Thousand Springs to become state park

BOISE – More than 300 acres of the Thousand Springs Preserve near Hagerman, including Ritter Island and two miles of Snake River riverfront, will become Idaho’s newest state park, Gov. Jim Risch announced Monday.

The land, a gift from The Nature Conservancy, comes with a donation of a $1 million endowment fund to help manage the property.

“The Legislature frequently calls these things the gifts that keep on taking – well, this is really the gift that keeps on giving,” Risch said. “It’s a magnificent piece of property and will add another gem to the Gem State.”

The donated land contains some of the most unique geography in Idaho, said Laura Hubbard, Idaho director for The Nature Conservancy.

Aquifers, created by rivers that sink into the lava rock at the Craters of the Moon about 100 miles northeast, break free at Thousand Springs through the canyon walls and become waterfalls, springs and pools, she said.

The area also has a unique history: Pioneers on the Oregon Trail passed through, and an early 20th century farmhouse, once part of a state-of-the-art dairy farm, still stands on Ritter Island.

The Nature Conservancy bought the property in 1986 from the estate of U.S. District Judge Willis W. Ritter of Salt Lake City, who used the island as a private hunting and fishing retreat. The conservancy has been working to donate the land to the state for the past 10 years.

“We work to create legacies,” Hubbard said. “This is a place that’s special to all Idahoans and we’re giving it as a legacy.”

The preserve is open to the public, but there’s been little development on the land under Nature Conservancy management, Risch said. As a state park, more resources can be put toward building facilities like picnic areas and maintaining the grounds.

“The property will be managed more intensely than it was,” Risch said. The state is expected to take over the land within the next 60 days.

The Ritter Island preserve will become Idaho’s 27th state park, and the fifth in the Thousand Springs State Complex along the Snake River.

“This is the crowning jewel,” said Idaho Parks and Recreation Director Bob Meinen. “This really makes that string of pearls … come together.”

The new park will not affect development of a new state park slated for eastern Idaho between Firth and Blackfoot.