Parks director outlines deferred maintenance, new reservation system; committee approves outfitters rules and noise-test rule repeal

The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation updated the committee on deferred maintenance, trail and campsite capacity, a new reservation system, and personnel needs; the committee also approved pending rule changes for outfitters and agreed to repeal a redundant noise-testing chapter.

Director Susan Buxton told the committee the department manages roughly 30 state parks, more than 65,000 acres and more than 600 facilities. She said the parks system handles tens of thousands of visitors and that the agency has about 190 full-time equivalent employees to manage those assets. Buxton said the department received legislative funding in recent years to address deferred maintenance across historic and operational facilities.

Buxton said the department maintains approximately 2,000 miles of trail on mostly federally managed lands each year and administers 5,500 miles of maintained snowmobile trails. She described a suite of deferred-maintenance projects — renovating historic lodges and park structures such as the Old Mission at Coeur d'Alene, reopening Rocky Point Lodge and updating facilities at Farragut and City of Rocks — and said recent appropriations allowed the agency to add capacity while repairing facilities.

On reservations and revenue, Buxton described the department’s switch from ReserveAmerica to a new vendor (Brandt) and the introduction of a dynamic pricing model. She said the reservation contract change reduced vendor fees and that the new dynamic pricing is projected to increase revenue by about $500,000 annually; she also said the system launched Jan. 6 and that about 83,000 campsite nights and additional cabin nights have been reserved so far under the new system. Buxton said the per-night differential under dynamic pricing is modest (the department cited a $13 maximum differential as an example) and that the contract saved roughly $250,000 a year in transaction fees.

Buxton described access and capacity work at Bear Lake (including a 28‑acre Fish Haven acquisition to ease highway congestion and added day‑use parking) and said the department plans to add 250 campsites, 150 boat docks/slips and 25 day‑use areas across the system as funding and projects move forward.

Buxton told the committee the agency lost staff during the recession and has struggled to hire seasonal and maintenance workers post‑pandemic; she said proposed budget requests include additional park personnel, housekeeping staff, senior maintenance craft positions and snowmobile-groomer replacements.

Outfitters and licensing rules: John Price of the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses presented IDAPA docket 24.35.01/2401, a package of 13 proposed rule changes for the Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board. Price said the board conducted public meetings and negotiated rulemaking with input from Idaho Fish and Game and industry groups; notable changes include clarifications for river guide training, changing reinstatement-fee language to avoid penalizing seasonal guides, adjustments to tag-pool procedures and adding or correcting licensable waters listings. The committee voted to approve the pending rule docket as presented.

Noise‑testing rules: Seth Hobbs, rules review officer for Parks and Recreation, presented docket 26.01.37/2401 proposing repeal of the chapter on test procedures and instruments for off‑highway-vehicle noise abatement. Hobbs said Idaho code already references Society of Automotive Engineers testing standards and that the repeal eliminates redundancy. The department reported no opposition during rulemaking; the committee approved the repeal docket.

Appointment hearings: Lonnie Allen, an outfitter from the Warm River area, introduced himself to the committee as a gubernatorial nominee to the Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board. Allen described decades in the outfitting business, engagement with tourism boards and nonprofit conservation partners, and local experience as mayor of Warm River. The committee did not vote on Allen’s appointment at the hearing; the chair said the nomination will return for a vote at the next meeting.

Jim Keating of Hailey, nominated to the Parks and Recreation Board, told the committee he ran the Blaine County Recreation District for 13 years and is currently the city administrator of Sun Valley; he said his experience running a recreation district and private-sector management work informed his interest in the Parks Board. The committee did not vote on Keating’s appointment at the hearing; a floor vote was deferred.

Buxton concluded by noting the department supports a forthcoming, user-group-led bill to create sustainable funding for nonmotorized trail maintenance; she said the agency does not currently have a dedicated funding source for nonmotorized trail work but supports efforts by user groups to address that gap.