Guest opinion by SCOTT BOETTGER
Scott Boettger is the executive director of the Wood River Land Trust, based in Hailey.
The Wood River Land Trust works cooperatively with private property owners to protect open space. With only a handful of significant open-space properties remaining in Ketchum, the Warm Springs Golf Course has long been a top priority of ours. Unfortunately, the former owners were not in a financial position to protect the property. They took the classic position "if you want to protect it ... buy it."
The land trust was not against the idea but didn't have $14 million. We could not find the funds quickly enough to compete with developers. In fact, the property came under contract three times before we were able to talk seriously about protection efforts.
It was with an initial request from Henry Dean and Sun Valley Ventures in 2003 (nearly two years ago) that the Warm Springs Advisory Committee was formed, made up of members of the Coalition to Save the Warm Springs Golf Course, neighbors, the land trust, and Citizens for Smart Growth. For over 12 months the committee met to strategize, persuade and compromise to come up with the plan you see today.
I am proud that the committee was able to form a consensus and create a plan that benefits all in our community as a place:
· Where families are welcome to come and picnic.
· Where you can tag along on a guided walk with an ornithologist and learn about birds that live in our valley.
· Where you can walk, jog or bike from River Run to Warm Springs without having to negotiate traffic—a dream that has often been visualized but, without the cooperation of the landowner and the determination of Christopher Simms and Smart Growth, it wouldn't be possible.
· Where children and experts alike can catch native trout in what was once a degraded and channelized Warm Springs Creek.
· And, most importantly, a place that will be here not just because the current owner allows it, but forever a place your children's children will be able to enjoy.
With the ever-increasing development pressures in this valley, places like the Warm Springs Golf Course are bound to change. Too often, areas like this are subdivided into the yet smaller parts to create more private Idaho. We can do better, and I hope that this plan is an example of how we can come together as a community and develop projects that protect private property rights and still protect the values and resources (such as clean water, recreational access and healthy wildlife habitats) that make this valley great.
