Idaho Rivers United

10/02/2026

The Washington Department of Transportation will be hosting open houses in Palouse communities next week to share findings from their Lower Snake River transportation replacement study process.

It found that if the dams come out and barging goes away on the Lower Snake, the region can maintain current grain shipments with fewer trucks on the road by investing in new/improved rail lines and grain loading terminals. What this means: less carbon emissions, less tire pollution, and less wear on our roadways.

The new system would cost farmers millions more per year to ship grain without any other investment, an unacceptable burden. Any dam removal and barging replacement would not happen before price-supports are firmly in place that work for the farming community.

More info at link in bio.

Attend one of the open houses:

📍 COLFAX — Tuesday, Oct. 6 | 5–7 p.m.
Whitman County Library
102 S. Main Street

📍 CLARKSTON — Wednesday, Oct. 7 | 5–7 p.m.
Clarkston High School Library
401 Chestnut Street

📍 PASCO — Thursday, Oct. 8 | 5–7 p.m.
Mid-Columbia Libraries Pasco Branch
1320 W. Hopkins Street

Photos:

10/01/2026

🌊 Let’s protect the waters we love! 🌲

Join us for IRU’s first-ever cleanup in Coeur d’Alene. We’re coming together to care for our local waterways by cleaning up the banks of the Spokane River as well as the beautiful beaches and trails along CDA Lake.

Many hands make light work, so grab your crew! IRU will provide all the necessary cleaning supplies—all you need to bring is yourself. We highly encourage you to invite your friends, family members, and coworkers to tag along for a rewarding day outside. 🤝🎒

🍻 The After-Party:

Following the main event, we will have a volunteer social at Vantage Point Brewing from 1-3 PM. Stick around to celebrate our collective impact, grab a drink, and enter to win some awesome volunteer giveaways! 🎁🎉

Huge thank you to Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Tubbs Hill Foundation, and Coeur d’Alene Parks and Recreation for coordinating this cleanup with us!

Sign up at the link in bio.

Vantage Point Brewing Company

09/17/2026

What is the CuMo Mine?

Listen to this great episode of The Great Idaho Show podcast with IRU Mining & Policy Manager Sydney Luvaas as she dives into the details about the proposed CuMo mine in the headwaters of the Boise River – a major source of the drinking water supply for the Treasure Valley.

Listen to the full conversation and decide for yourself. Just click and hit play -
https://www.thegreatidahoshow.com/cumo-mine-what-could-one-of-the-worlds-largest-open-pit-mines-mean-for-idaho/

🎙️ The Great Idaho Show

What exactly is the proposed CuMo Mine, and what could a project of this scale mean for Boise County, the Boise River watershed and the Treasure Valley? On this ep…

09/17/2026

The End of Float Season Cleanup was an amazing success! Stretching from Barber Park to Reid Merrill Park in Eagle across multiple days, 275 volunteers picked up 941 pounds of trash from the Boise River Greenbelt! It is a testament to how much we love this river and our public spaces that so many dedicated people chose to spend their Saturday in service to our community, especially with so many other events going on around town.

Afterwards volunteers returned to Idaho River Sports for the weigh-in of our collected trash and, more importantly, the afterparty! Andrew Sheppard and his band rocked us, 94.9 The River helped us to give out volunteer raffle prizes, Barbarian Brewing quenched our thirst, and community partners joined in the festivities to support the fun!

Thank you to Velocity Clinical Research for making End of Float Season possible as our Headwaters Sponsor of the event, and thank you to Visit Idaho for also supporting us as the Tributary Sponsor.

Most importantly, thank you to our hard-working volunteers – none of this would have been possible without you! The Boise River is a cleaner, healthier place because of you. We can’t wait for next year!

09/08/2026

The End of Float Season Cleanup is nearly here! We can’t wait to see everyone to help take care of the Boise River on Saturday.

Signups close Tuesday night - full event details and registration at https://idahorivers.org/end-of-season-float-party

The after party will be phenomenal! Music, b**r, food, partners, friends all together to care for the river that binds the Treasure Valley together.

Thank you to Velocity Clinical Research for being our Headwaters sponsor, and to Visit Idaho for their Tributary sponsorship.

And a huge thank you to Idaho River Sports and River Boise for helping us host this annual cleanup! See everyone on Saturday!

08/30/2026

We are happy to announce the winner of the 2026 Maravia Raft Raffle! Apologies that we could not livestream the announcement; we ran into technical difficulties at the and could not stream it for all to enjoy.

The winner is Scott McCoon of Walla Walla! Congratulations, Scott!!! We expect to get invited on your next river trip 😜…

We raised $20k to help protect Idaho’s rivers this year!!! Thank you to everyone for supporting IRU by purchasing raffle tickets, and thank you to our outstanding partners Maravia, Lost Grove Brewing - La Pointe, and Cascade River Gear for continuing to support our work!

08/26/2026

The Maravia Raffle closes this Saturday, and we will announce the winner live from the ! If you can't make it in person, watch your Instagram for our LIVESTREAM to announce the winner! Raffle entries close at 4:00pm MT, with the livestream starting right away.

If you haven't gotten (enough) raffle tickets yet, head to idahorivers.rallyup.com/maraviaraffle/ to enter the raffle while supporting Idaho Rivers United!

Learn more about the Sawtooth Salmon Festival at sawtoothsalmonfestival.org

08/21/2026

The perfect time to visit the SNRA in the summer and early fall is also when salmon and steelhead are traveling hundreds of miles upriver to spawn here. Endangered sockeye salmon are returning to Redfish and Petit Lakes at this time. Late August and September is spawning season for chinook in the upper Salmon River. The same area is also heavily used by boaters on the ‘day stretch,’ extending from Buckhorn Bridge to the eastern boundary of the SNRA near Wh***ey Flats & Holman Creek.

The SNRA implements restrictions each summer to provide spawning salmon their best chance to successfully lay their eggs in the river gravels.

🚣‍♂️Boaters:

Obey ALL salmon protection signs
Check info boards at launch sites for current info
Watercraft must have ID invasive species sticker
Watercraft must be clean & dry prior to launch
Groups must have one signed float permit.

🚫CLOSURES

Starting 8/15, river closures for all boaters take effect:

from Buckhorn Bridge to Stanley;
from Mormon Bend to Yankee Fork;
from Torrey’s Takeout to eastern SNRA Boundary

🤫Quiet Zones will be in effect at Indian Riffles and Torrey’s Hole:
Always float in the deepest channel
Avoid known redds
Stay in the boat & minimize paddling
Refrain from water play & noise
Don’t build rock dams - it disorients native fish & halts their migration

Starting 8/29, the river is closed between Snyder Springs boat ramp and the eastern SNRA boundary. Floaters will also have a mandatory portage around Indian Riffles.

Starting 9/3, the entire river stretch from Sawtooth Fish Hatchery to the eastern SNRA boundary will be CLOSED to all boaters.

On 9/23, the day stretch of the upper Salmon will reopen to boat traffic.

Visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/sawtooth/alerts/boating-swimming-and-salmon-river-corridor-use-prohibitions for updated alerts and information.

—

The Sawtooth Coalition is a group of nonprofits and businesses who all do work in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Our mission is to coordinate and enhance the efforts of partners to preserve and protect the values of the SNRA.

08/13/2026

Nothing gives context to our life like stepping outside of it. When we break the routine and get out to a wild place, it’s like inhaling a breath of fresh air for the soul.

Check out the link in our bio or head to idahorivers.org/news to read a perspective on what mean to many Americans.