What to do with Rathdrum Mountain

I am writing to the voters of Rathdrum in regards to the survey being sent out asking what to do with the 557 acre parcel that the City of Rathdrum owns on Rathdrum Mountain.

Recently, the city gained public access to their Rathdrum Mountain property and will be asking the citizens what type of activity, if any, should be on the mountain through a survey. This land was given to the city of Rathdrum many years ago to use as a watershed to supply the town with fresh drinking water. For the last few years we have seen several articles in The Press from the Rathdrum City Administration, talking about all the great things that could be done with the mountain by opening it to the public, but not one word about the very real concerns many citizens have repeatedly expressed to the City. I feel the people of Rathdrum may have been informed of the positives of opening the property to public use by the City Administration, but the negatives have been grossly neglected. Because of this, the survey may not be completely accurate because the citizens may not be aware of the disadvantages of opening up the mountain.

First of all, approximately 10 years ago the Gem Community of Rathdrum went through a one-year process to find the best uses for the mountain. A federal trail expert was present to lead the group and at the end of the process they opened it up for a public vote. At that point all of the ideas the Gem Community proposed were turned down by the people of Rathdrum and its impact area. The people voted to leave the mountain alone! Even though the citizens spoke, we are now going through the process again, but this time the citizens of Rathdrum are asked to fill out a survey with the possibility of not being completely aware of the disadvantages of opening the mountain land up.

People have differing opinions about the disadvantages of opening up the mountain property to the public but some of mine are:

The Wildlife: Right now the area in question is home to a large amount of wildlife. These animals have already been stressed and forced from one part of the mountain due to development, to the face of the mountain where Rathdrum's property lies. Opening up the property to the public will surely force the wildlife to leave. Right now, the city is already disrupting the wildlife by logging the property to pay for a road to the land and possibly a parking lot on the property.

Fire: Recently, there have been many fires on the base of the mountain on adjacent land started by arson and negligence. Once this land is opened up it will be almost impossible to prevent forest fires started by campfires, smoking, motorized vehicles, arson, etc.

Garbage and vandalism: Past experience from other locations should have been enough to convince the City of Rathdrum not to open up the property. Take a short walk up to Slaughterhouse (state land), which is the ridge overlooking Rathdrum. You will find garbage, destruction, vandalism, evidence of ongoing parties, meth labs, and vagrants. Inland Paper, which has property next to the city, has had nothing but problems with these same things. Once the mountain land is opened it will be virtually impossible to police and protect.

Taxes: The city is now excessively logging the mountain land to raise funds to open the property. The city has also sold some of the mountain land to raise money for this project. They recently sold part of the land to Post Falls to install an unsightly communications tower. The funds that they have raised for this project could have gone to issues in the city of Rathdrum or to even lowering taxes, or water and sewer rates.

There is a possibility that our current administration will try very hard to deal with the issues opening up the mountain. However, I do not think that this can be done. The problem is that as years go by, new city councils may change the restrictions and rules to the extreme detriment of the mountain.

Please, if you agree with any of these concerns or have your own concerns, please let the City of Rathdrum know when you fill out your survey.

Terry Kiefer is a longtime resident of Rathdrum.