No people on Hammer Flat for at least another year | Boise, Garden City, Mountain Home | Idaho Statesman
Before the Foothills and the Boise River valley bottom were developed, thousands of mule deer wintered in the lowlands from Barber Valley to Lake Lowell.
Today, humans have claimed nearly all of that land, leaving the ungulates little space to hunker down and ride out the winter.
Soon after the city of Boise bought Hammer Flat with the last of its Foothills open space money one year ago, city leaders said wildlife, not recreationists, would be the beneficiaries of the 700-acre site. And they are holding true to that plan.
On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to agree to let the Idaho Department of Fish and Game manage the site for wildlife, not human, use with the goal of one day buying the land as a wildlife refuge. Under the agreement, wildlife managers would have the power to issue tickets to trespassers.
The land, once slated to be a 1,350-unit housing development, has never been prime recreation land. While privately owned, the land was used by some hikers and hunters, but the biggest complaint about the closure came from hang gliders who for [...]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cynthia Sewell: 377-6428
Comments
Post a Comment