Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Editorial on river park was right on

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    Thank you, Idaho Mountain Express, for the July 12 editorial that describes perfectly our vision of the River Park at Sun Peak, a restoration-oriented project including a recreational river park.
    The Express editorial points out that the park needs “to transmit the message that the experience will be fun and will bring people who go there closer to nature. It needs to tell users and passersby that the waters of the Big Wood River are an essential and priceless part of the larger natural world that sustains us.”
    The whitewater feature too often has overshadowed the initial impetus for the Wood River Land Trust to support the proposed park. The park, first and foremost, is a restoration opportunity.
    Plans call for restoration of the riverbank and surrounding wildlife habitat, as well as the Hulen Meadows pond. This in turn will reduce potential downstream flooding in the city of Ketchum. The drop structures that enhance play waves are important to the conservation plan, just as underwater structures at Box Car Bend south of Ketchum helped restore that section of the Big Wood River.
    The park will provide for the maintenance of Hulen Meadows pond, now slowly filling with silt. Inexplicably, no responsibility for ongoing maintenance was assigned when the pond was created in the 1990s as part of the relocation of Highway 75.
    Yes, the whitewater stretch will be an important benefit. It will provide a chance to learn and hone boating skills in a controlled and protected environment. We also expect river activity to give the spring shoulder-season economy a welcome boost.
    At the same time, enhancement and protection of the environment is the most important reason for supporting the park. We thank the Idaho Mountain Express for pointing that out.
Scott Boettger
Executive director, Wood River Land Trust, Hailey

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