Kayak Idaho

Middle Fork of the Salmon outfitters bring 6,000 visitors producing an economic impact of $15,000,000 to Idaho every summer.

Big Government Bureaucracy Raising Taxes on Small Business BOISE, ID - At a time when federal bailout and stimulus money is being channeled to businesses and government agencies to save jobs, the USDA Forest Service has initiated a policy with opposite implications. After paying $1.4 million in fees to the Forest Service over the past five years, outfitters on the Middle Fork say their businesses are threatened by a new fee the agency wants to charge to recover the cost for processing their permits. They wonder where the $1.4 million went which they insist should be enough to cover the cost for permit processing.

For the 25 outfitters offering river trips on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon, the financial burden is significant. The issuance of their permits has become complicated, and potentially costly, due to requirements of the Endangered Species Act and other federal regulations. Outfitters fear that open-ended studies, monitoring and the administrative costs associated with permit renewal will compound the impact of the recession and create an insurmountable financial burden. 

The viability of outfitting is important to the economic health of rural Idaho communities. The Middle Fork Outfitters Association estimates that outfitted trips produce an economic benefit valued at more than $15,000,000 to local communities. Nearly 6,000 vacationers a summer float the Middle Fork with outfitters and often extend their stay beyond their river trip. Local stores, services, restaurants, motels and specialized recreation providers see benefits. 

Grant Simonds, the Executive Director of the Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association, sees Cost Recovery as affecting all outfitters operating in Idaho. “If this policy is applied to every permit as it comes up for renewal, the results will be devastating. Lots of our members are small family businesses where any new cost has a big impact. How is a small outfit grossing $50,000 going to absorb thousand of dollars in new expenses even before they take a single guest”?

Outfitters have asked the Forest Service to revisit the regulation and make changes that will protect small businesses from exorbitant costs of prolonged processing and studies. 

For more information about the Idaho outfitting and guiding industry, contact Grant Simonds, Executive Director of the Idaho Outfitters & Guides Association at 208-343-9548 or by email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For information about the Middle Fork or to obtain a list of outfitters, visithttp://www.IdahosMiddleFork.com

Idaho streamflow prediction as of feb. 2010.
right click ... view image, for full size image.

RS 19221 Goes to House Resources Committee 
Location : State Capitol Building Room EW40
Contact : Rep. Jim Stevenson. 208 332 1136 they don't answer the phone -- typical!
Time: Thursday, 11 February 2010, 13:30

Here we go again. Parks and Rec and the Idaho State government continue to tax without representation. First they wanted to tax non motorized watercraft. The found too much opposition. so they renamed it the Invasive Species Fund and what is commonly referred to as The Idaho Red Herring Tax.  Five bucks isn't enough. Now they want to raise Eric and Butch's Idaho Red Herring Tax.  

Payette River Corridor Site Closure Dates 2009

Beehive Bend :  Open until the end of October
Banks Access :         "                  "                        "
Confluence :               "                  "                        "
Danskin :                     "                  "                        "
Chief Parish :     Sept 30th, 2009
Banks Beach :          "                  "                         " The USFS will stop collecting fees on Sept. 30th 2009

Downriver Marathon. Alder Creek to Banks Men's 
   Women's Ryan Casey 1:01:42
 Melisa Newell 
1:06:16
Fred Coriel
 1:01:42 Stacey Thompson 1:07:00
Brett Gleason1:02:00
   Brian Ward
1:02:54
   Aaron Wydra
1:05:00
   Jesse Murphy
1:05:23
   Marty Rood
1:06:36
   Downriver. Deer Creek to BanksMen's
  Women's
 Jared Alexander
24:03
 Jes Brown (NZ)24:09
Brian Ward
24:22
 Stacey Thompson
26:53
Mike Mckee
24:46
   Jesse Murphy
24:50
   Marty Rood
25:18
        Junior    Raft Seth Stoener
25:20
  Team Oregon Raft
1st
Tanner Griffith
25:23
  Boise Hotshots
2nd
Connor McCloud
25:30
   Ethan McCloud
26:33
   Connor Jackson
27:16
   Michael Hayes
27:35
    Downriver. North Fork Free Otters to Banks 6/7/09Men's
   Women's  Ryan Casey
14:00
 Jes Brown (NZ)
25:00
 Jared Alexander
14:54
    Tristan McClaren
14:55