Backcountry Musings

This page is dedicated to disseminating information about the current Eagle City Council proposal for a shooting range north of Eagle on Willow Creek Road.

The Eagle Foothills equestrian/hiking trailhead is currently at extreme risk. The City of Eagle is in the process of acquiring the land from Spring Valley developers and proposing a shooting range on 80 acres with a fenced parking lot where horse owners and hikers have freely parked for many, many years. Many of us and people living in the area are concerned about the loss of a quiet place to go and to live. Dogs and horses do not mix with the sounds of gunshots. We aren’t against a shooting range being built; just NOT at this location.

Over the years, equestrians have lost access to miles of riding due to lack of parking and lack of access to BLM due to private land. Once access is removed, it’s gone forever. The Eagle Foothills trailhead is one of the few remaining areas where clubs and groups of people have space to park and ride and/or hike together.

Residents who live nearby risk the loss of home values with resulting noise and traffic. Future homes will also be affected.

An open house was held in early March and a survey made available to the public. Testimonies were again heard at a following meeting as were the results of the survey. It seems few people knew of the open house and the survey as only about 600 people (not all Eagle residents) responded with approx. 60% in favor of the range. Even people within “shooting range” weren’t aware of the meetings and surveys taking place resulting in little representation against the proposed shooting range. With 33,000 people living in the city of Eagle alone, the survey should have had much greater publicity to obtain greater accuracy of the data.

The land is being donated for a park. In our opinion, a park should be accessible for all to enjoy, including children, animals, and non-weapon enthusiasts. Please write to Eagle City Council members NOW as they are proceeding with their studies in favor of the shooting range. We’ve included a letter you can copy/paste and the email addresses of the council members for your convenience.

City of Eagle plans public shooting range for foothills

City Council Shooting Range Open House

Email Mayor and City Council Members:

Jason Pierce – Mayor
Charlie Baun
Brad Pike
Melissa Gindlesperger
Helen Russell
City Council (general email)
Clerks at City of Eagle

Copy/Paste/Edit the letter below or create your own:

Dear Mayor Pierce and City Council Members,

As an Idaho resident, I respectfully ask that you reconsider your proposal to contruct a shooting range at the Willow Creek location. The noise and traffic will negatively impact Eagle’s charm, way of life, and property values.

Equestrians and hikers alike have used the area for many years as a close in quiet retreat for riding horses and walking dogs. Groups of children enjoy exploring the sights and sounds outside of busy city life. It’s one of the few places to get to quickly with easy access.

Please consider an area with less environmental impact for building a shooting range. Why not leave the area natural as it is now or provide a park with plenty of car and trailer parking? Really, why ruin a place that’s so special to so many people?

Sincerely,

The Wilks Bros are back in the legislature, now attempting to change rural development rules.

Somewhat absent since working to revise Idaho’s trespass laws, they are now backing a bill that would wrest local control from counties for their own ends. The bill would force all Idaho counties to exempt certain land subdivision requirements, paving the way for large landowners to skirt county ordinances put in place to manage growth sustainably in rural areas.

Why does this bill matter for wildlife or hunters and anglers: unmitigated growth is a serious threat to important open space vital for habitat and ecosystem connectivity. The bill would make it easier to subdivide large agricultural corridors and rural, working landscapes into fragmented parcels, converting farmlands and woodlands into sprawl.

The Wilks’ bill would accelerate habitat fragmentation, but such ill-conceived growth didn’t just spur opposition from land-users. The bill is in response to Valley and Adams County ordinances reigning in unchecked growth in the wildland-urban interface and in dangerous places like near the McCall airport or in flood plains. County planners – who would be left on the hook to provide emergency services, infrastructure like graded and plowed roads, reviewing septic tank compliance and so on – panned the bill as unwise. Valley County Commissioner Sherry Maupin said county residents were “starting to scream for managed growth.”

This bill would nullify those local voices.

Luckily, the quick outpouring of opposition from agriculture interests, sportsmen, and local and county interests moved the bill’s sponsor – Rep. Terry Gestrin (R- Donnelly) – to pull it. But the concern here is a trend of wealthy development interests introducing legislation (see Trident’s bill) to fundamentally change the way the state and counties address development of our treasured landscapes, paving the way for poorly planned growth to benefit the few at the expense of the many. And all of this on the heels of the latest Western Colorado College Poll revealing over 2/3rds of Idahoans are concerned with poorly planned growth/development.

The Wilks Bros’ bill and the Trident bill are dead for now, but Idaho is on the map and developers and real estate speculators aren’t losing interest any time soon. The bills will be back and next time the efforts of Trident, the Wilks, and all those like them, will be better hidden.

There is a lot at stake to lose here and we will work hard to keep Idaho, Idaho.

** Stray observation: DF Development’s Business Manager Scott Carlton Carlton threatened Valley County, saying the rule change “is likely to prevent DF Development from reopening any roads on its property to the public.”

The Time Has Come

As the legislative season winds to a close we at the Idaho Wildlife Federation have begun to emerge from behind our desks where we’ve been wintering – closely monitoring natural resource activity at the Idaho state house.

With spring comes a sense of anticipation – the all-too-familiar mix of anxiety and excitement.

For instance, just as the first spring Chinook begin their ascent of the Columbia River, the rubber is meeting the road as local, state, regional and federal elected officials consider the true cost of losing Idaho’s salmon and steelhead and what it would mean for the beloved rural character of Snake and Salmon River communities.

Similarly, as COVID (fingers crossed) continues to fade, and live events return, we’re overjoyed to get back out into all the communities across the state we love and shake hands, break bread and share stories of the hunting, fishing and public lands we all enjoy. We cannot tell you enough how much we appreciate your continuous support and flexibility over these past few strange and complicated years.

The work has been done, and will continue. All we ask, is that you take it with you this spring:

EMBRACE Idaho’s abundant and pristine public lands as you traverse your favorite turkey woods.

IMAGINE the restorative potential of a healthy return of salmon and steelhead in rural Idaho communities after a long day fishing.

REMEMBER that everything within sight impacts the habitat of your preferred species of pursuit.

There’s been a lot of talk about it. It’s time to BE about it.

We’ll see you out there –

Daniel Ritz

Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Idaho Wildlife Federation

Email: DRitz@IdahoWildlife.Org