October 24, 2003

Hundreds work to save Henry's Fork trout

Commission still uncertain about Last Chance LID

More funds allocated to snowmobile building project

Stream skipping ban goes into effect soon

County mulls angler parking problems

Commissioners consider having an attorney at Planning Commission meetings

Hundreds work to save Henry's Fork trout

By ELIZABETH LADEN

Around 300 volunteers from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah helped Idaho Fish and Game Department workers move fish from the Henry's Fork immediately below Island Pak Dam to the confluence of the Fork and the Buffalo River Wednesday. The move was necessary to save the fish because the Bureau of Reclamation and the Madison-Fremont Irrigation District shut the water off so they could repair the dam.

Volunteers came alone or were members of the Henry's Fork Foundation, the Island Park Sportsmen's Association, the Federation of Fly Fishers, Trout Unlimited, and several smaller fishing groups. A busload of North Fremont High School students also assisted.

The temperature was 26 F at 8 a. m., when they started working. Some people formed lines to herd the fish downstream. Others netted larger fish and carried them to the safe water, or placed them in coolers and buckets so that 4-wheelers could haul them.

The dam will be shut down for approximately two weeks, making some 300 yards of the riverbed dry— from the dam to the Buffalo River outlet. During a recent inspection, BOR officials found damage to gates that regulate irrigation releases, and crumbling patches in the dam's irrigation tube.

Pumps were used to remove water from the deep hole close to the dam— where some of the largest lunkers in the Henry's Fork thrill and baffle anglers every year.

Some of the fish from this section of stream were tagged for a telemetry study that is being funded by the Henry's Fork Foundation. This summer, HFF asked people to pay $300 to sponsor a fish— 40 fish will be involved in the study.

Large fish are also being collected for the study from Last Chance and Harriman State Park, using electro- fishing and hook-and-line sampling. They will be fitted with transmitters that last for of 365-750 days. This life span avoids impacts to trout springtime migration behavior and allows researchers to track two spawning migrations within the typical life expectancy of a radio transmitter.

“If you have ever wondered what these big trout do in their spare time when you aren't pursuing them, now is your chance to find out,” says the promo material for the trout sponsorship program.

The location of each of the tagged trout will be posted on the HFF Web site (www.henrysfork.org), with updates that will allow people to track the fish as they negotiate the perils of anglers, ospreys, otters, and other predators.

Sponsors have named their fish, and the top three "traveling trout" (measured as miles-per-fish at the end of one year) will receive prizes.

The Island Park News has sponsored a trout and named it “Island Park News,” so if you were not able to get in on this project, feel free to look in on IPN—a trout for the whole community.

For more information on the study, contact the HFF office in Ashton at 652-3567 or e-mail [email protected] .

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Commission still uncertain about Last Chance LID

How many people will be required to pay for around a quarter million dollars in improvements to the Last Chance Sewer System remained a question this week, pending consultation with the county's attorney.

County Commissioners have known for around two months that they will have to impose a Local Improvement District tax on users of the system to pay for lines and other equipment needed to add around 60 parcels to the system. These are parcels that were not added on when the system was built more than 20 years ago. Now, some people who own the lots that lack service want to build homes on their property.

There are 800 parcels in the system and 400 users. If the LID includes only owners of the 60 parcels, each would have to pay at least $4000.

Harry Barker, one of the county employees who manages the system, is also a Last Chance property owner with 11 parcels. In a regular county meeting Tuesday, he told County Commissioners Bill Forbush, Gordon Smith, and Don Trupp that, “if you go district-wide by land parcel you will be sued many times. I will be the first to file the suit.”

A Boise bond attorney had advised the commission that the county should be able to prove in court that adding the new service would benefit all users of the system, if the LID were to be imposed on the entire district.

Commissioners agreed to delay deciding what to include in the LID until they have consulted with County Attorney Trent Grant to see if Grant thinks the improvements would benefit the entire Last Chance area. Barker said that Grant was supposed to have reviewed paperwork on the system, but Barker said he had not done so.

Commissioners also agreed to hire Forsgren Engineering to do the work, which they expect will be completed late next summer.

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More funds allocated to snowmobile building project

Fremont County Commissioners allocated $8000 more dollars to the snowmobile building project in Island Park this week. Construction on the $80,000 building off County Loop Road in Island Park is nearly complete.

Parks and Recreation Department head Tamra Cikaitoga said the money is needed to raise the height of a door and to purchase a 1000-gallon propane tank. Propane will heat water piped into the flooring.

There is electric heat in an office Cikaitoga will share with the Sheriff's Department, for use by deputies working in Island Park.

The building will be used to store and service snowmobile trail grooming equipment that maintains 500 miles of trails— the state's largest snowmobile trail system. Most of the funds to pay for the building come from registration fees snowmobilers pay and allocate for use in Fremont County.

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Stream skipping ban goes into effect soon

Recreation patrol officer hired

The county's attorney, clerk, and recreation department head have all okayed the ordinance banning stream skipping that Fremont County Commissioners approved earlier this month. The law prohibiting snowmobiling on open water in Fremont Count will go into effect as soon as the ordinance is published in the Standard Journal— probably later this week or next week.

Stream skippers should not expect to get away with the practice due to a perceived lack of law enforcement. The Fremont County Sheriff's Department has hired Terry Fisher, from Rexburg, to work as a recreational patrol officer. With other law enforcement officers, she will focus on ensuring that all off-road vehicle regulations, snowmobiling included, are enforced.

County Parks and Recreation Department Director Tamra Cikaitoga told commissioners that the county has enough snowmobiles to do patrols, but she plans to make a request for funds for “a dirt bike or two and a 4-wheeler or two.”

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County mulls angler parking problems

Would a `fish and park' sticker help?

Drift boat use on the Henry's Fork by guides and private people is booming, causing parking problems at access points, county officials said Tuesday. They discussed finding a way to charge drift boat owners a fee that could be used to purchase land in congested areas that could be used for parking lots.

Planning Department Administrator Karen Lords told Parks and Recreation Department Director Tamra Cikaitoga and Fremont County Commissioners Bill Forbush, Gordon Smith, and Don Trupp that the most recent concerns about parking were expressed at the county's Planning Commission meeting this week.

People who own property along the river northeast of Ashton said they are concerned about the many anglers who park on the county road, Lords said, making it one-lane wide in some spots. A newly proposed 80-lot development and the approved 50-lot North Fork Highlands Estates will create more traffic along the road, Lords noted.

Drift boats and personal watercraft that fly fishers and other recreationists use to float the river are exempt from the state's boat registration law. Registration fees collected from owners of regulated watercraft are used to pay for access, parking, and docks on waterways that are not typically used by fly fishers.

Cikaitoga said, “It is my understanding that we as a county can request an ordinance stating that float boats be registered in Fremont County, with the revenue collected used to pay for fishing access or whatever is necessary.”

Commissioners agreed. “If you are going to dance, you have to pay the fiddler,” said commissioner Don Trupp.

Cikaitoga said that she would look into the matter and find out what is being done in other areas of the sate with the same problem.

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Commissioners consider having an attorney at Planning Commission meetings

With so many development proposals coming before the county, an attorney should always be present at county Planning Commission meetings, Planning Administrator Karen Lords told county commissioners this week.

Lords said that all counties in Idaho were given this advice during a recent Idaho Planning Association (IPA) meeting.

“We need to get an attorney to attend our p and z meetings, and the IPA recommends we raise our zoning fees to pay for it,” said Lords. “Best would be an actual land use attorney who has a lot of experience.”

Lords and the commissioners discussed the possibility of requiring County Attorney Trent Grant to be present at the meetings. They decided to “visit” with Dan Chadwick of the Idaho Association of Counties to find out how other counties handle legal counsel at planning commission meetings, and if a county can require its attorney to attend meetings.

The fee under consideration for an increase is the Class II permit mostly issued to developers, now $200. Developers must also pay for signs that are posted on the property proposed for development, and the costs of publishing notices about the development and mailing letters to adjacent property owners.

Lords said that Nancy Taylor, a land use consultant from Boise, is still working on updating the comprehensive plan and development code.

She invited commissioners to a work meeting/dinner to discuss land use issues with the Planing Commission. The Planning Department “needs a direction, needs to know issues you feel you have faced and issues you think we should change, “ she said. “We need to start a `hit list' of major changes.”

Lords said that after the work session/dinner, the groups should meet in January to discuss their ideas with the land use consultant so that they are incorporated into the plan and code updates.

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