Actor agrees to pay fine, restore wetland

BOISE – Movie actor Bruce Willis has agreed to restore wetlands he destroyed near Sun Valley and pay a $21,000 fine imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Willis had denuded a half-acre forested wetland island at his property in Hailey, leveled it, installed sprinklers, and was preparing to build a bridge and lay sod when environmental regulators stopped him.

“His people told us they were cleaning up downed vegetation and making it more park-like,” said Carla Fromm, an environmental scientist and EPA inspector in Boise.

The work, which occurred last fall, also included placing fill in a stream in preparation for building a bridge. Willis had no permit for the work, which wasn’t part of any larger development.

“He was just expanding his lawn,” Fromm said.

Willis’ Hailey attorney, Ned Williamson, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

The EPA said the work violated the federal Clean Water Act, which protects wetlands and waterways, including those on private property.

“In this case, a forested wetland is going to take years and years to replace,” Fromm said. “It’s an important resource, a very complex ecosystem that provided wildlife habitat, migration corridor for deer and other critters that use the woods in that whole area around Hailey and Ketchum. So it’s a big loss. … It had the complexity of taller trees and excellent bird habitat.”

Jim Werntz, director of the EPA’s Region 10 Idaho office, said wetlands are quickly disappearing in Idaho, especially in the Sun Valley area.

“Less than 1 percent of our state is wetlands,” Werntz said. “And that 1 percent provides over 50 percent of Idaho’s wildlife habitat. The EPA and the Corps of Engineers intend to enforce wetlands protection laws. We hope this action will prevent similar violations and reduce the threat to our priceless wetland resource.”

Willis’ island is part of a spring-fed tributary of the Big Wood River that runs through the Sun Valley area.

In a settlement with the EPA, Willis agreed to pay the negotiated fine and restore the island. Much of the construction work already has been reversed. Plantings are scheduled over the next two months.

“He has been cooperating,” Fromm said. “He’s restoring the site, we appreciate that.”

Willis is just one of many famous residents of the Sun Valley area, but he made his mark in Idaho politics when he bankrolled a 1996 anti-nuclear-waste initiative and was sharply critical of then-Idaho Gov. Phil Batt, who had negotiated a waste agreement with the federal government. At a rally on the steps of the state Capitol that year, Willis, a Republican, called for ousting both Batt and the GOP Legislature if they couldn’t keep all nuclear waste out of Idaho.

The initiative failed, garnering just 37.5 percent of the vote.