Decision Delayed On Fishing Access

A state Land Board decision on fishing access at Hauser Lake has been postponed until at least September.

Members of the Idaho Land Board will make a personal inspection at the lake and will hold a formal public hearing in Coeur d’Alene.

“The people would like … an opportunity to talk about this,” said Schools Superintendent Anne Fox.

She and other Land Board members agreed to a meeting in September, if details can be worked out.

Garth Everett, who bought the land in question in 1991, angered area fishermen when he tried to put up a fence between Hauser Lake Road and the water. Everett said people were parking motor homes on the land, crowding it and littering. He bought 32 acres surrounding the point and built a home.

After people signed petitions and appealed to the state, the Department of Lands said the land on the lake side of the road might be fill added to widen the road. If so, it was within the high-water mark and belonged to the state, not Everett.

But extensive studies have determined that fill and natural shoreline are mixed. After long negotiations, the state and Everett agreed to a compromise: The state will deed its interest in land along both sides of the point to Everett and Everett will deed his interest in the tip of the point to the state.

, DataTimes