199-foot cell tower near Redfish Lake approaches reality. Can building begin soon?
A nearly 200-foot-tall cellular phone tower is closer than ever to installation near one of Idaho’s most popular outdoor recreation sites, even as opponents say the project should be paused pending a federal decision on a possible environmental review.
AT&T, which plans to build the 199-foot cell tower on state-managed land near Redfish Lake, signed a lease with the Idaho Department of Lands in 2021 but has not begun building the proposed tower.
The telecom company signed a memorandum of agreement more than two years ago in early February 2024 accepting stipulations to mitigate the “adverse effects” of its project, which the document says “will introduce an incompatible visual element within view” of the historic Redfish Lake Lodge Complex. The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, which regulates telecommunications, only signed the memorandum in December 2025.
As part of the agreement, AT&T must complete an architectural survey and an inventory of local historic sites near Stanley and a cultural landscape survey of the Redfish Lake Lodge Complex. The company must also fund up to $15,000 in costs for roof replacement for the nearby “Doc Day” cabin in an effort to “support historic preservation of architecture in Idaho,” the agreement says.
The Idaho Conservation League, a local environmental group and one of the most outspoken opponents of the tower project, said despite the FCC’s sign-off on the memorandum, it doesn’t believe AT&T is able to move forward with the project until the federal agency responds to a petition the Idaho Conservation League and other environmental groups filed in 2022.
Cell tower is ‘affront to the treasured view of the Sawtooths,’ opponent says
Plans for the cell tower date back to 2018, when AT&T first applied for a lease and Idaho Department of Lands officials acknowledged it could prove “controversial.”
“The proposed use could be controversial or draw attention beyond the above items,” a staffer wrote in a December 2018 email to other department members about potential visual and noise impacts of the cell tower proposal.
The proposed tower is part of AT&T’s national contract to build out infrastructure for a nationwide first responders network, called FirstNet, that designates a band of network spectrum to prioritize emergency responders. The network has been in the works since 2012 as a way to avoid communications issues in mass catastrophes, like those experienced during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In 2021, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners denied a request from the Idaho Conservation League and Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association to contest the AT&T lease. The lease expires in 2040.
Both groups were invited to sign the memorandum of agreement, along with the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Sawtooth National Recreation Area surrounding the parcel of state-owned land, and Idaho State Historic Preservation Office. The Conservational League and Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association declined to sign.
Idaho Conservation League’s Central Idaho Director Josh Johnson told the Idaho Statesman his organization didn’t sign because the mitigation proposed in the agreement doesn’t address the visual impacts of the cell tower on the historic Redfish Lake area or the scenic values of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which was created to preserve primitive wilderness.
“Rather, the measures are directed at entirely unrelated actions in other locations,” Johnson said.
AT&T, FCC stance on building timeline unclear
It’s unclear when AT&T plans to take the next steps on the project.
Sharla Arledge, spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Lands, told the Statesman in an email that the agency has not received a construction permit request from AT&T.
AT&T spokesperson Sarah Rodriguez said in an email that the company is in the early stages of executing the requirements of the memorandum of agreement.
“This cell site is part of our ongoing investment to improve service and coverage in the Redfish Lake area,” Rodriguez said. “We have been working closely with permitting authorities and look forward to delivering faster, more reliable service for our customers and first responders.”
AT&T and the FCC did not respond to requests for comment on whether the project will be delayed until the federal agency issues a final decision on the environmental groups’ appeal over the petition for environmental review. Johnson said his organization’s attorneys believe the appeal stays the project.
Arledge said that the Department of Lands in 2023 approved a request from AT&T to temporarily reduce its lease rent by 50% for 2024 and 2025. Arledge said rent returned to its normal amount on Jan. 1, 2026.
AT&T’s annual rent was $30,746.85 in 2021, and the terms of its lease include a 3% increase each year.
Arledge said the telecom company requested the rent reduction “due to delays out of their control” in permitting processes at the site.
A local telecom company, Custer Telephone Cooperative, or CusterTel, already has a 100-foot cell tower on the Department of Lands site where AT&T plans to build its tower. CusterTel proposed co-locating AT&T equipment on its shorter tower, but AT&T declined, citing a need for an increased angle to offer the coverage necessary for FirstNet.
