Coalition of skiers and snowmobilers honored
Sen. Crapo confers Spirit of Idaho award
By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer
Local skiers and snowmobilers who are members of the Wood River Winter
Recreation Coalition Mapping Committee were honored Saturday with Spirit of Idaho awards
by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.
Sen.
Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, commends the Wood River Winter Recreation Coalition Mapping Committee
for its work. Three members of the committee are to his right: Bill DeMun, Andy Munter and
Chris Klick. Express photo by Willy Cook
The award, started this month, is a recognition program sponsored by Sen.
Crapo. It is designed to highlight individuals and groups within local communities who
have provided outstanding service and or commitment to the community.
The committee of five snowmobilers and five skiers worked together for 10
months to hammer out the area designations for motorized and non-motorized use in the Wood
River Valley.
The group includes Andy Munter, Jim McClatchy, John "J.C."
Craig, Jack Haase, Kathie Rivers, Own Downard, Kim Nilsen, Nancy Monk, Bill DeMun and
Chris Klick.
Crapo commended them for their collaborative effort, saying that the
implications of what the committee had achieved would extend further than just the Wood
River Valley.
Bob Werth, who served as mediator for the committee, told them he was
proud of them for being so willing to learn about each others’ issues and work
together toward the agreement.
At the end of October, the coalition presented Sawtooth National Forest
Supervisor Bill LeVere with measures designed to alleviate long-standing conflicts between
skiers and snowmobilers in the Wood River Valley.
At that time LeVere said, "I wouldn’t have bet a plugged nickel
a year ago" that the group would come up with a solution.
``One of the problems has been that there hasn't been many examples of
collaborative work. Now we have people who have created a mold, who can give testimony
that it works,'' Crapo said.
He presented each of the Winter Coalition members with an autographed copy
of Daniel Kemmis' book, ``Community and the Politics of Place,'' as well as a certificate
of appreciation and a picture plaque of Hyndman Peak, a mountain included in the new
Winter Coalition boundaries.
Crapo also recognized several others for their work with the committee:
Mary Austin Crofts and Shelly Preston of the Blaine County Recreation District; Deb
Cooper, Area Ranger for the SNRA; and Carol Brown and Ed Cannady of the U.S. Forest
Service.
This is the second occasion that Crapo has awarded the Spirit of Idaho
Award.
Three newspaper delivery boys in the Twin Falls area were the first
recipients of the award on Nov. 3: Alex and Jay Phelps and Kamrud Jacobson.
