[Vision2020] BLM Swap Includes North Idaho

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (June 23, 2010) Spokesman-Review.

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BLM swap includes North Idaho
Developer wants to trade Boise ranch for timberland

An Arizona developer is proposing a land swap that would trade about 8,000
acres of federal timberland in North Idaho for a ranch in the Boise
Foothills.

M3 Companies, the developer, plans to build a residential community near
Eagle, Idaho. As part of its land acquisition, the company wants 973 acres
of Bureau of Land Management property adjacent to a state highway.

In exchange, M3 Companies is offering a 12,000-acre ranch that provides
elk winter range and adjoins other public lands. If the deal goes through,
the swap would create nearly 36 contiguous miles of public lands in the
Boise Foothills, an important wildlife and recreation area. But since the
ranch is more valuable than the 973 acres of BLM property, M3 Companies is
asking for additional BLM timberlands in North Idaho, said Joe Hinson, an
M3 consultant.

Under the proposal, M3 Companies would sell the North Idaho timberlands to
Idaho Forest Group, a timber company. Idaho Forest Group would log the
land, but continue to allow public hunting and fishing access.

The BLM lands in North Idaho are mostly in Bonner County. Hinson said
they’re steep, fragmented parcels that BLM identified as nonstrategic
lands. Gary Cooper, BLM’s district manager in North Idaho, could not be
reached for comment Tuesday.

The land swap is still in a conceptual phase. Hinson said the project
would require an environmental analysis or a full-blown environmental
impact statement to ensure that the lands traded are of equal value.

“The benefits to southern Idaho are obvious,” he added. “They’re a little
more elusive in North Idaho.”

Hinson said he’s heard concerns that the land swap is a “North Idaho
giveaway” to benefit residents of southern Idaho. To address those
concerns, Idaho Forest Group is willing to put an easement on the land
requiring public access in perpetuity, said Bob Boeh, a company vice
president.

State Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, said she supports the swap for its
economic development potential. Idaho Forest Group estimates that the BLM
ground contains 80million to 100million board feet of timber.

“It frees up federal lands and puts them back on the tax rolls,” said
Broadsword, who also backs provisions for continued public access to the
land.

Terry Harris, executive director of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance,
said his organization is still reviewing the proposed swap. Trading off so
much North Idaho timberland is a potential concern, he said.

“It seems to take a lot of public land out of public hands in North
Idaho,” Harris said. “There are a lot of parcels proposed for trade. We’d
want to understand each and every one of them.”

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So . . .

An Arizona developer is willing to cough up 12,000 acres of kittie litter
in southern Idaho for 8,000 acres of PRIMO timberland up north.

You guys think that if we hold out long enough, they might throw in some
beach-front property in Arizona?

Jeesh!

What an EFFING joke.

And this is merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Think "Credit Suisse Group".  Think "Tim Blixseth".  Now, toss in "Idaho
Senator Mike Crapo" and "Idaho Governor Butch Otter".

Stay tuned.

Until then . . .

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown