A coalition of conservationists, outdoor recreation groups, hunters, timber industry representatives, and local governments in north-central Idaho has reached agreement on a comprehensive proposal to reshape management of public lands across Bonner and Boundary counties.
The Idaho Panhandle Public Lands Initiative, formed in April 2024, finalized its proposal in May after months of negotiation among traditionally competing interests. The agreement designates significant new protected areas while maintaining opportunities for timber harvest, hunting, fishing, and motorized recreation—a balance that proponents say addresses long-standing disputes over forest management in the region.
Details of the Proposal
The proposal creates approximately 39,600 acres of new wilderness in the Selkirk Crest, a ridge system running along the Idaho-Washington border. An additional 16,900 acres would be added to the existing Salmo-Priest Wilderness, expanding one of the region’s most ecologically significant protected areas.
In a compromise tailored to multiple user groups, the plan establishes a 32,220-acre National Recreation Area in the Upper Pack River drainage. Unlike wilderness designations that prohibit motorized activity, the recreation area would permit mountain biking and winter snowmobile use, preserving access for winter sports enthusiasts and trail riders. The proposal also designates approximately 20 miles of the Upper Priest River as a Wild and Scenic River, protecting that corridor from dam construction and establishing new recreational access and trail opportunities in the watershed.
Brad Smith, interim executive director of the Idaho Conservation League, has spent more than two decades working on conservation issues across Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Smith and other participants in the initiative said the agreement represents a rare consensus among groups with fundamentally different perspectives on public land use.
What Remains Unresolved
The Scotchman Peaks, a prominent summit visible from Sandpoint and a focal point of earlier conservation efforts, was not included in the current proposal. Participants indicated that discussions over the peaks’ future management would continue separately, suggesting the initiative may revisit that area once the broader proposal advances through Congress.
The coalition’s work comes against the backdrop of longstanding tension over forest management in North Idaho. The Idaho Panhandle National Forests Land Management Plan, finalized in 2015, has been contested by environmental groups, timber operators, and local communities, each asserting that the plan failed to balance their interests adequately. A federal court halted the Hanna Flats Logging Project after seven years of legal fighting over grizzly habitat protections, exemplifying the litigation that has stalled management decisions across the region.
The Road to Implementation
The proposal requires federal legislation to take effect. The group’s consensus approach—bridging conservationists, hunters, and timber interests—is intended to provide Congress with evidence that the proposal reflects not activist demands but genuine local agreement.
Bonner County and surrounding communities face ongoing challenges related to forest health and wildfire risk. Idaho depleted its wildfire suppression fund as costs exceeded $20 million, underscoring the financial burden of fire management on the state. Additionally, Bonner County residents have turned to home filters and sealed windows as wildfire smoke blankets the region, illustrating the air quality impacts of unmanaged forests and seasonal fire activity.
The initiative’s inclusion of specific acreage for recreation and timber interests signals an intent to balance forest protection with economic and recreational uses—a framework that differs from earlier conservation proposals that faced resistance from industry and some local officials.
What Comes Next
The coalition must now work to build support among Idaho’s congressional delegation and national legislators who will be asked to pass the necessary legislation. The agreement’s multi-stakeholder endorsement may strengthen its prospects, but passage remains uncertain given competing priorities in Congress and potential objections from groups not represented in the negotiations.