They had a couple of birthday parties the other night, but no one could blow out the trick candles.
Perhaps the organizers of the Sagebrush Soiree, the premier annual fundraiser of the Sawtooth Society, were trying to say something about their organization and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area they work to protect.
Under a tent at the Busterback Ranch in the Sawtooth Valley, more than 100 members and supporters gathered Saturday to dine, hoist a glass or two, raise money and celebrate the Society's 10th anniversary.
They marveled at a smoky sunset beyond the Sawtooth Mountains as horses grazed in the foreground. Before dinner, men and women, many dressed in Western attire, munched on sausage-stuffed mushrooms and shrimp wrapped in bacon with fresh basil as they talked of the work they had done and what lies ahead.
The Society formed in 1997 as a non-partisan, non-profit group and the only organization with an exclusive mandate to preserve open space in the SNRA, to serve as an advocate for the area and enhance services and recreational facilities. The Forest Service was able to preserve the SNRA "by acquiring conservation easements on approximately 90 percent of the 25,000 acres of private property in the area," according to the Society's Web site.
Congress created the SNRA in 1972 and directed the U.S. Forest Service to manage it to restrict development, allow for varied use and respect private property rights, the Web site said.
Instrumental in drafting the legislation that created the SNRA were former Idaho congressmen Orval Hansen and Jim McClure, who were present at the event. Bethine Church, wife of the late Idaho Sen. Frank Church, helped form the Sawtooth Society. Saturday's soiree also marked the 35th birthday of the SNRA.
The 756,000 acres of public and private land contains 50 peaks over 10,000 feet, verdant meadows and 500 alpine lakes. It teems with a variety of wildlife. The SNRA is roughly three-quarters the size of Rhode Island.
The group is in the process of completing and will soon release the results of its "Vision 20-20" initiative—a project it undertook with the U.S. Forest Service as a report card of how preservation efforts were going, said Sawtooth Society board member Paul Hill.
The Society has funded various projects such as helping local ambulance and fire services.
The fundraising auction and dinner were also an occasion to pass the mantle as founding Executive Director Bob Hayes ceded his job to David Genter, who took over in June. Hayes will continue as board president.
Genter presented Hayes with an engraved ice bucket and a fly rod while bestowing a jewel box on Hayes' wife, Donna-Marie. Attendees gave both a standing ovation.
"You're too kind. I really appreciate it. This is the most satisfying work I have ever done in my life," said Hayes, a retired Boise-Cascade vice-president.
The R.L. Winston rod from Montana will be used "for small wily cutthroats,"Hayes said. "The only problem is, I won't have any excuse now for not catching any fish."
It was a varied crowd that settled in for the Busterback function ranging from the owner of a lumber yard dealing in recycled wood, to an author of local trail guides to a couple of German ex-patriots who came here to ski and never left.
"I kind of like the idea of preserving a lot of the best country we have," said Rick Ross of Shoshone, the lumberyard owner. "It's nice to get together and preserve something like this."
After guests dined on spinach salad, squash special, grilled lamb with fresh mint and apple chutney, they were in for a real treat. As diners sipped merlot and chardonnay, former Congressman Hansen and his wife, June, who has professional stage experience, had the audience laughing with a timely skit.
A sign saying "SNRA trailhead" hung around Mrs. Hansen's neck. "I am an old overused trailhead. My switchbacks are all eroded," she read from her script. "I'm in a sorry state."
The former congressman played "Congressman Foghorn" as his wife, to the audience's delight, gave him good-natured verbal jabs when he was slow with his lines. But the skit had serious purpose.
The theme for this year's event was "Celebrating Happy Trails," and the Society has always supported trail work, especially when the Forest Service funds have been lacking.
Although the Forest Service receives funds for SNRA trails each year, the amount varies, said SNRA Ranger Sara Baldwin.
"They (Sawtooth Society) really kind of adopted the trails. They love the trails," she said. "They have been good sponsors, supplementing our appropriations."
And those birthday candles will still be lit for next year's fundraiser.
Bob Hayes, left, outgoing founding executive director and continuing board president of the
Express photo by Andy Stiny
Sawtooth Society, shares a joke with new Executive Director David Genter at the Society?s Sagebrush Soiree fundraiser Saturday night. Members and supporters of the group gathered at the Sawtooth Valley?s Busterback Ranch to raise money to protect the SNRA.
