Access Program Launched

Idahoans will have more places to hunt this coming fall as a pilot program aimed at providing access to private and public lands begins. Named Access Yes, the new program will be operated by Fish and Game with the support of the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Initial funding for access contracts with landowners will come from interest on a Fish and Game depredation account and other department sources. Funding is expected to be tight for the program's operation this year, according to Fish and Game Wildlife Bureau Chief Jim Unsworth. A permanent source of money to pay landowners is still being developed by the department and Fish and Game Commission. Competition among landowners for contracts this year could be tight, Unsworth said, because of limited funding. Unsworth said program leaders recognize that there will be wrinkles that need to be ironed out in this new program, another reason for beginning it as a pilot program. Many Idahoans see their state's strong hunting and fishing heritage being eroded as access becomes limited and habitat lost, Unsworth noted. Access Yes can help to preserve that heritage as well as the livelihoods that depend on it. Hunting and fishing account for the better part of a billion dollars a year in the Idaho economy. The immediate goal is to provide access to hunting and fishing lands as well as across private lands to public lands that would otherwise have no access. Landowners have already indicated interest in providing sample bids for some 67,000 acres to the program. In early April, details of the enrollment process will be made available to landowners through agriculture organizations. Regional Fish and Game offices will also be able to provide information on the program and landowner/sportsman coordinators will be ready to work with interested landowners. Committees of hunters and anglers will be set up in each region to evaluate bids submitted from their areas. In June, contracts will be completed and initial payments made. Signs will be made to identify Access Yes properties and an access guide to those properties will be made available to the public before the hunting season