Utah is no longer asking the U.S. Supreme Court to order the United States to “dispose” of 18.5 million acres of public land in the Beehive State, its latest court pleading shows.
In an 18-page Dec. 4 filing, Utah says its original complaint does not seek a sell-off or ownership transfer of the federal property. That complaint to the Supreme Court in August asked justices to “[o]rder the United States to begin the process of disposing of its unappropriated federal lands within Utah” — 18.5 million acres of land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.
Utah filed more papers Dec. 4 that appear to back off from that demand for divesture.
“Utah is not ‘ask[ing] this Court to exercise … the power to dispose of public lands,’” Utah’s latest filing states. “Nor does Utah seek an order ‘direct[ing] Congress to enact new statutes,’” requiring the United States to shed its holdings, Utah’s latest document reads.
Instead, Utah’s lawyers contend, the state only wants the justices to declare unconstitutional the United States’ ownership of the property managed by the BLM. What the federal government should do after that, Utah’s latest filing doesn’t say.
The difference between the two filings marks a “seismic change” in Utah’s position, said Ryan Semerad, a Casper attorney practiced in public land issues. He has analyzed the Utah complaint in a 40-page paper submitted for publication to the Wyoming Law Review. He also successfully represented four hunters in an ongoing public access corner-crossing case in Carbon County.
Compared to Utah’s initial complaint, the latest filing is “a much softer request … a much weaker ask than the headlines have made out,” Semerad wrote in an email. “In the end, Utah just wants the Court to tell Congress that it must give the Secretary of the Interior more leeway to sell off or transfer lands, eventually.” READ MORE
BOISE, Idaho—With support from local partners and organizations, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has acquired the 320-acre South Fork Willow Creek area to connect, consolidate, and protect public lands in the Boise Foothills and Smoky-Boise Complex big game priority area with winter range for elk, mule deer, sage-grouse, and black bear.
The acquired lands add several miles of existing non-motorized trails accessible from the Avimor residential development for hiking, mountain biking, or horseback riding, as well as public access to Idaho’s most popular big game hunting area, Game Management Unit 39. This area also provides close and convenient access to open spaces for the public to encounter both wildlife and dynamic city views framed by the Owyhee Mountain Range.
“We are excited that the public will now have access to these additional acres,” said BLM Four Rivers Field Manager Brent Ralston. “Our partnership with the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley to acquire this parcel provides recreational opportunities and the outdoor lifestyle that people desire to have in a popular area like the Boise Foothills.”
The area is approximately 12 miles north of downtown Boise and provides continued public access near ongoing residential developments. The BLM purchased the land from the Land Trust of the Treasure Valley, a non-profit organization, using money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
by ERIC WELCH
Staff Writer | December 13, 2024 1:00 AM
In partnership with Stimson Lumber Company and the Idaho Department of Lands, nonprofit Trust for Public Land announced an easement agreement Wednesday that will protect 10,846 acres of working forests in Bonner and Boundary counties.
Under the agreement, IDL holds the development rights to land owned and logged by Stimson Lumber Company, ensuring the easement areas will not be subdivided and will continue to contribute to the local timber industry.
“By protecting over 10,000 acres of working forestland in northern Idaho, Trust for Public Land has ensured that these vital landscapes will be preserved for future generations,” said Trust for Public Land Northern Rockies Director Dick Dolan.
In a press release, IDL Director Dustin Miller and Stimson Lumber Company President Andrew Miller expressed their commitment to preserving working forests in the area and protecting the longevity of Idaho’s timber industry.
According to Sam McSherry, Trust for Public Land project manager, the value of the easement will become more and more apparent as time goes on.
“This is very much just establishing what’s already in place for down the road,” McSherry said.
To enable the agreement, Trust for Public Land worked to secure $7.7 million in federal Land and Water Conservation Fund money through the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program.
A portion of those funds were used to purchase the easement with Stimson Lumber Company, whose property value under an easement agreement shrinks due to the elimination of development opportunities for the landowner.
McSherry noted that dedicating timber land to be worked in perpetuity supports sustainable harvesting practices and jobs in logging and forest products production.
“The overall benefit that these projects can bring is economic support to these communities,” he said.
McSherry also emphasized the importance of safeguarding undeveloped land to protect the wilderness character of the area for use by residents.
“Another huge benefit of these easements in northern Idaho is preserving the public’s access to the backyards,” he said. “These are the areas that the community members rely on, and being able to protect those for the future is pivotal.”
In 2023, the Outreach & Partnership Engagement (OPE) branch (formally known as the Access Branch) developed a collaborative tool to support USDA Forest Service programs in publicizing large scale programmatic activities and projects. Outreach of Interest (OOI) aims to engage the public, by soliciting project ideas and gauging interest through a structured submission process using the Narrative Statement Form, SF424, and the “Attachments” Form. OOIs serve as a mechanism to cultivate relationships, expand potential partners, and identify mutual beneficial project opportunities. Submissions are used to identify new partnership opportunities, enhance relationships, facilitate discussions, and refine project ideas between potential partners and the Forest Service.
Key Features of the Outreach of Interest:
- A non-competitive, non-funded announcement designed to solicit public feedback and project ideas. OOIs are posted on grants.gov (posted under “other”) for maximum visibility.
- Creates a new partnership model using agreements to mirror the federal grant award process.
- Maximizes the flexibility of Forest Services non-competitive legislative authority, while increasing the pool of partners.
- Designed to support large-scale programmatic efforts through collaboration and feedback from the public to meet increased project scope and funding demands.
- Serves as a market research tool helping programs understand current market trends and the landscape of their program areas.
- Through pilot testing, the OOI model can be refined for broad implementation as a standardized outreach practice.
- Submissions will be compiled into a searchable database for FS employees to identify potential partners by region, forest, state, and program area. This database is currently being constructed and is expected to be completed in time for this first round of OOIs.
Last year, the OPE collaborated with program managers across several program areas to develop OOIs addressing common on the-ground needs. These initial OOIs are a foundation and OPE will continue collaborating with program managers to create new OOIs that align with Forest Service priorities.
We currently have 11 OOIs published and available for submission, closing on February 7th (please see enclosed for details). Two additional OOIs will be released soon:
- one focused on workforce development across all programs
- another for region 5 that addresses visitor center support and recreation stewardship coordination
An email announcement will be sent publicizing these OOIs.
The Outreach & Partnership Engagement branch will be addressing submission related questions grants and agreement inquiries, and other general OOI concerns. For program specific questions, OPE staff will consult with subject matter experts.
If you have any questions or are interested in collaborating on developing an Outreach of Interest, please let us know.
Please share this information as you see appropriate with your staff areas.
Enclosed is the external announcement that we will be sharing in an email with current and potential partners. Feel free to share this external correspondence through your engagements.
READ MEETING MINUTES
In 1998 I adopted two BLM mustangs, Kestrel and Mestena. They were yearlings and had not been touched except for shots and freeze branding. The were small but I assumed that was due to their age, it turned out it was their genetics. Being wild horses in this dry mountainous area of Nevada, smaller horses had an advantage over larger so over time the herd standard size was around 12 hands, and hardy. I soon realized that the mare was going to be a great kids horse not adult and for me my first pack horse. Over the years she carried loads on multiple wildernesses pack trips and on trail maintenance project in the Boise, Payette and Sawtooth National forests. She was Moosely’s mom and they were siamese twins rarely being over fifty feet apart, always eating from the same feeder and if she went anywhere he had to go or would throw a total hissyfit.
She knew her job so well that leading her was optional, she knew her place was behind her lead horse. This was very handy as I only had to lead one horse and could take the group to water or anywhere else I wanted to go. When I took my granddaughter riding, even though she had no experience, I knew Mestena would just follow me and would take care of her load, be it pack bags or a kid. Age and laminitis lead to her retirement in 2024 and the fall grasses to founder in both front feet and time to say goodby.
1860 – 1869
Prior to the gold rush of the 1860’s, Native Americans camped in Round Valley to hunt and to dig and dry camas roots. Packer John Welch, who had contracted to freight supplies from Umatilla Landing on the Columbia River to miners of Idaho City, established a camp on Gold Fork Creek and a brush cabin on Clear Creek in the 1860’s. He also established a station near what later became the town of Cascade.
1870 – 1879
During the 1870’s, prospectors and miners followed in Packer John’s footsteps to scour the valley and surrounding mountains for gold. The Clara Foltz mines opened on Paddy Flat, and other diggings commenced on Boulder and Gold Fork Creeks. Also during the 1870’s, two salmon fisheries operated seasonally on Payette Lake.
In the late 1870’s, the last of the Sheepeater Tribe was removed from Long Valley and Round Valley to a reservation. As the gold sources dwindled, a few of the miners took up squatter’s rights. James Horner built a cabin on Clear Creek in 1881. Other miners settled on the Payette River. In 1883, S.M. Sisk, a young miner from New York, settled near the old town site of Crawford. Later the same year, L.S. Kimble came from Illinois and began to cut trees at Tamarack Falls. A year later he moved to the site of VanWyck and opened the region’s first blacksmith shop. After Kimble came W.D. Patterson, T.L. Worthington, L.M. Gorton, John DeHaas, E.A. Smith and many others who contributed to the development around VanWyck, Crawford and Alpha.
1880 – 1889
In the 1880’s, a man named Maxey came to Round Valley to fatten hogs on the camas roots. Caroline Jarvis bought his homestead in 1888. Then in 1892, W.A. “Billy” Bacon, who came to Boise in 1863, married Sarah Jarvis and built a log cabin to begin his homestead in Round Valley.
In 1886, Jack Jasper established a homestead near what is now Roseberry. He estimated then that there were about thirty families in the valley. The Mark Cole and Blankenship families arrived in 1888 and, with Jack Jasper and the Pottengers, founded Roseberry. Also in 1888, the first post offices in Valley County were opened at VanWyck, on March 14, with L. Kimble as postmaster; and, at Alpha, on July 12, with James Horner as postmaster.
In 1889, Louis McCall took squatter’s rights on Payette Lake. Other settlers in the area were the Yorkes, Albert Gaekel, Louis Heacock and Arthur Rowland. Their homesteads were the nucleus of what would later become the town of McCall.
A post office opened at Lardo in 1889 with John Lane as postmaster. Also, W.H. Boydstun established a freight stop at Lardo to service the increased mining activity at Warren Meadows. READ MORE