NEWS RELEASES 2005
 

You can find more information about how the Sawtooth National Recreation Area can be preserved and all the recreation the Area has to offer by clicking the following links:

November 29, 2005
U.S. Forest Service Chief’s Partnership Award for 2005

October 24, 2005
Sawtooth Society Funds 15 SNRA Projects

September 30, 2005
Sawtooth Society Elects Officers and Directors

March 16, 2005
Custer County Sheriff Department Receives Grant

2003 & 2004 News Releases

2002 News Releases

2000 & 2001 News Releases

1999 News Releases

1998 News Releases

1997 News Releases

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November 29, 2005

SAWTOOTH SOCIETY & SAWTOOTH NATIONAL FOREST RECEIVE NATIONAL HONOR FROM FOREST SERVICE CHIEF

TWIN FALLS, IDAHO…..The Sawtooth Society and the Sawtooth National Forest have been awarded the U.S. Forest Service Chief’s Partnership Award for 2005.

According to Ruth Monahan, Forest Supervisor for the Sawtooth National Forest, this honor is very significant. “Each year the Chief of the Forest Service presents national awards in sixteen different categories to individuals and organizations, both inside and outside of the Forest Service, to recognize and honor their contributions to the management and protection of the National Forests,” Monahan said. “This year, the Chief’s Partnership Award was given to the Sawtooth Society and Sawtooth National Forest for their joint work on behalf of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.”

Monahan added that this is the first time the Sawtooth National Forest and one of their partners has received an award of this significance.

The award was recently presented at a special ceremony in Washington D.C. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth presented the award to Bob Hayes, President and Executive Director of the Sawtooth Society, Gray Reynolds, former Forest Service Deputy Chief and member of the Society’s Board of Director, and Sara Baldwin, SNRA Area Ranger.

Hayes said, “the partnership between the Society and Forest Service is what constructive relationships are all about: mutual respect, a lively and honest give-and-take and a willingness to pull together toward a common objective.”

The Society successfully lobbied Congress to appropriate nearly $18 million in Land and Water Conservation Funds for use by the Forest Service to purchase conservation easements on private land in the SNRA, invested approximately $300,000 in trails, campsites and other recreational enhancements and mobilized policymakers and the public to address critical issues facing the SNRA.

“We greatly value our partnership with the Sawtooth Society,” stated Sara Baldwin, SNRA Area Ranger. “Their vision, dedication and contributions in protecting and enhancing the natural resources and environment within the SNRA these past eight years has been invaluable. Working collaboratively, we have been better able to preserve and protect the primary values of the SNRA and at the same time, balance local community needs and interests while protecting the values that Congress asked us to protect when they established the SNRA back in 1972.”

Baldwin added, “Effective partnerships like this are going to be more important in the future. We will be faced with increased use and demands, aging facilities and limited budgets.”

Receiving the U.S. Forest Service Chief’s Partnership Award for 2005, at a recent Washington DC awards ceremony, is (left to right) Gray Reynolds, Sawtooth Society Board of Directors, Sara Baldwin, SNRA Area Ranger, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and Bob Hayes, Sawtooth Society President and Executive Director. (Photo – USDA Forest Service)

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October 24, 2005

Sawtooth Society Funds 15 SNRA Projects

The Sawtooth Society has committed financial aid totaling $58,541 to 15 projects in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) in 2005.

Projects supported this year include:

• $10,000 to the Forest Service to maintain trails in the Sawtooth, White Cloud, Boulder and Smoky Mountains;
• $5,900 to the Stanley Emergency Medical Technicians for medical equipment for volunteer EMTs;
• $5,000 to the Forest Service for interpretive programs at the Redfish Lake Visitors’ Center;
• $5,000 to Blaine County to fight noxious weeds;
• $5,000 to the Mountain Mamas, a community service organization, for landscaping the Highway 75 and 21 entrances to the City of Stanley;
• $4,900 to the Forest Service for a mounted ranger to patrol the Sawtooth Wilderness and be a resource to hikers and horsemen;
• $4,866 to the Forest Service for signs that inform and educate visitors to the area;
• $3,700 to the Salmon River Clinic for medical equipment;
• $3,000 to the Custer County Sheriff to for communications materials to promote whitewater safety on the upper Salmon River;
• $3,000 to Friends of the Sawtooth Forest Avalanche Center for daily avalanche reports that warn backcountry users of snow conditions;
• $2,400 to the Retired Smokejumpers’ Association to maintain trails and construct log worm fences;
• $2,275 to the Salmon River Emergency Clinic for capital improvements to its facility in Stanley;
• $1,500 to the Forest Service for a brochure that provides information about campsites and trails, and that answers frequently asked questions about recreating in the area;
• $1,000 to the Forest Service for a portable public address unit and stipends for volunteers at the Redfish Lake Visitors Center;
• $1,000 to the Forest Service for infrastructure repairs at the Grandjean trailhead.

Bob Hayes, president and executive director, reported that the Sawtooth Society has invested more than $300,000 to improve the SNRA’s infrastructure since 1997. He said the funding benefits all who live, work and visit the area.

The Sawtooth Society is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in 1997 to work on behalf of the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area. For more information, call 208/387-0852 or log onto www.sawtoothsociety.org

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September 30, 2005

Sawtooth Society Elects Officers and Directors

At its annual meeting, held in Stanley, the Sawtooth Society elected four officers to serve two-year terms and eight directors to serve three-year terms.

Bob Hayes was elected president. He has been executive director and a member of the board since the organization’s founding in 1997. He will continue to serve as executive director.

Hayes, who succeeds Bethine Church as president, said, “The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), and those that live, work and visit the area, owe much to Bethine. In founding the Sawtooth Society eight years ago, she established the only organization – public or private -- that is dedicated exclusively to protecting the SNRA’s natural, historical and recreational qualities. Following Bethine as the Sawtooth Society’s president is a challenge, and I am grateful for the confidence that the board of directors has shown in me to lead the organization and continue the tradition of collaborative advocacy that has become our trademark.”

Upon retiring as president and an active member of the board of directors, Ms. Church became a director emeritus, joining former Idaho Governor and U.S. Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus, and long-time conservationist Ernie Day in that capacity.

Michael Humphreys was elected vice president. He has served on the board since 1997.

Russ Stoddard was elected treasurer. He has been a director since 1999.

Sandy Vail was elected secretary. She has served as a director since 1999.

Re-elected the board of directors was: Hans and Terry Carstensen; Marie Osborn; and Sandy Vail.

Newly elected to the board was: Paul Hill; Jim Mitchell; Jack and Patty See; Wes Wills; and Judge Patricia Young.

The Sawtooth Society is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works on behalf of the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

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March 16, 2005

Custer County Sheriff Department Receives Grant

The Sawtooth Society has awarded a $3,000 financial grant to the Custer County Sheriff Department for whitewater communications materials for boaters and fishermen who recreate on the upper Salmon River.

The department will produce brochures and posters that provide basic safety information. The materials will use photos and text to describe proper whitewater clothing, the defensive swim position, the rating system for rapids and techniques for avoiding river dangers. A companion map will identify the location of river rapids, launch and take-out points, visitor facilities such as toilets along the river corridor, and describe regulations to protect spawning Chinook salmon.

Funding for the communications materials comes from the sale of the Idaho motor vehicle license plate that features a mountain goat against a backdrop of alpine peaks. Funds are used exclusively for recreation-related projects in the SNRA. The Society manages the license plate program under a contract with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.

Since the inception of the program in 2000, the Society has awarded grants totaling approximately $140,000 to 11 public and private organizations for more than 50 projects in the SNRA.

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