Site on Snake River chosen for state park

IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Park and Recreation Board has chosen a cottonwood-studded wetland on the Snake River between Firth and Blackfoot as the site for a proposed new state park in eastern Idaho.

The board adopted the East Idaho State Park Selection Committee’s recommendation, which spent the summer winnowing down the possibilities from more than 30 sites to the 4.5-mile stretch of wetland along the Snake River known as Rising River.

The proposed new park is part of former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s “Experience Idaho” parks initiative. The 2006 Legislature allocated $1 million to begin work on locating and designing a new state park within 60 miles of Idaho Falls. The proposal now goes to the Legislature.

“They may choose not to fund the project, or to partially fund it,” Rick Just, comprehensive planner for the said Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation, said in a statement.

The board approved the site Wednesday. Just said the Rising River site is privately owned but has willing sellers. Estimated value of the land is $3 million, far more than the $1 million lawmakers allocated.

“There’s a lot of demands on the budget every year,” said Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, who chaired the selection committee. “This year is going to be no different,” he told the Post Register.

The area is about 3 miles from Interstate 15’s Rose exit. It includes the largest privately owned forest of black cottonwoods on the Snake River. Wildlife include deer, elk, bald eagles, waterfowl, fox, raccoons and wild turkeys.

Just said preserving the forest and the wildlife it attracts would be the parks department’s top objective.

If lawmakers approve the Rising River as a new state park and the parks department acquires the land, Just said, a public process will begin to find out what local residents would like in the park.