The U.S. Forest Service could decide whether to allow Ketchum-based Idaho Tower Co. to construct a 90-foot-tall cellular tower near Galena Summit as soon as February, an official with the Sawtooth National Recreation Area has said.
Proposed for the spine of the narrow ridge just north of where state Highway 75 crosses the summit, the facility would consist of a 90-foot-tall, self-supporting tower designed to resemble an evergreen tree. The site would also include a 968-square-foot equipment building and a fenced enclosure around the building and tower. The application was submitted to the forest in 2003.
Surrounding the site is some of Idaho's most scenic high country. From the roughly 8,800-foot ridge north of Ketchum, undulating slopes fall away into drainages of the Big Wood and Salmon rivers, part of a vast expanse of roadless backcountry.
During the summer, the area is popular with hikers, mountain bikers and other fans of high places. During the winter, Galena Summit's powder-covered hillsides make it a well-known destination for backcountry skiers and snowboarders.
At its core, the issue of whether to allow the cell tower to be built at this remote location comes down to at least two weighty issues: Would it irreparably harm the scenic qualities that draw streams of visitors annually? And how extensively should the nation's cellular network reach?
For those who support having a vast cellular network, the aesthetic impact of the tower is a small price to pay to achieve a greater degree of safety when traveling remote highways like Highway 75. However, for others, the tower's intrusion into the pristine Boulder Mountains high country is just too much to swallow.
The decision will be up to Sawtooth National Forest Supervisor Jane Kollmeyer, who will take into account testimony received during a public-comment period that ended in 2007 and the findings of an environmental assessment. SNRA Area Ranger Sara Baldwin said during an interview on Friday, Dec. 28, that a decision is expected sometime in February.
Anyone who gave "substantive comments" during the public comment period will have standing to appeal the decision during a 45-day appeals period, Baldwin said, so a decision by Kollmeyer may not be the end of the story.
Baldwin said stating support or opposition to the cellular tower plan does not constitute a substantive comment.
Rather, she said, it's "if you have an issue you're bringing forward."
Based on documents provided by the Sawtooth National Forest, the facility would be located near the old microwave reflector site northeast of the Galena Summit parking area. The spot is located within the SNRA.
The tower and accompanying infrastructure would be built just east of the junction of an existing dirt access road and Highway 75.
The proposal would designate the existing Sawtooth Telephone communication facility as a communication site, which requires an amendment to the Sawtooth National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.
Idaho Tower Co. conducted a balloon test to see if the cellular tower would be visible from the highway, Forest Service project leader Jackie Richter said in April. While set at a height of 90 feet at the proposed site, the balloon was not visible from the highway on the south side of the summit, Richter said.
However, simulated photos of the tower at different distances along the state Highway 75 travel corridor, provided by the forest's Twin Falls office, indicate the tower would be slightly visible from several points on the highway north of Galena Summit.
Richter said representatives with Idaho Tower Co. selected the type of camouflaged cellular tower that would best blend into the surrounding forest.
"In this case it's a pine," she said.
The proposal has led to a number of letters to the Idaho Mountain Express. In a letter published Dec. 19, Hailey resident Denise Jackson Ford stated that the tower would stand twice as tall as any nearby trees, and would dwarf all surrounding ridge features.
"The proposed location is atop the primary access into the most accessible, safe and popular collection of backcountry snow routes in Central Idaho," she stated.
On the opposite side of the issue, Idaho Tower Co. owners Jennifer and John Campbell believe the tower's aesthetic impacts will be negligible. In an interview, Jennifer Campbell said the 90-foot structure would only be visible from two points north of Galena Summit, and only from a short stretch of roadway.
She said the undulating topography of the area, with its multiple ridges and gullies, would make the tower hard to see from most vantage points.
"It really mitigates the presence of the tower," she said.
Campbell said that from a positive perspective, the cellular tower would make emergency communication possible north to the Smiley Creek area. She said south of Galena Summit, the tower's range would be more limited because of the area's variable topography.
Campbell said Idaho Tower Co. will make roadway improvements on the access road to the site to correct drainage and erosion issues.
"We're not making a highway there. We're not widening it," she said. "We would just smooth it out."
The proposed tower would house up to four cellular carriers. The tower would clear surrounding trees by about 40 feet. A one-story equipment building would have a forest-cabin façade and would provide four equipment rooms for wireless providers.
If given the go-ahead for the project, the Campbells hope to complete construction next summer.
An official with the U.S. Forest Service could decide as soon as February whether to allow Ketchum-based Idaho Tower Co. to construct a 90-foot cellular tower within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area near Galena Summit, north of Ketchum. In this simulated photo, the camouflaged tower is the tall ?evergreen tree? poking out of the main forest canopy. The dirt road shown in the photo is the old Forest Service road that leaves state Highway 75 on the north side of Galena Summit.
Photo rendering courtesy of Sawtooth National Forest
