‘We should leave behind a land,” wrote Justice William O. Douglas, “where those yet unborn will have an opportunity to hear the calls of loons and come to know that they are more glorious than any whir of motors.”

Sadly, that land has begun to disappear even at North Idaho’s “crown jewel,” Priest Lake. As lease fees on state-owned land continue to climb, and development grows, the lake turns away from its log-cabin-and-swimming-beach roots. Party boats and jet skis have begun to replace the quiet pleasures of fishing, hiking and huckleberry picking. Modest cabins tucked in the pines have become surrounded by make-a-statement mansions.

Last month, in an effort to capitalize on Priest Lake’s popularity, the state of Idaho tried to auction off two new lakefront lots with more expensive leases. There were no bidders. It’s likely potential buyers decided a doubled lease rate (to 5 percent of the land’s appraised value each year) was too high.

Bud Belles, president of the Priest Lake State Lessees Association, now pays annual rent nearly twice the original purchase price of his family’s cabin. His father bought the Cavanaugh Bay cabin in 1948 for $2,800. He paid the state of Idaho $35 annually to lease the land.

Now Belles pays nearly $5,400 a year for his cabin’s lease. Like other cabin owners, he also pays county property taxes. He knows that as the state continues to raise its leases, his family’s likely to have to sell the cabin at the center of so many of its favorite traditions.

The state currently sets lease rates at 2.5 percent of appraised value. But if that jumps to 5 percent, Belles projects that cabin owners will wind up paying an astonishing premium for state leases.

His projections examine the costs of owning a lot appraised at $450,000 for 30 years. He projects that state lessees would pay an additional $1 million over a neighbor who bought deeded land instead.

“Most of the lessees feel a stewardship of the lake and want to preserve its ambiance and uniqueness and are willing to pay our fair share to continue this wonderful experience,” he wrote in an e-mail. “But $1 million is way more than our fair share!”

Along with finding ways to maximize revenue on its public land, the state of Idaho should also consider the impact of its decisions on this land and the generations to come. Priest Lake, its clear water lapping up on its beaches, its towering mountains glowing with golden tamaracks this time of year, can never be re-created.

The state has scheduled a public hearing in Boise on Wednesday. It will be a good time, not just for considering the market value of these lake lots, but also the priceless nature of this rare land.

It’s time, as Justice Douglas might have said, for the state of Idaho to consider just which parts of this northern treasure it intends to leave behind.