SPOKANE, Wash. -- The federal government today approved a plan that sets aside more than 18 miles of the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, as critical habitat for the endangered white sturgeon.

That's the largest freshwater fish in North America, which can grow to 19 feet and live for 100 years.

The move is intended to improve the spawning prospects for a fish that is found only in portions of Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.

The fish have not successfully spawned since the mid-1970s.