After Camas County Planning and Zoning Administrator Dwight Butlin submitted a written solicitation suggesting neighboring Gooding County Commissioner Tom Faulkner submit a new subdivision application under the new, less restrictive ordinances, Camas County Commission Chairman Ken Backstrom, Ron Chapman and Bill Davis unanimously approved both the preliminary and final plats of the Monument Gulch housing subdivision located in the environmentally sensitive Centennial Marsh Wildlife Area.
Under the new ordinances, areas of critical concern, flood plain overlay districts or tourism overlay districts no longer exist.
Areas on three sides of this development were set aside for wildlife in 1987, when Ducks Unlimited, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and The Nature Conservancy combined efforts to purchase 360 acres. Additional purchases soon followed, and today Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area covers more than 3,100 acres, providing a sanctuary for waterfowl, shorebirds and a host of other wildlife.
Fish and Game stated it would like to protect this critical habitat area by purchasing the property. Peregrine falcons were recently released adjacent to where this housing project will be.
Fish and Game submitted a letter opposing the subdivision and stated: Centennial Marsh is a designated Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society because it supports large concentrations of breeding and migrating birds, provides habitat for bird species of conservation concern and is a designated long-term bird research and monitoring site.
Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, disturbance, and/or displacement from suitable habitat as a result of development create the most pervasive impacts to fish and wildlife resources. Development of the proposed project will destroy and fragment habitats. However, impacts of human related disturbance (vehicle traffic, unconstrained pets, lighting and ambient noise) and subsequent wildlife displacement will likely produce more significant, long-term impacts over a much larger area than the actual project footprint.
Professional reports, Fish and Game's opinion and public comments simply don't seem to count in Camas County.
As a developer, homebuilder and realtor I'm pro-growth, but the actions of the Camas County Board of Commissioners allowing growth within the boundaries of this national treasure are beyond belief.
George Martin Jr.
Fairfield
