Access YES 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. Interested landowners in Southwest Idaho are encouraged to contact Fish and Game landowner-sportsman coordinator Lester McDonald at 465-8465 to learn more about Access Yes. A permanent source of money to pay landowners is still being developed by the department and the Fish and Game Commission. "We expect funding to be tight during the program's first year of operation," McDonald noted. "We also suspect that competition for contracts among landowners will be high." Like any new program, there are wrinkles in the program that will need to be ironed out. "That's why we've decided to conduct it as a pilot program this first year," McDonald said. The program came about due to public sentiment. "Many Idahoans see their state's strong hunting and fishing heritage being eroded as access becomes limited and wildlife habitat is lost," McDonald said. "Access Yes can help to preserve that heritage as well as the livelihoods that depend on it." Hunting and fishing contribute nearly one billion dollars a year to Idaho's economy. The program's immediate goal is to provide access to hunting and fishing lands as well as access across private land to public land that would otherwise have no access. Landowners have already indicated interest in the program by providing sample bids for some 67,000 acres. In early April, enrollment process details will be available to landowners through agriculture organizations. Regional Fish and Game offices will also be able to provide information on the program. "We're ready to work with landowners to get the program rolling," McDonald said. One lynch pin of the program is the regional committee of hunters and anglers established to evaluate bids submitted from their local area. The group of five will meet in late May to review bids and select properties to include in the program this fall. "I invite interested hunters and anglers to give me a call to discuss the duties associated with being on this committee," Fish and Game regional supervisor Al Van Vooren said. "It's a short but very important commitment. The selection process and the committee that oversees that process will be a key part of the program." The deadline for submitting property bid proposals is May 15. The selection committee will review all applications later that month, with contracts awarded in June. Later still, signs identifying Access Yes participating properties will be installed, and finally, an access guide to those properties will be made available to the public prior to the fall, 2003 hunting season.