[1][3] This species was discovered in 1939 by James R. Slater and John W. Slipp on the south shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho.

[2] It was once considered to be a subspecies of Van Dyke's salamander, as P. vandykei idahoensis, but appears to be a distinct and separate species as originally suggested by Slater and Slipp (1940).

While the majority of this species is localized in northern Idaho, some instances of capture/sighting in western Montana and southeastern British Columbia have occurred.

The majority of known specimens has been observed in the St. Joe and North Fork Clearwater River basins, but they also occur in the Selway, Kootenai, and Moyie drainages.

Small sites are thought to exist where the species is abundant and capable of observation, but without an implemented monitoring program, few data are available with which to evaluate population trends.