To fly fishermen, The Harriman Ranch stretch of the Henry’s Fork might be the holiest water in a part of the country that’s famous for its holy waters.

And you could very lose access to it.

I remember fantasizing about the Harriman Ranch stretch it in my early teens (among other things). When you’re a kid, it’s easy to place yourself in the middle of epic Green Drake hatches on a stretch of water gifted to the public by a rich railroad family – even if you owned a fly rod, but had to see a coldwater fish close up.

Then, for a decade or so, the Henry’s Fork fell on hard times, but rebounded – largely as a result of the work of organizations like The Henry’s Fork Foundation.

According to the Henry’s Fork Lodge fishing report, last year’s fishing was about as good as it gets, so you’d think the Harriman Ranch stretch – a public access (and economic) success story by any measure – would be safe forever.

And naturally, you’d think wrong. From the Henrys Fork Foundation’s Facebook page:

Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has proposed the elimination of general funding for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) as part of the 2010 state budget. The elimination of IDPR potentially means the loss of public access to state parks and facilities all over Idaho, including the world-famous Harriman State Park in Fremont County.

IDPR was established, in large part, as a result of the Harriman family’s gift of Harriman State Park to the state. The family made their gift on the condition (among others) that a professional state agency be created to manage the park. Since then, IDPR has grown to include more than two dozen parks all over the state, providing a wide range of recreational activities to the people of Idaho and to countless visitors from around the country, and the world.

The most obvious potential effect of IDPR being eliminated could be the loss to the people of Idaho access to the lands and facilities currently managed by the agency. These range from alpine Priest Lake in the north to the desert at City of Rocks in the south, and they provide an extraordinary range of recreational opportunities to an equally broad cross-section of the public. IDPR also manages several recreational programs, including park and ski opportunities, trail maintenance for a variety of recreational uses, avalanche awareness for snowmobilers, and equestrian opportunities (among others).

At no place would the potential loss to the public be more obvious than at the park that started the agency: Harriman. This 11,000 acre park with its eight miles of the Henry’s Fork is an international destination, arguably the most famous trout river in the world and one of Idaho’s most recognizable landscapes.

The Henry’s Fork Foundation was founded in a cabin across the river from Harriman State Park, and in 1999 Trout Unlimited members voted the Henry’s Fork the best trout stream in America. A study conducted by Colorado State University and sponsored by the Henry’s Fork Foundation and Trout Unlimited estimated that the Henry’s Fork generated nearly $30 million towards the local economy and supported, directly or indirectly, more than 800 jobs.

According to the agreement between the Harriman family and the state of Idaho, the park must revert to the family should the state default on any of the provisions of the agreement, including that of the provision of a managing agency. [TC: emphasis mine]

According to State sources, the Governor has recommended that responsibility for park maintenance be transferred to the Idaho Department of Lands, with a goal of continuing to operate state parks. This leaves many questions unanswered, among them how a land management agency with an overarching mandate to generate revenue (Idaho Department of Lands) will approach park management, and whether the elimination of IDPR, regardless of whether or not some of its functions are carried forward by other agencies, will constitute a violation of the terms of the Harriman agreement – not to mention the intentions under which other Idaho parks may have been established. Key concerns, and questions, include the following:

IDPR provides a vital public recreational and aesthetic benefit to the people of Idaho at a fraction of the cost of the overall state budget.

Eliminating IDPR is a false economy; although revenue generated by state parks and other facilities may not make a significant direct contribution to the State coffers, the funds generated by IDPR parks make tremendous contributions to the local economies in their areas.

If IDPR is eliminated, what will the State’s management philosophy be for state parks? How, in specific terms, does the State plan to ensure that the elimination of IDPR will not result in Harriman State Park (and other sites as applicable) passing out of public ownership?

At Harriman State Park (and other sites as applicable), how does the State plan to ensure that its future management of the park does not violate the terms of the gift agreement?

One source has already suggested to me this is power grab on the part of Otter – his control over the Department of Lands is greater than his ability to meddle in the Parks Department.

And yes, the CYA has already started; Otter’s instructed the Idaho Parks Department (IDP) staff not to discuss possible ramifications of the closure with the media or the public.

Anyone who’s dealt much with government agencies knows that denying the public both access and information amounts to standard operating procedure when someone’s been caught with their head in a dark, warm place.

This is just getting started; I’ve got feelers out, and I hope to have a larger story – with actionable bullet points – in another day or so.

See you on the Henry’s Fork, Tom Chandler.