News Release

For Release: August 19, 2008           
Contacts: MJ Byrne (208) 384-3393
                Frank Jenks (208) 384-3335

Public Invited to Information Meetings on King Hill Creek Wilderness Study Area Route Restrictions Order

BOISE, ID – The public is invited to attend meetings hosted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding route restrictions in the King Hill Creek BLM Wilderness Study Area (WSA), located approximately 10 miles north of Glenns Ferry, Idaho.  WSAs are areas of federal land that contain special values that make them eligible for consideration by Congress as permanent wilderness areas.  BLM managers are conducting the meetings to inform the public about route restrictions within the King Hill Creek WSA. This order will be published in the Federal Register in September 2008.

BLM managers want to ensure the public knows that BLM WSA policies prohibit motorized cross-country travel within WSAs, even for game retrieval and antler hunting.  Rapidly rising regional population and the expansion of urban residential development closer to WSA boundaries, combined with a dramatic increase in OHV use, has resulted in extensive impacts that threaten wilderness values.  Many miles of unauthorized routes and trails have been developed in the King Hill Creek WSA by OHV use, which has had negative effects on wilderness values as well as soils, vegetation and wildlife in the area. 

BLM will be enforcing restrictions on off-road travel beginning September 8, 2008. Maps showing authorized routes within the WSA will be available at BLM offices in Boise, Twin Falls and Shoshone. 

Public meetings will be held at the following locations:

August 27, 2008  U.S. Forest Service Office 2180 American Legion Blvd. Mountain Home, ID  83647 (208) 587-7961     5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

August 28, 2008 Boise District Office 3948 S. Development Ave.  Boise, ID  83705 (208) 384-3300  5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

—BLM—