Illegal Work At Actor Willis’ Hailey Home Torn Down

An excavator has torn out rock jetties and flow control structures installed in the Big Wood River behind the home of actor Bruce Willis.

Officials say the stream alteration work was done without permits and the alterations would not have been allowed anyway until after an engineering or flood study.

In a Nov. 5 letter, the state Department of Water Resources ordered Valley Entertainment, a company owned by Willis, to remove the rock structures from the river behind the Willis home in the Flying Heart subdivision, north of Hailey. The department also is seeking a civil penalty of $1,885.

“The work was done without permits, county, state or federal,” said Ervin Ballou, state coordinator of the stream protection program.

Ballou said permission was sought after the work was completed. Once the work started early in October, a neighbor filed a complaint with the state.

Ballou said Valley Entertainment was quick to correct the problem after receiving notification from the state that the work was illegal.

Valley Entertainment representative Michelle McElroy declined comment.

On Oct. 7, the county received two stream alteration permits, one for work near a head gate and the other downstream. But Linda Haavik, county planning and zoning administrator, said after a visit to the site that the work that was done was different from the work listed on the application.