Revitalization of Gene Day Park fishing pond underway

OSBURN — It has been nearly eight years in the making, but crews are finally continuing work on the long-neglected Gene Day pond in Osburn. Spearheaded by the Shoshone County Sportsmen’s Association, the effort to turn the naturally formed pond into a place where Silver Valley youth can enjoy the pass time of fishing has been an arduous one.

Spoertmen Board member Randy Carlson explains that the association “took it upon themselves to make a fish pond back out of it again,” but years of red tape hindered progress.

The first five years of the project were plagued by sponsors promising funding, only to back out at the last second for various reasons. One of these sponsors in particular was the Environmental Protection Agency. “The EPA was going to help us fund the pond — clean it up,” Sportsmen past president and board member George Clapp said. “Well it wasn’t contaminated enough, so they dropped it.”

Part of the Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup, the EPA is currently remediating the Rose Gulch channel that drains into the Gene Day Pond, so that the channel can handle a massive flooding event.

The main action that has been needed to make the pond available for fishing again was a thorough dredging to remove invasive weeds that had taken root. Clapp explains that these aquatic weeds create an environment that is not suitable for trout to live in — which is what the association would stock it with.

Following the EPA’s decision to not fund the cleanup, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game stepped up along with other local entities, such as the city of Osburn and Shoshone County, to keep the idea alive.

In a news release from June 17, 2014, IDFG announced that Phase 1 of the project was set begin after two years of planning, designing and permits were finalized. Phase 1 included the construction of a water control structure to allow for draining and then future water level management of the pond.

Prime Time Construction of Hayden was selected to do the work, and the cost of the initial phase of the project was approximately $50,000 (funded through IDFG’s Sport Fishing Restoration project funding and license sales).

The next phases of the project were estimated to cost around $200,000 and involve dredging the pond, installing fishing piers and structures, re-vegetating the area, developing a parking lot, laying ADA paved trials to the pond and installing a vault toilet. Final completion of the pond project was slated for the summer of 2015, but a lack of funding made this impossible.

Four years later, IDFG raised the funds and brought on Big Sky Construction to finish the job.

Work crews have already dredged the pond and IDFG Regional Fishery Manager Andy Dux reports that a small number of fish have already been stocked. Though it is still a few years away from total completion, the pond is now ready for fishing.

The final product will have an emphasis on access — providing its users with a turnaround and parking lot complete with handicapped parking. The finished pond is also set to have a roofed restroom next to it, walkways going around it and a bridge going across it (all with wheelchair access).

“Once it’s done, its going to be the best fishing pond in the Valley.”

The Shoshone County Sportmen’s Association is one of the oldest sportsmen groups in the state, starting up around 1915. They have been responsible for maintaining the Mullan fish hatchery since its creation in 1938.