The Forest Service has spent about $50 million over
the last 25 years to protect the Sawtooth National Recreation Area
in central Idaho from the spread of subdivisions. Its work is about
90 percent complete – conservation easements protect most private
land – but unless the Forest Service can work out a last-minute
deal, rancher Bob Piva will sell his 160 acres in the Stanley Basin
to the highest bidder. His 20 meadow lots with views of jagged
peaks could bring $50,000 an acre.
The impending
subdivision comes after the Forest Service restricted the size of
his herd, which Piva says made grazing cows there unprofitable. So
he chose to sell and says that the Forest Service missed its chance
to protect the land.
“They’ve had 25 years to get
this thing completed and they can’t seem to get it done,” he
says.
Steve Rinella, a ranger on the 756,000-acre
recreation area, says that protecting the Piva property had always
been a top priority, but Congress only appropriated money for a
conservation easement after Piva threatened to bring in bulldozers.
And when the $1.24 million offer came through, it wasn’t enough –
Piva thinks he can get more than $8 million by selling to
homebuyers.
The Sawtooths may get a final chance.
Piva and the Sawtooth Society, a private conservation group, are
jointly funding a new appraisal. If Piva accepts the appraisal’s
value, the Forest Service says it will try to match the price.
*Gabriel Ross
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Subdivisions loom over the Sawtooths.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
