From the Panhandle

Saving Public Access: the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail

By Cate Huisman, 11-19-09

	Strollers on the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail

For years, panhandle residents have been trespassing on a narrow strip of private land along the northwest shore of Lake Pend Oreille, using an old road along the shoreline to bike, run, ski, walk their dogs, and occasionally take a dip in the lake. Although their trips rarely traverse more than a mile or two, the land they cross has a multitude of owners—including several private citizens, the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bonner County Historical Society, and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad has a right-of-way across it as well.

Nearby is the site of the historic town of Sandpoint, which—along with its related de facto public waterfront-- was lost a few years ago to a high-end development called Seasons at Sandpoint. It may be this loss that has spurred the community on to try to formalize and save their access to the strip along the shore, now called the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail. A few weeks ago, a charrette was held to envision what this public trail might look like.

“Charrette” is design-speak for an intensive, short-term effort to address a single issue. The 60 or so attendees included trail users, individuals with special knowledge of the area, representatives from among the cities, county, agency, and landowners involved, and landscape architects. They split into five working groups—one to consider how the trail would connect to the communities it passed through, one to consider its potential for interpretation and education, and three others to consider various approaches to commercial or residential development that would maintain public access.

After the groups completed their designs, the results were posted on the walls, and group members use blue and green sticky dots to indicate what they liked (green dots) and disliked (blue dots) about the others’ designs. They liked the idea of two different trails—one for fast-moving commuters on their way between cities, and the other for ramblers, closer to shore. They also liked the idea of a water trail that would be partially protected by a log boom, so kayakers wouldn’t have to ride out motor boaters’ wakes.

A preponderance of blue dots near drawings of developments made it clear that no one was wild about any further commercial or residential development of any part of the shoreline. But “we don’t know what’s going to happen with the private property,” says Susan Drumheller, north Idaho associate for the Idaho Conservation League and one of the attendees. There is no money to buy land, and Drumheller thinks a realistic plan will include a balance of private development and public access. 

The hope is eventually to put forth a coherent plan that the cities, county, landowners, and others associated with the area can hang their hats on, use as a fundraising tool, and consider for long-term planning. Drumheller points out that “it’s really hard to put a timeline on this,” although an optimistic conception might include formalized trail access within three to five years, with complete development perhaps up to 20 years out.

The railroad did not send a representative to the charette, although it did provide input by email. Railroads have played a significant role in the development of the Sandpoint area and continue to be a big player; dozens of trains pass through the town daily. Now that Warren Buffett owns the line that owns the right-of-way, he may have to expect more requests like the one posted in this forum last week, turning these valuable corridors to new uses. Maybe the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail can be one of them.

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