Oct. 29–JEROME — The public has a new way to help open private land for hunting and fishing access.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Access Yes! program compensates landowners for providing sportsmen access to private land and for making public acres more accessible through private land. As of Oct. 8, Fish and Game reported having 92 active Access Yes! lease agreements opening 385,028 private and 502,615 public acres across the state.
Within the Magic Valley, 32 lease agreements opened 149,758 private and 262,140 public acres, the agency said.
But the program is underfunded; Fish and Game said it has had to turn down landowners who are interested in enrolling their properties. So the agency teamed up with Outdoor Life magazine to raise money for Access Yes! by encouraging hunters and anglers to donate money to a fundraising campaign.
Donations are collected at http://igg.me/at/AccessYes.
Information: John Guthrie, Fish and Game’s Magic Valley landowner/sportsmen coordinator, 208-324-4359.