Board questions Clagstone project

 SANDPOINT — A project to keep prime forest land in central Bonner County open to public access and timber production is against the ropes after county commissioners took issue with not being looped into the conservation easement proposal.

The plan to manage the 12,442-acre tract known as Clagstone Meadows for harvest and access as opposed to private golf course-adjacent housing has been hardly a secret, having been the subject of local and regional newspaper reports. The conservation project was proposed by the landowner, Stimson Lumber Co., in 2013, three years after the company won county approval to develop a 1,200-unit housing project.

Stimson reconsidered the development proposal amid the real estate crash and began working with the Idaho Department of Lands and the Idaho Department of Fish & Game to manage the land as a working forest with public access, a move which was greeted warmly by conservation groups and landowners who opposed a sea of rooftops supplanting high-quality forest and wildlife habitat.

The quality of the land resulted its inclusion in the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program and a $7 million effort to acquire the development rights from Stimson in order to keep the it in timber production and allow non-motorized access to the public. The federal government appropriated $5 million to IDL and $2 million to Fish & Game to close the deal.

But that funding drew the scrutiny of Idaho's House of Representatives and raised questions for county commissioners. Commissioners Todd Sudick and Glen Bailey wrote a March 11 letter indicating they were not in favor of the proposal because they had not been consulted with as required by the Forest Legacy Program.

“There has been no coordination with the county as to its effect on long term development, the county's comprehensive plan, our future tax base, its impact on surrounding properties and our natural resources,” Sudick and Bailey said in the to-whom-it-may-concern letter.

Commission Chairman Cary Kelly said he was unaware of the letter's issuance and said the decision to send it appears to have been done without public noticing requirements. As a result, the board is expected to rescind the letter when it meets today.

However, Kelly and Sudick don't expect to voice formal support or opposition until they learn more about the project.

Sudick said IDL and Fish & Game have offered any information commissioners want, but Sudick said the board needs adequate time to assess it before it can make an informed recommendation on the project.

“We don't know what the full impact on Bonner County is to be able to have any input on it,” Sudick said on Monday.

Sudick said the agencies' silence on the easement over the years raised questions, as do the access issues. Sudick said non-motorized access is problematic for older and disabled hunters.

Sudick said the county has obtained an access-management plan, but hasn't seen a forest stewardship report or a report on baseline forest conditions.

Karen Sjoquist, coordinator for the Legacy Forest Program for IDL, said the agency was is in contact with the county over the conservation easement, although admits that contact faded with the sudden death of a Trust for Public Land official that helped develop the easement and a changeover on the commission.

Sjoquist said IDL has been open with the public about the proposed conservation easement and there was no sleight of hand.

“It wasn't purposeful so it's kind of unfortunate that that's being conveyed in the public,” she said.

Representative Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, called on her supporters to attend Tuesday's meeting to speak against the easement.

Scott said she supports timber harvest and private property rights.

“What I do not support is using public dollars to reward a corporation for something they could do for free (set up a conservation easement on their own, allow public access and harvest timber),” Scott said in a legislative update to her constituents.

Former Idaho Fish & Game Commissioner Tony McDermott said it's not too late for commissioners to support the project and questioned Sudick in an email if he favored tax base over a landowners property rights.

“Also seems to me that Stimson has the right as a private property owner to change their mind with respect to the county's authorization to proceed with their subdivision that you apparently favor?,” McDermott wrote.