Access Site Identification Sought

Fish and Game would like to hear from landowners interested in learning more about the new Access Yes program and from sportsmen who know of public lands where access is cut off by private ownership. Idaho Fish and Game is working toward a new program aimed at assuring hunting and fishing access as well as maintaining habitat. Private landowners would be paid under the program to allow public access. Population growth and development in Idaho in recent years has brought the access issue sharply into focus in a state that continues a strong hunting and fishing tradition. Landowners and sportsmen who have or know of specific properties that might be suitable for the program are asked to call the Landowner/Sportsman Coordinator in their region. The Fish and Game Advisory Committee, a committee appointed by the directors of the Department of Fish and Game and the Idaho Department of Agriculture, presented the Access Yes concept to the Fish and Game Commission last year. In the process of developing the concept, the committee studied access programs already in place-and popular-in other western states.