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What's New
Help Us Qualify for a $150,000 Challenge Grant and Save Our Natural Resources!
A generous donor has challenged the Wood River Land Trust to raise $300,000 by December 31, 2011. If we do, we'll receive $75,000 from our anonymous donor and $75,000 from our Board of Directors. Your gift will help us qualify for our Challenge Grant and will help protect and restore our region's natural landscapes.
Your gift by December 31, 2011 is the key to our success. We're happy to report that we've received $295,406 in contributions to date, leaving $4,594 to go. Please help us qualify for the $150,000 Challenge Grant and together we'll preserve important natural resources.
| | Wood River Land Trust Office Listed on National Register of Historic Places
The Wood River Land Trust has received notice that its historic Hailey office has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a program administered by the National Park Service.
The home was nominated under the name of the Fox-Worswick House and dates of historical significance are 1880-1910. The original lot was purchased by C.B. Fox from John Hailey for $25, and ownership changed hands six times between 1885 and 1919. It was purchased by the Land Trust in 2001 from the Hunter Nelson estate. The exterior and interior were carefully restored to a turn of the century appearance, and Land Trust staff moved into the offices in 2003.
Now that the Land Trust building is listed on the National Register, the intersection of Bullion Street and Second Avenue is a Hailey historic crossroads. Each building on the four corners of the intersection (Episcopal Church, Masonic Lodge, Burke residence, in addition to the Land Trust building) is listed. A pamphlet called Hailey Historic Crossroads has been produced and is available at the Land Trust office and the Hailey Chamber.
Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of1966, the National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. The Register includes on its list districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, archeology, engineering and culture.
Wood River Land Trust is a local nonprofit organization that protects and restores land, water, and wildlife habitat in the Wood River Valley and its surrounding areas by working cooperatively with private landowners and local communities to ensure these areas are protected now and for generations to come.
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Land Trust Accreditation Received December 2010!
Wood River Land Trust is pleased to announce that it received accreditation by the national Land Trust Alliance in December 2010. The Commission conducted an extensive review of the Land Trust’s policies and programs and invited public input. The accreditation process recognizes land trusts that meet national standards for their practices and policies. For a full list of these standards, see: www.landtrustaccreditation.org/getting-accredited/are-you-ready
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| New Project!! Big Wood River Below Magic Dam
We’re excited about our newest project, which would restore and enhance a tailwater trout fishery in the Big Wood River below Magic Reservoir. Currently, the river channel below Magic Dam has only minimal flows for much of the year. During the spring/summer irrigation season, the Big Wood Canal Company releases water from the reservoir into the river for diversion into the Richfield Canal system. Once the irrigation season ends, no water is released. With the exception of runoff and groundwater seepage, water recharge to the lower Big Wood River is non-existent for much of the year.
The seasonal dewatering of the river below Magic Dam has significant impacts on survival and reproduction of the wild rainbow and brown trout populations.
The Land Trust is working with the canal company to find innovative ways to conserve water in the irrigation system below Magic Reservoir. In exchange for our participation in this process, we hope to acquire “shares” of water to bank in the reservoir and release into the river during times of low flow, creating sufficient year-round flows for fish and the river ecosystem. The conserved water will provide mutual benefits to the fishery and agricultural users.
Currently, we are conducting a study of stream flows in this section of the Big Wood River to provide a clear picture of how much water needs to be conserved in order to accomplish our fishery enhancement goals. We plan to enter into a formal agreement with the canal company to refine plans for water conservation, complete an environmental analysis, secure permits, implement conservation measures, and begin releasing water into the river for fish.
For more information, contact Keri York, Senior Conservation Coordinator, at
kyork@woodriverlandtrust.org
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| Access Yes!
Four Wood River Land Trust properties are now part of the Access Yes! program managed by Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG), which is designed to increase the public’s access for hunting and fishing. Land Trust properties that currently have hunting and/or fishing access through the Access Yes! Program are Sheep Bridge Canyon, Square Lake, Draper Wood River Preserve, and Cowcatcher Ridge. Sign-in boxes are located at the entrances to these lands just to help IDFG track public use. To view properties around the state that are part of the Access Yes! program, go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/accessyesguide.aspx. |  | Partnerships for the Pioneer Mountains: Pioneers Alliance
The Land Trust has been involved with the Alliance since its inception. Scott Boettger, Executive Director of the Land Trust, believes the Alliance is a great opportunity to use long-term local knowledge to work collaboratively on big-picture, regional conservation. “It’s an effort,” he notes, “that brings small organizations like the Land Trust together with larger groups to represent local values and interests.” Our 2009 acquisition of the Porcupine Creek property east of Hailey is a response - and commitment - to local interest in public access to and protection of the Pioneer Mountains. For more information about the Pioneers Alliance, contact Scott Boettger, sboettger@woodriverlandtrust.org or Mike Stevens at Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation www.lavalakeinstitute.org, click on Pioneers Alliance.
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| Wood River Land Trust Sponsors Pronghorn Antelope Study
As a sponsor, Wood River Land Trust is proud to be part of this important ongoing research. Key partners in the project include Lava Lake Institute, WCS, IDFG, the National Park Service, Kim Murray, and the Pioneers Alliance. For more information and a full list of sponsors, go to www.lavalakeinstitute.org. Also see the pronghorn study online at National Geographic and Discovery News.
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