Idaho Fish and Game outlines assessments, 18-month timeline for Coeur d'Alene gun range acquisition

Idaho Fish and Game officials told the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 25 that they have received a $6.4 million appraisal for the Coeur d'Alene gun and trap club property and will undertake a series of studies before any acquisition offer is made.

Jim Fredericks, director of Idaho Fish and Game, said the appraisal was produced "as if it was clean property," and the agency must now determine the value differential after accounting for contamination and likely remediation costs. He said three assessments required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be completed first: a safety evaluation, a noise impacts assessment and a contamination assessment. "Once all of those 3 steps are completed then we will need to initiate an environmental assessment," Fredericks said. He added that the environmental assessment (EA) would start a one-year clock under NEPA, and the agency expects the initial three steps to take about six months, followed by the 12-month EA — "18 months minimum."

Fredericks described the appraisal review as necessary to align what the Fish and Wildlife Service can pay for a property with remediation obligations. He also said federal coordination will be required between Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reconcile appraisal and aviation requirements before an offer can be made. "Trying to align those things and make sure that federal agencies are talking to federal agencies is part of the challenge," he said.

Airport Director Gaston Patterson confirmed the FAA has been kept informed. The county currently has the gun club on a year-to-year lease, Patterson said; he told commissioners there was nothing imminent to indicate the lease would end before the agencies complete their work. Commissioners asked for a status update in roughly six months; Fredericks said Fish and Game intends to move the initial steps forward within that timeframe.

Why this matters: The property is adjacent to Coeur d'Alene Airport facilities and has potential contamination that could affect valuation and allowable federal funding. The sequence of assessments and a NEPA environmental assessment will determine whether a federal buyout or other mitigation is feasible and how quickly an acquisition could proceed.

Discussion and next steps: Fish and Game will complete the safety, noise and contamination assessments, perform an appraisal review to factor remediation costs, then initiate a NEPA environmental assessment. Staff and agencies aim to report progress back to the board in about six months.