We held our IPA club meeting on June 7th at the Trails Restaurant in Grangeville.
We covered our Treasurer report and bills to be paid and was approved.
We covered some correspondence that was emailed to us by Ron Miller covering the Upper Snake East travel management plans from the BLM and the new proposal for National Planning effort from the BLM. We will work up a response for the Upper Snake East travel plan and have that at the next meeting. The comment date is July 10th. On the National Planning effort, we have already submitted a response in on that which was due June 20th. In short, the proposed Public Lands Rule provides for conservation leases to be used for 2 purposes: restoration and compensatory mitigation. The leases would be a tool available to entities seeking to restore public lands or provide mitigation for a particular action. There are multiple concerns with this new rule, but the biggest one we were looking at is the BLM proposes to allow for the creation of conservation leases and specifically states these could temporarily close legal access to areas that are leased and while stating in another section that some conservation leases would be issued for a max of 10 years. Which could potentially mean we could lose access to BLM land for up to 10 years on certain leases. Of course, we believe that conservation leases cannot close public access to public lands for any reason. Here is the link if you would like to read the proposed rule:
https://www.regulations.gov/document/BLM-2023-0001-0001
On other BLM news, Eagle Creek Road is closed because of the wash-out this spring and the BLM has said there will be temporary closures through the weekdays and open on weekends while they work on the road. This will last through mid-November 2023.
On another email sent to us by David Claiborne I am just going to copy his email:
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY AND STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
The following is a statement in nontechnical language of the substance and purpose of the intended negotiated rule making and the principal issues involved: The purpose of this rule making is to address distinct problems at specific locations on endowment land. It creates a targeted approach to curb damage to endowment land caused by actions such as abuse and misuse of land when camping, trail misuse, vandalism of gates, and dumping. Idaho’s increasing population has resulted in more people recreating on endowment land and more damage to the land. Destructive behaviors on endowment land both reduce the revenue generating potential of the land and cost money to remediate. For those who impose damage to endowment land, Idaho law did not provide a less severe remedy aside from misdemeanor or felony criminal trespass charges until the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1049, which was signed into law in March 2023 and will become effective on July 1, 2023. The new law, Section 58-156, Idaho Code, will allow POST certified Idaho law enforcement to issue warnings/citations for minor offenses and help deter destructive behaviors on endowment land. Rule making is required under the new law before a warning or infraction ticket may be written.”
For anyone wanting to attend the zoom meeting, it will be June 22nd from 5pm-6:30pm MTN Time, here is the zoom link:
https://idl.zoom.us/j/89614446439?from=addon
In Old Business
- Milner Trail update (commissioners meeting), discussed current proposed Vacate at Adams Camp
- Milner Trail club ride and date (was) set for July 15th leaving from Fish Creek Campground @ 9am and BBQ at Pavilion (*Update* to Sunday July 16th because of Pavilion reservation) RSVP requested.
- Members should bring ideas of places and dates for club rides (suggestions from last meeting was (play ride) and Kirkwood
- Trail Ranger Program, submitted to F.S. -no response yet, first aid course is done, no date yet for saw certification course
- Discussed Insurance – Ace Fire Underwriters Insurance “management liability”, National Fire and Marine Insurance “liability” (Ed motioned to pay for insurance and unanimously approved.)
- Move banking to P1FCU – tabled till Aug. meeting
In New Business
- Discuss dates for Club trail cleaning (Tabled till July Meeting).
- Discussed opening online banking access for Officers for P1FCU accounts (Kim motioned and unanimously approved.)
Our next meeting will be July 5th at 7pm at The Trails Restaurant
**New Update – JUNE 20th**
The Idaho County Commissioners set a date to ride the Milner Trail. This will be a public meeting and continuation of the proposed Adams Camp vacation hearing. They will just be riding from Fish Creek campground to Adams Camp and may do the remainder at a later date.
Please mark your calendars to join in on the ride to show your support for the Idahopathfinders Association efforts and ride along on Aug 7th leaving at 7am from Fish Creek. They are also taking any suggestions of points of interest along the route so they can schedule stops along the way.
