Board neutral on Clagstone plan

 SANDPOINT — A letter from two Bonner County commissioners opposing the proposed Clagstone Meadows conservation easement was withdrawn on Tuesday, but the board said it still lacked enough information to endorse the proposal.

Commissioner Glen Bailey, one of the signatories on the letter, said he sees more positives than negatives with Stimson Lumber Company's plan to manage the 12,400-acre tract in central Bonner County for timber production and public access, but said finer details would be needed before the commission could recommend support.

“At this point, we cannot recommend it,” said Bailey.

The letter's other signer, Commissioner Todd Sudick, was less sympathetic to the proposal, calling it a bit of a “steamroll” boiled by conservation groups and government agencies in need of vetting by by county departments and the county's natural resources advisory board.

“I can't support it at this time,” said Sudick.

Commission Chairman Cary Kelly said he was “uneasy” with proffering a recommendation absent further information.

The easement was proposed by Stimson and developed with cooperation by the Idaho Department of Lands and the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. The latter agency welcomed the opportunity to preserve wildlife habitat and public access while avoiding the inevitable conflicts that result when housing supplants habitat.

“That was very important to us,” said Gregg Servheen, wildlife program coordinator for Fish & Game.

Servheen said he looked forward to working with the county to see the project through.

Idaho Department of Lands officials, meanwhile, sought to dispel misconceptions that state or federal income tax was being utilized to essentially purchase the easement from Stimson. It also disputed insinuations that it was trying to sneak the easement through.

“There's never been intent for this to fly under the radar,” said David Groeschl, state forester and deputy director of the department's forestry and fire division.

Groeschl said the federal funds used to obtain the easement came from royalties paid by gas and oil companies paid companies to drill on federal lands, and proceeds from the sales of guns and ammunition for the purpose of conserving hunting grounds.

Despite explanations that the funding that sustains the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Legacy Program does not involve income tax dollars, a number of people who packed the commission's meeting Tuesday urged commissioners not to allow their income taxes to be used to purchase the conservation easement.

Moreover, advocates of local management of federal lands argued that they should have a say in how a company manages the land it privately owns.

Opponents of Stimson's original plan to develop the large tract as housing and golf courses also found reason to complain about plans to compensate a company for managing its lands for timber and access.

“This whole thing looks a welfare system for the wealthy,” said Sig Jensen, who was a vocal opponent Stimson's housing development plan when it was being considered and opposed Stimson's plan on Tuesday to spare it from that development.

Tony McDermott, a Sagle resident and former Idaho Fish & Game commissioner urged the county commission not to give in to conspiracy theories about what the easement was meant to accomplish and said county officials were never left out of the loop.

“There was some coordination done,” said McDermott, noting that the Bonner County Planning Department — and by extension the county commission — was well aware of Stimson's pivot from development to conservation.