Trade Offers Benefit, Loses To Wildlife

By Rocky Barker 
The Idaho Statesman Dec. 14, 1999

Government and private land owners are negotiating two land swaps that would protect 2,194 acres of open space in the Boise Front.

The deals, if completed, would protect open space that connects urban Boise to wild Idaho. Environmental assessments and public hearings on the proposals will be held next year.

The swaps would be among the first acts resulting from an agreement forged by seven local, state, and federal agencies in April to protect the 28,000 acres of Fothills and mountains that serve as the scenic icon of Boise.

In one proposal, the Bureau of Land Management would trade land it owns in Gem and Valley counties for state school endowment properties in the Boise Foothills owned by the State Land Board.

The BLM is pushing another land trade: nearly 11,000 acres of surplus lands scattered across Southwest and Central Idaho in exchange for less than 1,000 acres in the Foothills and elsewhere.

Both deals have been in the works for years. The April agreement allows the BLM to move forward now.

"It's out intent to implement the agencies' vision in the Foothills," said John Fend, BLM Cascade area manager. That vision is to keep the rolling hills of native grasslands wild enough so herds of wintering wildlife can roam to the edges of city neighborhoods. The agencies also hope to preserve the recreational trails and scenery that are so important to Boise's livability.

The proposed land swaps are among several tools the agencies are using to protect the Foothills, from Eagle to Lucky Peak.

Trades offer benefits, losses to wildlife