BY KAREN CROWSON
Blaine County’s public lands offer endless miles of trails with opportunities for biking, equestrian recreation and hiking. Trails vary from being suitable for all users up to advanced hikers and mountain bikers, with many trails being multi-use.
In Blaine County there are multiple miles of trails, but many residents have discovered they can no longer access some of them. Many public lands in Idaho, including Blaine County, have been marked with ‘No Trespassing’ signs or have been closed off due to fencing.
Ketchum resident Patti Felton says the Idaho Parks Foundation land on the south side of Ketchum used to be accessible off of Garnet Street from the west and Leadville to Lava Street on the north. Says Felton, “The trails are still there but the closest parking on the Garnet access is State Highway 75 and then you have to walk on a narrow road full of construction traffic through the Garnet Street neighborhood, around 0.35 of a mile, to get to the trail. On the Lava Street side, the trail entry is still there but there is no parking on the street or obviously in someone’s driveway or on the nearby condo association lots. This trail system has essentially been cut off to anyone that does not live right next to it.”
The Idaho Foundation for Parks and Lands mission statement reads, ‘…is a statewide nonprofit organization that protects open spaces and unique natural, scenic settings for public benefit through various flexible conservation methods.’ The IFPL utilizes both land trusts and conservation easements and, according to the IFPL on their website, idaholands.org, states, ‘A conservation easement (or conservation agreement) is a voluntary and legal contract between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits how one may use the land, in order to protect its conservation value. The landowner may continue to own, live on, sell, or pass the land on to their heirs, and the conservation easement remains in place.’
“The same party,” Felton says, “now owns all three lots past the cul de sac at the end of Garnet. The plat states walking access to the trailhead has to be maintained but it is effectively inaccessible since there is no place to park. Same thing on the Lava Street side now that a new house is being built. These people certainly have private property rights that should be honored but it is disappointing that parking for the trail access was not considered when the land was donated. It is a great trail system for those of us that work in Ketchum and need a sanity break during the day.”
Through the Idaho Department of Fish and Game there is Access Yes!, which is a voluntary landowner incentive program where landowners receive compensation for providing sportsmen access to or through their land, with landowners specifying conditions of access that best meet their needs.
In 2020 a new bill was taken up by the Idaho Legislature called PAPA, also known as the Public Access Protection Act. PAPA grants public property rights the same amount of protection as private property rights and is a civil remedy for the illegal obstruction of public land. Presently, only county sheriffs can enforce laws against landowners whose properties are adjacent to these public lands and often are unenforced.
Public lands in Idaho are managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
There are thousands of acres of public lands that are ‘landlocked’ without a road the citizens of Idaho can use to access these lands due to private property owners blocking any access points to these lands. An access trail is a trail that is created and maintained to provide access to a particular area (such as a beach or other recreation area) or to another trail.
The National Trails System comes from the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National Trails System Act of 1968, as amended, calls for establishing trails in both urban and rural settings for people of all ages, interests, skills and physical abilities. The National Trails System promotes the enjoyment and appreciation of trails while encouraging greater public access. The system includes national scenic trails, national historic trails and national recreation trails.
House Bill 43 (PAPA) was introduced by Representative Steve Berch (D-Boise) this year, which would provide a civil remedy to allow citizens to file a complaint against any landowner wrongly posting public lands as private.
The Idaho Conservation League (a supporter of the bill) states, “The bill has been proposed for several years and it’s unknown whether the bill may receive a hearing. Citizens have a right to access their public lands and no one should be able to deny them that right. If county sheriffs are unwilling to enforce the law, then citizens should have the right to ensure that access is preserved.”
Bellevue resident Shon Gerard says public access in Picabo has also been affected, stating, “Farmers and ranchers build along public access and choke the road, then prohibit access.”
Hailey resident Billy Cook says access to parking at the bottom of Proctor also no longer exists.
Blaine County resident Bill Mason also said of Proctor, “I drove Fairway Drive in Sun Valley and was surprised to see signs of NO PARKING at the far end turn-around that was used to access the trail up Proctor Mountain. The sign said parking and access was now available at the Hemingway Memorial.”
Cathy Butterfield, a resident of Ketchum, states, “Long stretches of the [Big] Wood north and south of Ketchum, as well as Warm Springs, that were historically accessible to fishermen and innertubers, have been shut off by long blocks of large houses. North of Ketchum is largely locked up on both sides of the river to Sun Peak.”
Former Sun Valley resident Terry Malarkey says, “It’s unfortunate that kids and adults can’t enjoy what we did tubing Trail Creek gathering golf balls and spending the day floating down the Big Wood and Warm Springs.”
Sally McCollum, resident of Ketchum, says she’s been attending city meetings about the river access in Warm Springs.
“Some trails are well maintained,” says McCollum, “and frequently used, but others have the trail sign constantly removed. Another one has been blocked so you can’t really access the creek at all. It’s discouraging.”
At present, HB43 still stands undetermined and the fate of public access remains open unlike some of the public access trails.