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Old Board Ranch
- Jan 26
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 3
Expanding Draper Preserve and
planning for community housing
Over the years, the Land Trust has patiently pieced together the Hailey Greenway one parcel at a time, so that now it extends for over a mile along the Big Wood River. One of these parcels that had been a big priority over the years was a 15-acre parcel of land on the east side of the river between Bullion Street and the Bow Bridge (formerly known as “the old Board Ranch” or the “Caplow property”).
After we acquired the Draper Preserve, this parcel was the last remaining privately held parcel that stood between Draper Preserve and Bullion Street. For years, there had been an informal path that ran along the river through this parcel, but everyone knew that the landowner could cut off that access at any point, or if he developed the parcel it was likely that it would be large riverfront lots and that the public access would be cut off.
We’d tried to work with the landowner multiple times to come to a deal where we could buy the parcel for conservation, however the price was never within reach because the owner felt the best use of the parcel was for residential development.
Then, in 2021, a long-time Valley philanthropist approached the landowner and asked if he’d consider selling the property at less than full value in order to achieve a meaningful community benefit: provide community workforce housing on the part of the parcel that had been filled and disturbed, and conserve the majority of the parcel and permanently protect access to the Hailey Greenway. Inspired by this vision, the landowner agreed to sell the property below full value. The donor approached the Land Trust and offered to make a gift in the amount of the reduced purchase price so that the Land Trust could acquire the property with those intentions.
Project documents
Project documents are grouped by their relevance to scheduled public hearings at the City of Hailey and will be posted once they are submitted to the city for review. We will do our best to provide links to relevant city agenda packets. That said, the City is the entity providing official public notice on site at Old Board Ranch/Tax Lot 7900 and by mail to property owners within 300 ft of the site's boundary. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at info@woodriverlandtrust.org or (208) 788-3947 to ask questions, request information and/or start a conversation.
Monday, April 13, 2026 - Hailey City Council
Public hearing of the Wood River Land Trust's Letter of Intent to Annex and Annexation Review Agreement:
We will post the proposed "Annexation Review Agreement," covering compensation for city staff review of the forthcoming Annexation Application, once we have a final draft.
Cancellation: March 9, 2026 - Hailey City Council
Due to a lack of quorum on the Hailey City Council for the March 9, 2026 public hearing of the Letter of Intent to Annex and Annexation Review Agreement, it has been cancelled and rescheduled for April 13, 2026.
Get in Touch
If you have questions and comments about the project, we encourage you to reach out to us at the Wood River Land Trust to schedule a time to talk or get on a list for project updates. To do so, please email us at info@woodriverlandtrust.org, or call our office at 208-788-3947.