The long awaited restoration of the Gene Day Fishing Pond is about to begin. Phase 1 of the project will begin this month after two years of planning, designing and permitting are finalized.

The pond is located at the west end of Osburn City Park. The restoration work will turn the pond into a highly accessible local fishing hole for people in the Silver Valley.

The project is the result of a partnership of many organizations and government agencies including Shoshone County, Shoshone County Sportsmen, the city of Osburn, the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Bureau of Land Management, Panhandle Health, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and many other interested citizens.

Phase 1 will include the construction of a water control structure to allow for the draining and then future water level management of the pond. Prime Time Construction, of Hayden, has been selected to begin the project.

Fish and Game will also stockpile materials for docks and fishing infrastructure. DEQ will be providing clean fill material for the structure placement.

Material removed will be dried on site and later hauled to the Big Creek Repository. The water control structure is expected to take about three weeks to complete.

Although the project will necessitate some minor delays in flow of traffic on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, the contractor will make every effort to minimize impacts to users during construction times.

The cost of the initial phase of the project is approximately $50,000, which has been funded through Fish and Game's Sport Fishing Restoration project funding and license sales.

The next phases of the project will involve dredging the pond, placement of fishing piers and structures, public use and interpretive signage, re-vegetation, development of parking and Americans with Disabilities Act paved trails to the pond, and installation of a vault toilet.

Completion of the project is estimated to cost approximately $200,000.

Final completion dates of the pond will depend on the availability of funding, but could be as early as summer 2015 if all goes well.

Project sponsors are actively seeking assistance and funding in the form donations (cash, equipment and labor), partner agency funding and grants to complete the final phases.

The Shoshone County Sportsmen have created a Gene Day Pond Restoration Account to accept donations that will be used solely to finish the project.

Those interested in contributing to the project are invited to contact George Clapp of the Shoshone County Sportsmen at (208) 512-0360 to donate. For additional information, contact Jim Fredricks or Jim Teare with Fish and Game at (208) 769-1414.

The Gene Day Pond restoration has been a long time coming and is the result of a lot of hard work by many individuals.

It will be well worth all of the effort and money once the restoration is completed and the first group of kids pedal their bikes to the pond, cast out and hook into feisty rainbow. That is what the project is ultimately all about.

Phil Cooper is a wildlife conservation educator in Coeur d'Alene for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.