By Karen Bossick
The Wood River Land Trust has raised more than $9 million of its $16 million goal to purchase the Hailey Hot Springs Ranch, also known as the Democrat Hot Springs Ranch
That’s up from $8.3 million committed a week ago. Bu time is of the essence as the campaign needs to get to $10 million in commitments by a due diligence deadline on Feb. 11. The Wood River Land Trust would then have until Dec. 31, 2025 to raise the rest of the funds.
The Land Trust is inviting Wood River Valley residents see the property for themselves—a property that used to be the site of the Hailey Hot Springs Resort in Hailey’s early days--during one of several site visits, complete with hot drinks and refreshments.
The Times:
Thursday, Jan. 30
2-3 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 13
2-3 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 25
11 a.m.-noon
Tuesday, March 5
1-2 p.m.
Thursday, March 13
2-3 p.m.
RSVP by emailing caroline@woodriverlandtrust.org.
The property has been high on the Land Trust’s priority list for 30 years, said Amy Trujillo, executive director of the Wood River Land Trust.
The 2,300-acre ranch a mile west of Hailey, includes property on both sides of Croy Creek Road. It boasts incredible biodiversity with nine miles of streams and creeks and geothermal hot springs. And it’s critical habitat for sage grouse, pronghorn, elk, deer and moose.
“Scientists from the Nature Conservancy have identified it as one of the places that ha ecological resilience,” Trujillo said, noting that it’s in the middle of other lands the Land Trust and Nature Conservancy have protected.
The owners contacted the Land Trust in January 2024 to see if the organization would be interested in purchasing the property. The Land Trust discussed putting it into a conservation easement, but the owner felt he needed to sell the property so the money from the sale could be given to charities the owner cared about.
“They said if they didn’t get a credible offer by fall, they would call us back. They did get credible offers and we had to react,” Trujillo said.
Under new ownership, public access to the area, which includes the popular Lamb’s Gulch mountain biking and hiking trail, could be closed off, along with the opportunity to enjoy the rich display of arrowleaf balsamroot and lupine that often explode in that area. A developer could build a hundred homes in the area, although there are questions about whether the water is available.