Coolin Wetlands Clean Water Act Violations

December 23, 2025 — Representing Idaho Conservation League, Advocates for the West sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue over Clean Water Act (CWA) violations to Tricore Investments, LLC and company associates for unlawfully excavating a channel in the Coolin Wetlands on the south shore of Priest Lake in northern Idaho.

The notice letter stems from controversial plans to develop 35 lots along nearly 3,000 feet of Priest Lake shoreline and accompanying wetlands. While the Army Corps of Engineers issued a CWA Section 404 Permit for dredge and fill activities to construct a driveway and shop on one of the lots, developers started excavating a channel in late-2025 through the wetlands to the lake on three other lots. The maximum penalty for discharging dredge and fill material without a CWA permit is more than $68,000 per violation per day.

The Coolin Wetlands are designated by Idaho Fish and Game as an area of highest conservation priority due to their richness, rarity, and sensitivity. As a peat bog and rich fen wetlands, the Coolin Wetlands play a critical role in ecological functions such as water filtration, flood control, and carbon sequestration.

Courts have held that activities such as ditch digging and other ground altering or ground disturbing activities—including side casting, spreading of soils, mechanized land clearing, or redepositing of materials into wetlands—all constitute the addition of pollutants, requiring a 404 Permit. The CWA requires providing notice 60 days before filing a citizen suit in federal court.