STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The city of Hailey and the Wood River Land Trust want you to weigh in on the Hailey Greenway Master plan.

A public workshop will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, at the Wood River Land Trust’s Pavilion just south of Lions Park.

The public will be invited to share ideas and offer feedback as the city and Land Trust formulate plans dealing with appropriate land uses and river management.

The Hailey Greenway encompasses 350 acres and 1.5 miles of the Big Wood River from the Bullion Bridge downstream to the Colorado Gulch Bridge. It’s comprised of public and private land. The public land includes Lions Park and Heagle Park and two nature preserves owned by the Land Trust, including the Draper Preserve.

This particular meeting will present an overview of the possibilities and ask for input. A hydrologist will talk about the river during additional outreach meetings to be held in August, said Scott Boettger, the executive director of the Land Trust.

The project could invite increased interest from the public due to the flooding that took place in the Della View neighborhood, which adjacent to the Hailey Greenway, Boettger added.

The reason the flooding in Ketchum was not so bad is due in part to the gravel pond in Hulen Meadows. I’m not saying we have to capture all the bed load. But there are things that can be done to restore the river to lessen the severity of flooding in the future, he added.

Questions? Call Stephanie Cook, park division manager and arborist for the City of Hailey, at 788-9830, extension 31. Or, call Patti Lousen, project coordinator for the Wood River Land Trust, at 788-3947.