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Wood River Land Trust
f all 2 0 0 8 New red-osier dogwood plantings near Croy Creek
Extreme Makeover Conservation Style: Restoring the Croy Creek Wetlands
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he southwest end of Hailey’s Lions Park received a facelift this July thanks to our Croy Creek Wetland Restoration Project. The City of Hailey once used the area that is now Lions Park as its landfill. Prior to its restoration, the park’s southwest corner was full of fill and concrete that had been dumped next to the wetlands along Croy Creek. Because of the area’s degradation, noxious weeds were also abundant. The Croy Creek Restoration Project is creating a larger, more naturally functioning wetland along Croy Creek, improving wildlife habitat and water quality in the floodplain, and providing additional recreational and educational opportunities at
Lions Park. The restoration efforts began by removing over 1,200 tons of concrete, glass, scrap metal, bedsprings, a hot water heater and stove, an assortment of household waste, and fill. We then planted about 150 native shrubs, trees, and grasses such as red-osier dogwood, black cottonwood, and bluejoint reed grass that will improve water quality by filtering spring runoff. The new plantings will also provide habitat for an array of birds and other wildlife. A temporary irrigation system will water the new plantings until their roots are established. The Croy Creek restoration site is also adjacent to our 85-acre Draper Wood River Preserve. We plan to work with the City of Continued on page 7
A publication of Wood River Land Trust www.woodriverlandtrust.org info@woodriverlandtrust.org
Protecting the heart of the valley...now and for the future.
who we are Letter from the Board President, Ed Cutter
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would like to share with all of our members the thoughts I expressed when I was elected President of Wood River Land Trust at our Annual Meeting in early July. Together, the staff, board, and private landowners with whom Wood River Land Trust has established relationships have created a legacy of protected land, community support for conservation, and a highly-regarded, ethical conservation organization of which we all should be proud. However, we must not let Wood River Land Trust’s many past successes overwhelm our dreams for the future or confine our future achievements. Tomorrow’s success may well depend upon our willingness to move away from what made us successful in the past and start down different paths. We should be willing to refocus in order to get it right for the long haul. It is the long haul that is important because the lands entrusted to us are our responsibility in perpetuity, and there is no longer haul than that. I thank John Flattery and Clark Gerhardt for the dedicated work each of them has given to Wood River Land Trust while serving as presidents for the past five years. Our new Vice President, Jack Kueneman, and I have tough acts to follow, but we know that we have an outstanding staff to carry the load. I look forward to working with the staff, the members of the Board, our landowner partners, and our supporters with the goal of maintaining Wood River Land Trust’s outstanding reputation in our community.
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Meet Our Board Wolf Riehle
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olf Riehle has been a resident of the Wood River Valley for 11 years, and many of you may know him as the former owner of Bigwood Bread. Prior to the bakery business, where he focused on creating great-tasting organic breads and working with local growers, Wolf obtained two MBAs and had a career in product marketing. He moved to the Wolf Riehle Wood River Valley from Hamburg, Germany with his wife, Feli, and their son, Fynn, for the area’s natural beauty and remoteness, as well as for the casual, quiet, sophisticated, athletic, and friendly community. Wolf is an active mountaineer, and he hopes to hike and climb in our mountains for many years to come. When asked to share a little about himself and his involvement with Wood River Land Trust, Wolf writes: I feel lucky to be able to call the Wood River Valley my home. To this day I count my blessings for being able to raise a family here. I firmly believe that an intact environment is important to the physical and spiritual health of all beings. As a resident and father I feel obligated to help protect the values that define this special place: clean air and water, robust health, a beautiful landscape in which to play and grow and be inspired, intact habitats for wildlife, and a community that is passionate about the magnificent lands that surround us. Wood River Land Trust is working and fighting for exactly that: They protect our natural heritage through conservation, education, and advocacy of smart planning, and they do it professionally with dedication and passion. Having protected almost 10,000 acres for future generations right here in our backyard is a tremendous accomplishment! Wood River Land Trust is an inspiration for involvement, courage, and community to all of us. I am looking forward to contributing my energy and knowledge to a great cause, one acre at a time!
A Special Thanks to This Summer’s Extraordinary Interns!
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or many years now, Wood River Land Trust has been lucky to have dedicated, hard-working summer interns. This summer is no exception, and our interns were outstanding! Heidi Slaymaker and Lucas Bare spent the summer helping us care for our preserves and conservation agreement sites, and they have been vital to accomplishing these tasks. Heidi hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, and is finishing up her Master’s degree in Forests and Society from the University of British Columbia. Last summer, she worked for the British Columbia Conservation Corps building trails in remote areas of the province. Prior to her career in conservation, she was the assistant coach for the Oregon State University women’s soccer team. A passionate mountain biker, Heidi has been enjoying the area’s trails and biking community. Heidi says she has enjoyed having a wide variety of projects to work on and has especially liked exploring the Church Farm property boundaries and its habitats. Lucas is originally from New Mexico and will begin his last year of graduate school in the Bren School of Environmental Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara this fall. After completing his undergraduate degree at Bowdoin College in Maine, he worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on a number of genetic research projects. During his final semester at UCSB, Lucas will be completing a conservation management plan for an area in southern California. Since starting his
Lucas and Heidi in front of Wood River Land Trust’s historic headquarters
internship, Lucas has hiked a number of backcountry trails here and in the Sawtooth Valley. An avid birder, he has enjoyed living with one of our local bird experts. We look forward to seeing Lucas and Heidi as conservation colleagues in the future. Good luck to you both—we know you’ll go far!
Challenge Grant 2008 Wood River Land Trust is pleased to announce its 8th consecutive Year-End Challenge Grant.
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his year, anonymous donors and our Board of Directors have pledged $180,000 towards our protection of local land, water, and wildlife habitat; to earn this amount, however, we must raise $360,000 in unrestricted donations by December 31st. This means that every dollar you donate before the end of the year will be matched by an additional $0.50. Your unrestricted donations help pay for the basic necessities - dedicated professional staff, office space, and general office needs - that make our work possible. The Year-End Challenge makes every dollar of your support go even further in the protection of the Valley’s land, water, and wildlife habitat. Please help us reach our goal today!
Year-End Challenge Goal: $360,000 Amount Raised as of 9/2: $80,220 Amount Needed to Meet Challenge: $279,780
Wood River Land Trust is a tax-exempt non-profit organization; donations are tax-deductible.
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connecting Tell Us Why You Love Living in the Valley! Start preparing your submissions today for our largest Heart of the Valley Contest yet!
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ach year as the last long days of summer draw to a close and the first crisp hints of fall appear, we at Wood River Land Trust start thinking about our annual Heart of the Valley Contest. This year marks the contest’s 5th anniversary as well as Wood River Land Trust’s 15th year protecting local land, water, and wildlife habitat. Reaching these milestones has us reflecting on our work in the Valley and on the many things that make us all love to live, work, and play in such a wonderful place. No matter one’s interests or profession, we think all would agree that the Wood River Valley abounds with a feeling of energy and possibility. Whether you are inspired by outdoor recreation,
We facilitate the reuse or recycling of homes, building materials, and larger household items. Proceeds from the sale of materials are dedicated to Wood River Land Trust’s preservation of land, water, and wildlife habitat throughout the Wood River Valley. (208) 788-0014
appreciation of the vast open and scenic places that surround us, or regular sightings of local wildlife, the Valley pulses with vitality and vibrancy. Last year’s contest submissions overwhelmingly defined the distinguishing characteristic that sets the Wood River Valley apart from other mountain resort towns as its sense of community. This year we are asking you to build on this idea to describe the ways in which the Valley feeds, inspires, and nurtures you. Behold this year’s challenge: Please send us your photographs, prose, and poetry that illustrate the ways that living in the Wood River Valley makes your life different than it would be anywhere else and that describe the things that drew you here in the first place and the things
Board of Directors Ed Cutter, President Jack Kueneman, Vice President Joan Swift, Treasurer Robin Garwood, Secretary David Anderson Jerry Bashaw John Flattery Clark Gerhardt Trent Jones Heather King Liz Mitchell Wolf Riehle John Fell Stevenson Steve Strandberg Barbara Thrasher Doris Tunney Liz Warrick
that keep you here year after year. Photography submissions will be displayed and prose and poetry submissions read at events to be held throughout the winter. Submission guidelines are available at www.woodriverlandtrust.org. You can also contact Heather Kimmel at 7883947 or hkimmel@woodriverlandtrust. org for more information. The 5th Annual Heart of the Valley Contest is sponsored by:
Submissions Due Friday, November 21, 2008.
WRLT Staff
Scott Boettger Executive Director
Morgan Buckert Membership Assistant
Melanie Dahl Executive Assistant
Kate Giese Director of Conservation
Kathryn Goldman Project Coordinator
This newsletter is published by:
Diane Kahm
Wood River Land Trust
Development Assistant
Heather Kimmel
Program & Membership Coordinator
Robyn Watson
Major Gifts Officer
Nathan Welch
Planning Coordinator
buildingmaterialthriftstore.org
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Advisory Committee Peter Becker Ranney Draper Rebekah Helzel Dave Parrish Larry Schoen John Seiller Tom Swift Bruce Tidwell
Keri York
Stewardship Coordinator
119 East Bullion Street Hailey, Idaho 83333 208.788.3947 (telephone) 208.788.5991 (fax) info@woodriverlandtrust.org www.woodriverlandtrust.org Tax ID# 82-0474191
to the land
Identifying wildflowers at Lake Creek Preserve
Another Sizzling Summer at Wood River Land Trust
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and Trust staffers stayed busy throughout the summer with a long list of events. Our summer event series kicked off with our 3rd Annual Mushroom Walk in May. Held at the Draper Wood River Preserve in Hailey, the Mushroom Walk was attended by almost a hundred people. Kathy Richmond, Simba Springs Conservation Agreement donor and member of the Southern Idaho Mycological Association, led the walk once again and shared her enthusiasm and knowledge with all of the attendees. A variety of mushrooms were found, including a handful of morels—our favorite! Our Wildflower Walk was led by Carol Blackburn, our favorite botanist, on a cold and rainy day at our Lake Creek Preserve. Though halted by a cold spring, we found plenty of flowers to identify and caught the beginning of the epic Arrowleaf Balsamroot season. Wood River Land Trust also participated in the Sun Valley Food and Wine Festival in June by highlighting local morels at several events: A vintner dinner was held at Riccabona’s to benefit the Land Trust, cooking demonstrations featured morels, and a second mushroom walk took fungus seekers on another expedition in search of the tasty morel. We are also indebted to the many volunteers who spent their weekends helping us spruce up our preserves for summer. The Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Sun Valley Adaptive Sports, Friends of Howard, and dozens of individuals helped us pick up trash, pull weeds, and build trails at our preserves. Despite a busy season of summer events, we’re looking forward to rolling out a new series of winter events as well . . . stay tuned for more!
Kathy Richmond shares her knowledge of mushrooms at our annual mushroom walk
Collecting Seeds for Sowing
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ast fall, with the help of Ed Papenberg from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, we collected sagebrush seed to aid in fire rehabilitation efforts. We had so much fun we plan on going out again this year to Cowcatcher Ridge—one of our protected areas in Bellevue. Look for details in November!
Martha Hale and Nathan Welch gather sagebrush seed at Cowcatcher Ridge
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thank you
for helping us achieve our goals Thanks to All Our Volunteers We Couldn’t Do It Without You! Jeff Adams Elizabeth Albrecht Joy and Eric Allen Ken Anderson Devan Annan Ben Bainbridge Dick Barker A.J. Beesley Tom Bergin Heather J. Black Carol Blackburn Florence and Tom Blanchard Gay and Donald Boecker Jerry Boesel Karen Bossick Bobbie Boyer Elizabeth Breen Erin C. Burbank Rose Burbank M.J. Burns Cinda Caine Kyle Callaghan Chase H. Caulkins Mark Caywood Michael E. Coiner Taylor L. Coiner
Madeline M. Cordovano Iris Correa Jenny Emery Davidson Madison L. Deffe Jonathan Diem Laura A. Elgee Samantha K. Engel Carl Evenson Jill C. Feldhusen Daralene and John Finnell Woody Friedlander Spencer W. Fullmer Brita A. Gaeddert Janice Gillette Nicole L. Gillette Kathy Grotto Lars Guy James Z. Hague Haleigh-Mykel Hall Dick Hay Sarah Hedrick Jeff Hobart Mike Howard Scott Howard Patricia Hull Liv Jensen
Renee and Alexis Shapiro volunteer for a day of work and fun at Boxcar Bend Preserve
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Richard Kahn Bruce Kaplan Jenna Kavanagh Bruce Kremer Lyndsey R. Lascheck Bob Law John Lowe Juan Martinez Kim Mazik Misha R. McGonigal Paddy McIlvoy Larry Meyers Gerry Morrison Layna M. Nelson Megan Stevenson Carmen and Ed Northen Transito Padilla Alex C. Palmer Ed Papenberg Jack Peters Mary Ann Peters Tori J. Pfaeffle Maria Pollan Mal J. Prior Lauren Reutter Kathy Richmond Irene and Jim Robinson Lara Rozzell Nathan, Heidi, and Larry Schiers Tammy and Jazzy Schofield Glen, Vicki, Renee, and Alexis Shapiro Ashleigh Share Brittany Shipley Brenda Smith Jesse J. Souligny Greg Stahl Eddie Svidgal Erika Swanger Bruce Tidwell Kahli D. Steenstra Toussaint Pamela and Dick Tucker Stephanie B. Turner Gordon Wait Diana Wilde
Kids Rule!
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rother and sister Michael and Amelia Madsen made the most of Earth Day in April to benefit Wood River Land Trust. Working with their buddies Asher and Isaac Loomis, they sold homemade baked goodies at Hailey Elementary with the goal of donating the profits. After school, their mom, Tori, brought them by the Land Trust office, and they generously gave us their coffee can full of the day’s earnings—$45.45! Michael is 9 and going into the 4th grade and is quite adept at such financial matters. Amelia is 6 and is entering 1st grade this year; her greatest joy is playing outdoors, something all of us at the Land Trust love to do, too. Thank you for thinking of us, Michael, Amelia, Asher, and Isaac!
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Extreme Makeover Conservation Style: Restoring the Croy Creek Wetlands
Lions Park Draper Wood River Preserve Croy Wetland Restoration
Location of Wood River Land Trust extreme makeover shown in red
Hulen Meadows Floodplain Management Project
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ood River Land Trust is working with the City of Ketchum and the BLM to create a Recreation and Public Purpose (RPP) agreement that will allow the City of Ketchum and Wood River Land Trust to share management of 217 acres near Hulen Meadows just north of Ketchum. This partnership will give the City of Ketchum a permanent lease on the land and create a recreational asset for the community. As part of the cooperative management plan, Wood River Land Trust will improve the health of the floodplain and associated fish and wildlife habitat along this stretch of the Big Wood River. Depending on the outcome of hydrologic studies and the availability of water rights, management activities may include restoration of the Hulen Meadows site, enhancement of the riparian habitat to the north along the river, and construction of a permanent river oxbow. To learn more about this project and how you can contribute, please contact Kathryn Goldman at (208) 788-3947 or kgoldman@woodriverlandtrust.org.
An evening bike ride near Hulen Meadows
Native plants awaiting their new home near Croy Creek Hailey to connect the restored wetland area to the Draper Wood River Preserve with a trail, boardwalk, and overlook system along the west side of the Big Wood River near the area’s beaver ponds. Interpretive signage along the trail will provide information about the ways wetland areas benefit water quality and wildlife. This project was funded by a grant from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and local partners. The DEQ grant covered 60% of the project costs, and local sources provided the balance of the project’s $165,750 budget. Financial and in-kind support for the Croy Creek Restoration Project was provided by Blaine County Flood District, Blaine County, City of Hailey, Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Rinker Foundation, Sawtooth Environmental Consulting, and Webb, Inc. Wood River Land Trust completed the project with help from the City of Hailey Public Works Department, Erwin Excavation, Big Wood Landscaping, and over 15 volunteers.
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119 East Bullion Street Hailey, Idaho 83333 www.woodriverlandtrust.org ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink
fall 2008 In This issue: Extreme Makeover Conservation Style: Restoring the Croy Creek Wetlands, Page 1 Tell Us Why You Love Living in the Valley, Page 4 Hulen Meadows Floodplain Management Project, Page 7
August at Lower Board Ranch, permanently protected in 2007
Acres Permanently Protected With Your Support: 9,649