It's not every day that someone comes to the Hailey City Council with money to spend. For a town whose citizens prize public access to nature's gifts, Monday night's meeting offered some promise.
Ben Sinnamon and Tom Page, members of the Blaine County Land, Water and Wildlife advisory board, told the council Monday that they are preparing to spend about $3.5 million for conservation, restoration and public-access projects.
A workshop to gather public input on potential projects will take place Wednesday, March 31, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Community Campus in Hailey. Another is scheduled for Friday, April 2, in Ketchum. A presentation was made before the Ketchum City Council last week and others are scheduled to be made to the other cities in the county over the next two weeks.
In November 2008, Blaine County voters approved a Land, Water and Wildlife Levy to raise public funding for the preservation of wildlife habitat and working farms and ranches. The levy boosted property tax levy rates for two years to generate $3.5 million for the preservation of private open-space land in spots throughout the county.
Now that the money is becoming available, perhaps in six months the advisory board will begin identifying the specific conservation goals of local residents.
"We have money and we want to spend it on conservation projects, " said Sinnamon, an expert in environmental law, land use and conservation finance. "Developing objective criteria is a big part of our job right now. We know we want to spend on conservation, but what does that mean? Endangered species? Wildlife corridors?"
County commissioners will have the final say on how to spend the levy funds.
Tom Page, a resident of Hailey and board member of the Idaho Conservation League, told the council that grant applications will be sought for both large and small conservation projects, based on the community workshops.
Page said the grant money could be used for a range of projects, from small-scale stream restoration projects to the acquisition of conservation easements on private property. He said the county will not use the money to buy property.
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
