Editing Snake River (section)

===Terrestrial and wetland habitats===
[[Image:Snake River Area of Critical Environmental Concern, Idaho (15665553301).jpg|thumb|right|Riparian forest and floodplain habitat lines the Snake River in Swan Valley, east of Rexburg, Idaho.|alt=A river forms multiple channels as it winds through a forested floodplain in a wide valley]]
{{See also|Snake River Plain (ecoregion)}}
The Snake River provides important wildlife habitat along much of its course, particularly in the arid Snake River Plain where it is the only source of water for many miles. The upper reaches of the Snake River, including in Jackson Hole and the floodplain north of Idaho Falls where it joins the Henrys Fork, have extensive [[Riparian zone|riparian]] [[gallery forest]]s dominated by [[Populus trichocarpa|black cottonwood]] and [[Populus angustifolia|narrowleaf cottonwood]].<ref name="Benke and Cushing 2005"/>{{rp|607}} The [[Northwest Power and Conservation Council]] describes these as "some of the most important cottonwood gallery forests in the Intermountain West".<ref name="uppersnakeprovince"/> Seasonal floods scour and change the shoreline, clearing areas of older trees and making way for new growth. [[Spiranthes diluvialis|Ute lady's tresses]], a rare orchid, are found in riparian wetlands along with willows, rushes, sedges and horsetails.<ref name="Benke and Cushing 2005"/>{{rp|607}}

The Fort Hall Bottoms in the southern Snake River Plain are an important wetland along the river, and create a major wintering and nesting site for waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, including bald eagles and trumpeter swans.<ref name="Fort Hall Bottoms">{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc935064/m2/1/high_res_d/964647.pdf|title=Habitat Restoration/Enhancement, Fort Hall Reservation: 2008 Annual Report|author=Osborne, Hunter|publisher=University of North Texas|accessdate=January 20, 2024}}</ref> Part of these wetlands were flooded with the construction of American Falls Dam, and large portions of the remainder have been degraded by cattle grazing.<ref name="Fort Hall Bottoms"/> Ponds and wetlands in the Hagerman Valley, near the [[Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument]], are also heavily used by both migratory and resident birds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/hafo_birding.htm|title=Birding in the Hagerman Valley|publisher=U.S National Park Service|accessdate=January 20, 2024}}</ref> On the Snake River south of Boise is the nearly {{convert|500000|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area]], which hosts the densest concentration of nesting raptors in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/idaho/morley-nelson-snake-river-birds-of-prey|title=Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Land Management|date=|accessdate=January 24, 2024}}</ref>

The Snake River headwaters are part of the [[Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem]], which the National Park Service describes as "one of the largest nearly intact temperate-zone ecosystems on Earth." The region is home to some of the largest wild elk and bison populations in the US, and provides habitat for grizzly bear, wolverine and lynx.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/greater-yellowstone-ecosystem.htm|title=Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem|publisher=U.S. National Park Service|date=August 21, 2020|accessdate=January 24, 2024}}</ref> The other major wild area in the Snake River watershed centers on Idaho's extremely rugged [[Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness]], the largest federally designated wilderness in the contiguous US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/scnf/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5360033|title=Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|date=|accessdate=February 2, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Benke and Cushing 2005"/>{{rp|609}} Although the Snake River watershed remains lightly populated, most of its landscape has seen significant human impact since the 19th century. Heavy logging has historically occurred in the Boise area<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0173.pdf|title=Lumber in the Boise Region|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|work=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series|accessdate=February 3, 2024}}</ref> and on the Clearwater River, which hosted the last whitewater [[log driving|log drive]] in the US in 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/mccollister_the-clearwater-river-log-drives.pdf|title=The Clearwater River Log Drives|author=McCollister, Charles |author2=McCollister, Sarah|publisher=Forest History Society|work=Forest History Today|year=2000|accessdate=February 3, 2024}}</ref> Logging is still a major industry in the region, though since the 1990s, logging south of the Clearwater has decreased.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-A13-PURL-gpo53246/pdf/GOVPUB-A13-PURL-gpo53246.pdf|title=Logging Utilization in Idaho: Current and Past Trends|author=Simmons, Eric A. |author2=Morgan, Todd A. |author3=Berg, Erik C. |author4=Zarnoch, Stanley J. |author5=Hayes, Steven W. |author6=Thompson, Mike T.|publisher=U.S. Government Publishing Office|date=March 2014|accessdate=February 3, 2024}}</ref> Large areas of native sagebrush-steppe ecosystems, mostly in the Snake River Plain and Palouse, have been developed for agriculture. About two-thirds of the Snake River Plain remains grassland or shrubland; however, much of this acreage is impacted by livestock grazing, and fire regimes have become more severe with the proliferation of invasive species like [[cheatgrass]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1794/a/chapters/pp1794a_chapter24.pdf|title=Snake River Basin Ecoregion|author=Sleeter, Benjamin M.|work=U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1794–A, Status and Trends of Land Change in the Western United States, 1973 to 2000|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|year=2012|accessdate=February 2, 2024}}</ref>