State mulls selling Hayden Lake lots

HAYDEN LAKE — Prime waterfront property on Hayden Lake owned by the state may soon be for sale.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission owns eight contiguous lots totaling 2.57 acres on the north end of the lake near the Hayden Lake Sportsmen Park Boating and Fishing Access Area.

If the commission, at its quarterly meeting in Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday, adopts staff's recommendation to declare the property surplus, the site could sell for nearly $1 million, according to IDFG.

The lots are across the road from the fishing access. Seven are undeveloped and one has an easement that was granted to a neighbor by IDFG in 1998, allowing the installation of a drain field and access to their property. As such, the lots support little, if any, public use and they are too small to provide much wildlife habitat.

"If people wanted to walk on them to the water they could, but they're between two private ownerships," said Katherine Cousins, mitigation staff biologist for IDFG. "It's also very steep and not the best place to access the lake."

If the property is sold, the funds would likely go into IDFG's Land Legacy account for future conservation acquisitions.

Since the lots are isolated and there's limited room to provide habitat or public access, IDFG views them as nonessential to the agency's mission, Cousins said.

"It makes sense to sell them," she said.

The appraised value of one of the lots was estimated at $140,000 in October 2012, making IDFG believe the property could generate nearly $1 million in funds.

The parcels were originally acquired via warranty deed through a 1950 land exchange.

The property would be sold or auctioned via the Land Board, which is the state authority for sale of state property. Cousins said it hasn't been determined whether the lots would be sold individually or as one piece.

"I imagine there will be strong interest with it being premium real estate," she said.

• In other business on Tuesday, the commission will consider buying 290 acres near the Black Rock Slough near Cataldo along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes from Eli Stinger II. The property is bordered by current property the commission owns in the Coeur d'Alene River Wildlife Management Area.

The site has 180 acres of emergent wetlands, 45 acres of riparian forest and 7,300 feet of river frontage.

"Waterfowl use of the property is moderate at present and could be greatly enhanced in the short-term with some water control management," IDFG staff wrote to the commissioners.

Public input opportunities regarding management of the property would be offered.

"With ownership of the property, the department could immediately install water control structures and control water depths such that the water depth in the wetland complex could be increased during the late winter making the contaminated wetlands (from mining waste) unavailable for swan foraging," the memo states.

The first step in buying the property, which is what will be before the commission, would be IDFG paying a fee in lieu of taxes (FILT). The FILT for properties in Kootenai County is estimated at $2.24 per acre for a total of about $649.60 for the property.

The proposed purchase price hasn't been announced because the appraised value hasn't been determined, Cousins said.