BOCC denies Pine Creek Road validation

WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) denied a request to validate a portion of West Fork Pine Creek road on Tuesday afternoon at the Shoshone County Courthouse.

Last month, the BOCC held a public hearing in response to the petition that was filed by Paul Louzenhiser, an off-road vehicle enthusiast and member of the North Idaho Trailblazers (NITB), with the goal of getting a section of land that intersects through multiple different property owners before heading into lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

“I am requesting the validation of West Pine Creek Road,” Loutzenhiser wrote in his initial email to the BOCC. “Specifically the section that travels along the Avery’s property into BLM (Bureau of Land Management) managed lands. With the extensive history of public use, I believe that this is a public road (and) should be officially verified as such.”

The petition stemmed from the actions of nearby property owner Joe Avery, who had placed blockades across the road on two different occasions — including one particular road block in 2020 that resulted in the county work crews conducting the eventual removal.

Members of Loutzenhiser’s NITB group, as well as other local recreators have used the road to access a section of BLM land with varying trails and roads throughout it — including a section of specifically constructed off-road obstacles called the “Roller Coaster.”

During the testimony heard, Pinehurst Mayor Bob Jutila spoke on behalf of Loutzenhiser (who couldn’t attend the hearing) in favor of the validation and argued that historic documents showed where there had once been an interest in the road — specifically at the county level.

Jutila presented several maps and documents showing historic use of the road, as well as old tax deeds that alluded to the Avery family requesting that four acres of their land be untaxed, however, it was never confirmed if those requests were due to a road cutting across their property.

Those against the petition argued that the people who wished to access the area were allegedly disrespectful to the lands they wish to play on, as well as the surrounding properties.

Avery’s family in particular has owned property in the Pine Creek area for decades, and has in place several easements with other landowners — including the BLM — which affords him benefits that the offroad group has taken umbrage with.

This includes the Langlois Road, or Coeur d’Alene NFD 2313 Road, a road that also provides access to the areas in which Loutzehiser and supporters wish to go, but also has very specific seasonal closures on it while partially cutting through a section of property owned by Avery — which is where the easement that Avery has with BLM comes into play. This easement allows him to close the gate whenever he sees fit, even if it’s outside from the seasonal closure period.

This issue was one that irked commissioner Jay Huber, who, like the rest of his fellow commissioners, doesn’t like the idea of taking access away from the public, but also doesn’t like the exclusivity that the easement seemingly provides.

A representative from Manulife Forest Investment Management — the group that manages a section of neighboring property owned by John Hancock Life Insurance also spoke at the hearing in March, stating his company’s disdain for the potential validation as well.

The two-hour hearing in March left the BOCC with as many hours of recorded testimony to re-listen to, as well as more than 150 pages of historical documents from both sides.

BOCC Chairman Commissioner Mike Fitzgerald gave a thorough and thoughtful response as to the hows and whys of his reason for declination — mainly that the evidence wasn’t sufficient enough to prove the county’s interest in the road — historically or otherwise.

However, in a subject that he referred to as — public access vs. use vs. validating a public highway, he spoke of the issue being further reaching than just the validation of a small section of road.

“Philosophically, this board has been and is against the closure of roads which provide access for the public to public lands and are deemed to be in the public’s best interest in providing such types of access,” Fitzgerald said. “As presented during the public hearing, the use for the road which validation is being sought (for) is contentious and will not fall under this decision. Based on the record, the use of the road is and has been determined, regulated and controlled by three things. The BLM through their Travel Management Plan (dated 2007), their Recreation Maps and their process which develop each, agreements between private property owners, and agreements between private property owners and other non-county government agencies.

Further, understanding that the validation process merely asks the BOCC to validate the road as a public highway as it relates to Shoshone County’s ownership, jurisdictional control and interest, the following two items need to be noted. The non-validation of a road is not a decision against public access and the validation or non-validation of a road is not a determination of use.”

Commissioners Huber and John Hansen agreed with Fitzgerald’s thoughtful statement, while also re-asserting their feelings on the restriction of access to public lands and the petition was unanimously denied by the BOCC.

Loutzenhiser has 28 days from the date of denial to file a new petition, which would require another public hearing and allow both the petitioner, as well as anyone opposed to the petition the chance to present any new evidence that they might have.