Blair Koch
Times-News correspondent | Posted: Sunday, January 11, 2009 11:00 pm
Whose land is it anyway?
Very soon, 2.26 acres along the Snake River will belong to Washington developers Dan and June Miller, who are planning a riverfront subdivision on the property located south of Buhl at 1831 River Road.
Since 1890, the land in question, which includes 1.89 acres of wetland habitat, has been owned by the state and citizens of Idaho by virtue of the Equal Footing Doctrine. But this week, Idaho Department of Lands Area Manager Tim Duffner approved transfer of the land title to the Millers.
Duffner's recommendation was submitted to the State Board of Land Commissioners along with an application for a disclaimer of interest for the property, signed by the Millers on Dec. 9. The application will be reviewed by the land board, and likely signed off on in the coming months.
Duffner said public access will be protected with a 25-foot easement agreed on by the Millers in exchange for the disclaimer.
"Right now, technically, the public only has access to the ordinary high-water mark. The 25-foot public access isn't there right now, so right now the public doesn't really have any right to be on that piece of property," Duffner said.
Although Duffner approved the shoreline boundary in question, it was established by a surveyor representing the Millers in late 2006. Duffner stands behind the line and his approval for the disclaimer.
"This is clearly the right thing to do. This will just provide clear title to their land," Duffner said. "We've been issuing disclaimers like this for years."
However, there are citizens concerned with the decision. Dave Erickson, a past member of the Idaho Water Resource Board and longtime Buhl resident, said the department hasn't done enough to uphold the public's trust in managing state lands.
Erickson doesn't agree with how, or where, the boundary was established and during a meeting with Duffner on Thursday at the IDL's Jerome office, he pleaded with the land officer to rethink his decision.
"You have the power in your office to reject (the disclaimer)," Erickson said. "This is part of the river, based on what the local people know as fact."
Also at the meeting was Phil Smith, who owns neighboring land along River Road. In addition to believing that the boundary was established to bolster the Millers' monetary interest in the property he contends that disclaimers are not done with enough public knowledge.
"The open meeting law handbook, from Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, says public business should be done out in the open, out in public. You would think that when decisions are made with the public's land that it would be considered the public's business," Smith said.
When the land board considers the application Smith and Erickson plan on attending the meeting.
"People need to know that this is going on," Smith said.
Blair Koch may be contacted at 208-316-2607 or blairrkoch@gmail.com.