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Idaho Transportation
Department

Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
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Forum focuses on future of recreational air strips

ITD recently partnered with recreational air transportation providers and users across the northwest to develop a strategy for the future of Idaho’s recreational airstrips. Gathering input for a strategic plan was the focus of the Feb. 18 statewide Recreational Airstrip Symposium in Boise.

The process brought together stakeholders, many with divergent views, as partners to work toward a common goal: protect and manage recreational airstrips in Idaho.

In opening comments at the symposium, Idaho Transportation Board Chairman Charles L. Winder charged attendees with the task of developing a balanced plan that would protect the environment, manage existing resources and provide access to the airstrips, most of which are in the backcountry.

Deciding how to reach the goal sparked lively discussion at three regional workshops conducted prior to the statewide session. Held last fall in McCall, Salmon and Worley, the workshops gathered transportation officials, pilots, forest managers, wilderness activists, outfitters and other stakeholders to discuss the future of how recreational airstrips should be used, managed, maintained and improved.

The Idaho Airstrip Network Action Plan was drafted as a result of those workshops.
“This is a new approach to strategic planning in the state of Idaho, and for the Division of Aeronautics,” said Mark Young, ITD’s airport maintenance manager.

“We’re working to create an effective solution, and that involves bringing together people who have some very different, sometimes opposing, perspectives.”

The approach follows the example set by ITD’s 2003 Visioning process, when a broad cross-section of Idahoans participated in a process of envisioning a transportation system of the future. “Idaho’s Transportation Future: Getting There Together” identified an airstrip network as a focus area needing an action plan.

“Define what it is you want to have,” said Bill McLaughlin, symposium facilitator and a University of Idaho professor in the College of Natural Resources. “If we’re going to get there, it’s a matter of doing it together.”

The interactive workshops asked participants to examine the states’ recreational airstrip assets and determine how to invest, or not invest, in them as part of Idaho’s transportation vision. Participants also created lists of potential investment partners who would have an interest in supporting a focal recreational airstrip plan.

The symposium was held in association with the Idaho Aviation Association, Idaho Commerce and Labor, Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association, ITD’s Division of Aeronautics and U.S. Forest Service.

Following are highlights of what participants said at the regional sessions:

Current use:

  • Participants felt the backcountry airstrips serve a function similar to that of a trailhead for land-based users of Idaho’s backcountry, providing access to remote recreation opportunities.
  • Users include recreational aviators, commercial pilots and outdoor tourists. The facilities also play an important role in serving backcountry ranching operations.

Benefits:

  • Towns like McCall and Salmon that depend on the tourism industry benefit because the airstrips support local air service companies, pilot training programs, and outfitters and guides.
  • Recreational airstrips support the outfitting and guiding industry, especially rafting (e.g., Middle Fork of the Salmon River), fishing and hunting.
  • The airstrips serve as access points to private property, second homes, tourism resorts and businesses.
  • Recreational airstrips provide emergency landing places for recreational aviators and serve as important sites for staging rescue operations, fighting wildfires and managing natural resources.

Key strategic areas for maintaining and enhancing the system of recreational airstrips:

  • A traceable system should be designed to identify, classify and prioritize the airstrips for maintenance purposes.
  • Maintenance standards must be clearly defined, communicated and ultimately implemented. An organizational structure to coordinate operations needs to be developed.
  • Develop Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) or Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to designate a single agency as the manager of all recreational airstrips in Idaho. This would create consistency and a one-stop shop for users, with permits, regulations, etc., overseen by one organization.
  • New funding streams involving a variety of partners need to be explored and developed for recreational airstrips.
  • Thought should be given to keeping all existing airstrips open, adding new airstrips to the system, and consolidating airstrips if there are a lot of them in the same area.
  • Foster stewardship of recreational airstrips by landowners who own the strips. Help public and private owners understand that airstrip users are interested in keeping the strips open and are willing to take on some level of responsibility and/or costs of operation.