STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

An open house at the Warm Springs Preserve will be followed by a Winter Solstice Celebration at Ketchum Town Square.

Learn about the restoration and facility improvements taking place at the 65-acre preserve on Bald Mountain Road off Warm Springs Road from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21. There will be hot cocoa to keep you warm.

Then bundle up and head to the Winter Solstice Celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. that night at Ketchum Town Square. There will be cocoa and treats at LeRoy’s Ice Cream, hot toddies curated by Warfield Distillery and Brewery. The Pisten Bullys will provide live music. And there’ll be star gazing opportunities to learn about the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve.

The Wood River Land Trust and City of Ketchum were recently awarded a $1.7 million grant from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to restore Warm Springs Creek as it flows through Warm Springs Preserve. The project includes riparian restoration and a new irrigation system.

The Warm Springs project was one of only six in Idaho to receive the funding.

The Bureau awarded grants in 11 states for projects focused on water conservation, management and restoration.

The funds make a huge dent in the estimated $5.2 million required to complete the master plan for Warm Springs Preserve, according to Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw. Added to $1 million raised in the original campaign and $1 million raised by the Wood River Land Trust, the project has more than 70 percent of what’s needed to implement plans, which include improved trails, ADA accessibility, expanded parking and public restrooms.