Photo courtesy of United Payette

United Payette to seek Shellworth lease – Island would be second recreational lease

BY MAX SILVERSON
The Star-News, republished with permission.

United Payette will seek a lease with the Idaho Department of Lands to protect recreation on Shellworth Island.

“Shellworth Island was selected as it is key to water quality, viewshed, recreation, and the likelihood that IDL will disposition it in the near-term,” said United Payette Steering Committee member Jeff Mousseau.

The island is a popular destination for summer visitors picnicking and camping, Mousseau told commissioners on Monday.

Leasing the property would retain that use, with the goal of preventing its sale or development as a private residence, venue or commercial campsite, Mousseau said.

The roughly 13-acre island owned by the lands department on the east side of Payette Lake was designated as an area of critical concern by Valley County Commissioners in August 2023. The designation means any potential development would require in-depth environmental review.

“I’m very much in support of doing this on Shellworth…to protect the waters up there,” said Commissioner Sherry Maupin.

“The lease is a short-term solution for preserving the island for public use,” Mousseau said.

In the long-term, United Payette hopes to preserve public access by establishing a conservation easement or incorporating the island into Ponderosa State Park, he said.

The nonprofit group already pays for leases held by Valley County on land that includes about 165 acres along Eastside drive and about 1,037 acres near the Greengate area along Warren Wagon Road.

A lease for the two properties was signed in 2022 and runs through the end of the year at a cost of about $31,000. The agreement allows the land to be used for public recreation, conservation and the protection of open space.

The cost and duration of a recreational lease on Shellworth island was not set, but Mousseau cited the island’s appraised value at $2.4 million.

Monday’s decision only allows United Payette to apply for a lease with IDL, which Mousseau said would be done this week.

Also to be determined is what would be done with an IDL-owned cabin on about three acres on the island.

United Payette would lease the island with or without the cabin included, Mousseau said.

Any lease agreement is subject to approval by Valley County Commissioners under an agreement signed between the county and United Payette.

The lands department operates under a mandate in the Idaho Constitution to maximize long-term earnings from state endowment lands, which are primarily managed to fund public schools.

That mandate has led to concerns of public land being sold or traded.

In September 2022, the lands department sold 2.5 acres of endowment land on Cougar Island in Payette Lake.

The 2.5-acre lot, which included a 2,000 square foot cabin, was sold for $2.1 million to Bellevue resident Jim Laski, who had leased the property from the lands department for about 10 years.

Laski funded part of the purchase by selling a conservation easement to the Payette Land Trust, which bars future development on the property.

The auction marked the first recommended by a 2021 IDL management plan that slated 377 acres of state endowment land around Payette Lake to be sold off within 20 years.

Sales would be made at auction. No auctions are currently scheduled and any future auctions would depend on market conditions, officials said.

Cougar Island is located on the west side of Payette Lake.