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IDFG land deals could open 11,000 North Idaho
acres |
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November 22, 2016 |
By Roger Phillips
IDFG Public Information Specialist
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission on Thursday,
November 17, approved two land deals that will
provide and protect public access to about
11,000 acres on various properties available for
hunting, angling and trapping.
During their regular meeting in Lewiston,
commissioners approved the purchase of 1,012
acres of private land near Black Lake to add to
the Coeur d’Alene River Wildlife Management
Area. The land includes five miles of Coeur
d’Alene River frontage and 3,800 feet of
shoreline on Black Lake. The purchase price is
$2.6 million, and the property is located 18
miles east of Harrison.
Fish and Game will purchase the property with
escrow proceeds from a planned sale of 1,400
acres of timber land near St. Maries for $4.6
million to Idaho Department of Lands. Department
of Lands has expressed interest in the property,
but the deal has not been finalized. After the
exchange, that land is expected to remain open
to the public under management of the Department
of Lands.
Any surplus between the selling price of the St.
Maries property and the cost of the Black Lake
property would remain in Fish and Game’s account
for land acquisition or restoration.
Commission chair Brad Corkill of Cataldo
described the land purchase and sale of F&G
lands to Idaho Department of Lands as “one of
the most win/win situations that I’ve ever been
involved with.”
Commissioners also approved spending for a
conservation easement on a 13,169-acre property
known as Clagstone Meadows Ranch, which is owned
by Stimson Lumber Company, and will remain under
its ownership.
The parcel is the largest contiguous block of
privately-owned land in Bonner County, and the
conservation easement includes an additional
1,263 acres in two parcels on the west shore of
Lake Pend Oreille at Cape Horn.
Just over 10,000 acres of this easement will
provide for public access in perpetuity, and the
2016 Legislature already approved spending
authority for the purchase.
The value of the Clagstone Meadows/Cape Horn
easement is $13.1 million, of which F&G will
provide $2 million in federal Pittman-Robertson
funds. The conservation easement will be jointly
held by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and
Department of Lands.
Other cash contributions to the project include
$5.5 million from the Forest Legacy Program, $2
million from a private donation through the
Trust for Public Lands, and Stimson will donate
$3.6 million of value to the deal.
IDL’s signing of the easement was approved by
the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday, November 15.
Stimson’s Clagstone property is home to elk,
deer, black bear, wild turkey, migratory birds,
waterfowl and forest grouse. The property has
historically been managed for timber production
and some agricultural use.
The conservation easement would protect both the
continued management of timber and the
property’s fish and wildlife resources, as well
as public access to most of it.
The Clagstone Meadows property is largely
forested, containing identified priority
wetlands, and portions are within identified
focal areas of the State’s Comprehensive
Wildlife Conservation Strategy.
Fish and Game commissioners also approved a land
swap of 40 acres of privately owned land inside
the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area for
40 acres on the perimeter to remove the
inholding. Both parcels were appraised at
$19,000 each.
Also at the November 17 meeting:
* Commissioners decided against moving forward with a proposal to
extend the waiting period to two years for
hunters who draw an antlered deer or antlered
elk controlled hunt. The commission in July
voted to include that provision in the upcoming
rules. They reversed that decision out of
concerns the two-year wait would not do enough
to improve odds of drawing an antlered deer or
elk tag, and could shift more hunters into
drawings for sheep, mountain goat and moose
tags, which already have very low odds.
* Commission approved continuing the discount of nonresident tags
for black bear, mountain lion in some units and
discounted nonresident wolf tags statewide.
Discounts are from the regular nonresident tag
price of $186 to $41.75 for bear and mountain
lion, and $31.75 for wolves. Discounted
bear/mountain tags are for backcountry units,
including Units 4, 4A, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16A, 17,
19, 20, 20A, 26, 27 and portions of Units 21 and
28 within designated wilderness. The commission
has discounted some non resident tags since
early 2000s.
Commissioners also approved a resolution
supporting passage of the federal Recovering
America’s Wildlife Act of 2016 (HR5650) that
would dedicate up to $1.3 billion annually to
state fish and wildlife agencies.
A “blue-ribbon panel” of 26 business and
conservation leaders came up with the bill's
recommendations for new funding for wildlife
management, and priority for funding would be to
species of “greatest conservation need,”
including game and nongame species.
The intent of the bill is to modernize fish and
wildlife conservation funding by using existing
royalties from the development of energy and
mineral resources on federal lands to expand the
funding base and ensure the full array of fish
and wildlife can be sustainably managed.
The current method of financing state wildlife
agencies often puts a large funding burden
through license fees and federal excise taxes on
hunters, recreational shooters, anglers and
boaters, and is often insufficient to meet the
needs of thousands of game and nongame species
and their associated habitat.
Commission will look at different options for
allocating Sawtooth Zone elk tags, so these tags
not go on sale to nonresidents on Dec. 1 as in
previous years to allow time for considering
options. Sawtooth Zone tags have been capped
since 2009 and have become extremely popular.
Resident tags sold out in 54 minutes in 2016.
Some options could include limiting sales to
vendors and F&G offices, or distribute the tags
through all methods, i.e. vendors, internet,
telephone, based on historic portions of sales.
Fish and Game will continue to discuss potential
season structure and tag sale structure over the
next few months. Fish and Game will seek formal
public input on big game seasons in February
2017, and big game season changes for 2017-2018
will be adopted in March 2017. |
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