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River in the U.S. state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. It flows within the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the Bitterroot National Forest, and the Nez Perce National Forest of North Central Idaho. The entire length of the Selway was included by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 1968 as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The main stem of the Selway is in length from the headwaters in the Bitterroots to the confluence with the Lochsa near Lowell to form the Middle Fork of the Clearwater. The Selway River drains a basin in Idaho County.

History

The Selway River is home to Chinook salmon. Four salmon channels were built "in the mid-1960s by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and by the Job Corps ... along the Selway to help re-establish the spring chinook run after hydroelectric dams were built downstream." The river was stocked with salmon eggs and fry "each fall through 1981, and again in 1985." A 1993 book about the project, ''Indian Creek Chronicles'', won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award.

Flora

*Cedar - Western red cedar *ferns *Firs – Douglas and grand fir *Huckleberries *Pine - ponderosa pine *Spruce - Engelmann spruce

Wildlife

*Birds ** Bald eagle ** Grouse **

Heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

** Osprey **Owls ** Wild turkey *Fish **Trout *** bullhead *** bull *** rainbow or steelhead *** westslope cutthroat **

Salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

*** Chinook ***

coho COHO, short for Coherent Oscillator, is a technique used with radar systems based on the cavity magnetron to allow them to implement a moving target indicator display. Because the signals are only coherent when received, not transmitted, the concept ...

** Mountain whitefish *Mammals ** Bighorn sheep ** American black bear **

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

** Elk ** Fisher ** Gray wolf ** Lynx **

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

** Mountain goat **

Mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

** Northern river otter ** Skunk ** Weasel ** White-tailed deer **

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

Recreation

* Backcountry skiing * Camping * Fly fishing – Limits and catch-and-release * Hiking *Whitewater

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

– permits required *Hunting

References

Bibliography

*''Floating the Wild Selway''. (1991) issoula, Mont.?: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Region.
''Selway River Corridor: A Guide to Recreation on the Moose Creek Ranger District''
(2000) Kooskia, Idaho : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Nez Perce National Forest, Moose Creek Ranger Station. *''Selway River fisheries investigations : job completion report''. (1979) daho: Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game. *''A survey and evaluation of archaeological resources in the Magruder Corridor, Bitterroot National Forest, east-central Idaho, 1969''. (1969) Pocatello, Idaho : Idaho State University Museum.

External links

Friends of the Clearwater

NPR Radio expeditions

Visit Idaho - Selway River site
{{authority control Rivers of Idaho Canyons and gorges of Idaho Rivers of Idaho County, Idaho Bitterroot Range Clearwater National Forest Lewis and Clark Expedition Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States