Lodge Owner Has Opponents To Hunt Plans

Hunting lodge owner Jim Clements wants to conduct guided hunts on 60,000 acres of federal land near Weiser. But his plan has so antagonized those in the town of 5,000 along the Snake River that 700 have signed a petition opposing expanded hunting rights for High Desert Ranch.

Weiser hunters fear they will be displaced from their traditional hunting grounds by well-heeled hunters from other states and countries.

In the last several years, private landowners began to charge hunters to hunt or cross their ranches to public land. One ranch charges $50.

“The local hunters are absolutely against this hunting lodge making money off public lands,” said Gene Briggs, a retired federal employee.

An upland bird game hunter and

frequent visitor to Idaho, Clements sold his Menlo Park, Calif., computer business and bought a home in Nampa three years ago.

He opened the 14-bedroom lodge 6 miles northwest of Weiser in 1994, and last season had 134 clients hunting on 47,000 acres he leases from the Soulen Ranch and 4,432 he owns.

The hunters, from as far away as mainland China, pay $2,100 for three days of bird hunting. Clements says he already has booked 200 bird hunters for the coming season.

He is seeking permission from the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Board to expand his outfitter’s license into the BLM land. Clements said he would charge $3,500 for guided elk and deer hunts, and also would take clients for bear and cougar.

“None of the local people could afford those prices,” Briggs said.