IDL tracks and monitors news coverage of our activities and significant events that may impact our operations, recapping the coverage in this newsletter.
This publication also details IDL's social media posts for the week, keeping stakeholders and our front-line customer service staff apprised of our public-facing communications.
McCall wants to clean up lakefront dumping ground. It doesn’t know who owns the land
BoiseDev, 12-12-24
The City of McCall is trying to claim a small strip of land fronting Payette Lake to make way for a new public swimming area.
Last week the McCall City Council authorized city staff to begin the process of using eminent domain to take control of the strip of land, which is west of East Lake Street between Mile High Marina and Brown Park.
If successful, the land would become public shoreline for a non-motorized swimming area and public dock system on the lake, McCall Parks and Recreation Director Kurt Wolf said.
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However, the city must control the strip of land along the shoreline before it can obtain permits from the Idaho Department of Lands, which has jurisdiction over Idaho’s navigable waterways.
He had to put his McCall cabin up for auction, but no one bid on it. Now what? - Opinion
Idaho Statesman, 12-12-24
Steve Humphreys has fond memories of spending summers at his family’s cabin in McCall. It’s a small cabin that his dad built nearly 50 years ago and added onto over the years.
“I used to spend every July there all through growing up at our cabin in McCall,” Humphreys told me by phone. “I grew up there. It’s my favorite place. It was what I got when my dad died.”
Now, though, his kids, 10 and 8, won’t be able to have the same experience.
Humphreys, who lives in Nevada, was forced to put his cabin, on a half-acre of state leased land at 2060 N. Warren Wagon Road, up for auction this summer. That’s because his lease with the state went from $4,200 a year, which his family could afford, to $17,520 a year, which his family couldn’t afford.
So even though it’s called a “voluntary auction for ownership,” Humphreys had little choice but to sell because of the new lease amount.
That’s been a common story since 2010, when the Idaho Department of Lands decided to get out of the landlord business by selling off hundreds of cottage and cabin lease sites, primarily around Payette and Priest lakes.
Residents, tribe, agencies work toward watershed restoration plan
Bonner County Daily Bee, 12-7-24
PRIEST RIVER — A Thursday gathering at West Bonner Library gave insight into the state of the East River watershed and opportunities available for protection, remediation and improvements in the area.
The meeting was hosted by Priest River Watershed Group — a coalition launched two years ago by conservation organization Trout Unlimited that works to protect and improve the watershed — and attended by representatives of state agencies and members of the public.
During Thursday’s meeting, officials from Idaho’s Department of Lands and Department of Fish and Game shared updates on the status of the watershed. Eric Berntsen, water, habitat and environment program manager for the Kalispel Tribe, gave insight into his assessment strategies and the Tribe’s goals for protecting and remediating the area, which stretches from Priest River to Priest Lake, and from the Selkirk Crest to the state line.
ID joins lawsuit that could threaten access to public lands, critics say
Public News Service, 12-9-24
A lawsuit could affect management of public lands, including Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. (Zack Frank/Adobe Stock)
Advocates for public lands access are raising alarms about a lawsuit that could be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Utah has filed a suit arguing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is holding about 18.5 million acres of land in the state unconstitutionally, saying it can't keep unappropriated land in perpetuity.
Idaho and twelve other states have joined the suit. They say federally controlled land should be transferred to states.
But Executive Director of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, Nick Fasciano, said that would be disastrous for public lands and the people who use them.
"State ownership of land at this scale is a direct path to privatization," said Fasciano. "State budgets do not have the capacity to manage lands at enormous scale like this without selling it off. Idaho has a constitutional mandate to maximize the financial return of the land under its management."
Inspired by National Interagency Fire Center's post last week- and since Idaho is lucky to have 2 fire caches, let's look at our Coeur d'Alene Interagency Fire Cache!!
Playing a crucial role in supporting wildfire suppression efforts across - northern Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon and beyond - is only half the story. While critical supplies went out, this cache was a major hub to receive and refurbish items to be sent back out to the fireline.
