F&G board OKs land deals that could open 11K acres

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission on Thursday, Nov. 17, approved two land deals that will provide and protect public access to about 11,000 acres on various properties available for hunting, angling and trapping.

During their regular meeting in Lewiston, commissioners approved the purchase of 1,012 acres of private land near Black Lake to add to the Coeur d’Alene River Wildlife Management Area. The land includes five miles of Coeur d’Alene River frontage and 3,800 feet of shoreline on Black Lake. The purchase price is $2.6 million, and the property is located 18 miles east of Harrison.

Fish and Game will purchase the property with escrow proceeds from a planned sale of 1,400 acres of timber land near St. Maries for $4.6 million to Idaho Department of Lands. Department of Lands has expressed interest in the property, but the deal has not been finalized. After the exchange, that land is expected to remain open to the public under management of the Department of Lands.

Any surplus between the selling price of the St. Maries property and the cost of the Black Lake property would remain in Fish and Game’s account for land acquisition or restoration.

Commission chair Brad Corkill of Cataldo described the land purchase and sale of F&G lands to Idaho Department of Lands as “one of the most win/win situations that I’ve ever been involved with.”

Commissioners also approved spending for a conservation easement on a 13,169-acre property known as Clagstone Meadows Ranch, which is owned by Stimson Lumber Company, and will remain under its ownership. The parcel is the largest contiguous block of privately-owned land in Bonner County, and the conservation easement includes an additional 1,263 acres in two parcels on the west shore of Lake Pend Oreille at Cape Horn. Just over 10,000 acres of this easement will provide for public access in perpetuity, and the 2016 Legislature already approved spending authority for the purchase.

The value of the Clagstone Meadows/Cape Horn easement is $13.1 million, of which Fish and Game will provide $2 million in federal Pittman-Robertson funds. The conservation easement will be jointly held by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission and Department of Lands. Other cash contributions to the project include $5.5 million from the Forest Legacy Program, $2 million from a private donation through the Trust for Public Lands, and Stimson will donate $3.6 million of value to the deal.

IDL’s signing of the easement was approved by the Idaho Land Board on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Stimson’s Clagstone property is home to elk, deer, black bear, wild turkey, migratory birds, waterfowl and forest grouse. The property has historically been managed for timber production and some agricultural use.

The conservation easement would protect both the continued management of timber and the property’s fish and wildlife resources, as well as public access to most of it.

The Clagstone Meadows property is largely forested, containing identified priority wetlands, and portions are within identified focal areas of the state’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.

Fish and Game commissioners also approved a land swap of 40 acres of privately owned land inside the Craig Mountain Wildlife Management Area for 40 acres on the perimeter to remove the inholding. Both parcels were appraised at $19,000 each.

Also at the Nov. 17 meeting:

• Commissioners decided against moving forward with a proposal to extend the waiting period to two years for hunters who draw an antlered deer or antlered elk controlled hunt.

• Commission approved continuing the discount of nonresident tags for black bear, mountain lion in some units and discounted nonresident wolf tags statewide.

• Commissioners also approved a resolution supporting passage of the federal Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2016 (HR5650) that would dedicate up to $1.3 billion annually to state fish and wildlife agencies.

• Commission will look at different options for allocating Sawtooth Zone elk tags, so these tags not go on sale to nonresidents on Dec. 1 as in previous years to allow time for considering options. Sawtooth Zone tags have been capped since 2009 and have become extremely popular.