Sawtooth private landowners closed down a Forest Service road. Is the closure legal?
Hunters on social media have criticized a rural road closure in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area that prevents hikers from using motor vehicles to reach trailheads.
Despite questions over the legality of the closure, which is on a Forest Service road through private property about 20 miles northwest of Ketchum, the Forest Service said it’s legitimate and the agency is working with the landowners to find a solution.
The gate closes about a mile of road that passes through private land owned by a group of people — under the name West Pass Ranch, LLC — that includes Mike Boren, one of the co-founders of Boise financial technology company Clearwater Analytics. On the other side of the roughly 150-acre private parcel, the road continues for just under one mile.
On Aug. 31, a member of a Sawtooth Mountains Hiking and Backpacking Facebook group posted a photo of a gate across Forest Service Road 120, also known as East Fork Road. The sign said the gate would be locked due to “numerous trespass and private property rights violations” and closed to motor vehicles. It would remain open to foot traffic for access to the hot springs and public lands beyond, including the Hemingway-Boulders Wilderness.
Comments on the Facebook post both criticized and praised the closure, with some commenters applauding the landowners’ property rights and others questioning whether the closure was legal. Some drew parallels to gates erected by Dan and Farris Wilks, billionaire brothers from Texas who own thousands of acres of Idaho land and have faced backlash for closing off access on roads that were long open to the public.
Last week a hunter posted on Reddit about the closure in the Idaho subreddit, again wondering if it was legal. The poster said the road was the only access to their hunting spot and had remained open for years.
“It bars me from accessing our public lands,” the poster wrote. “I get that (the landowners) are upset, but feels like they have over-stepped their landowner rights.”
The poster and other commenters again compared the closure to the Wilkses. Some encouraged the original poster to speak to the landowners.
‘Pro-access ownership’
The sign at West Pass Ranch was put in place by Jerrod Farr, the property manager for the ranch. In an email, Farr told the Idaho Statesman the owners are “a pro-access ownership group that is working hard to find a long-term solution.”
Farr pointed out that West Pass is still allowing access on foot as well as on horseback, bicycle and motorcycle with owner permission. He said other motorcycle and bicycle trails circumnavigate the property, and requests for access are considered on a case-by-case basis.
This also isn’t the first time the property has been gated off, Farr said. The previous owners for similar issues, including “extensive vandalism,” he said. Farr said most people have been understanding of the closure.
And the closure is legal, according to the Forest Service. In an email, Sawtooth National Forest spokesperson Elizabeth Wharton said the agency “may have maintained that road once or twice in the past,” but no active easement prevents the private property owners from closing a gate.
Justin Williams, conservation office for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Salmon Region, said in a phone interview that his office had received several complaints about the closure by mid-September. He said Fish and Game advised hunters that the closure was legitimate and should be respected.
“If there’s anything we can do to help work with (the owners) and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area to provide access, we’re 100% in,” Williams said. “(We want to try) to figure out how to get access for folks to get either through or around that property and keep access in that area.”
Farr said the ownership group is already working with stakeholders on an access solution, though he declined to provide further details.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
