BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Wood River Land Trust has raised more than $9 million of its $16 million goal to purchase the Hailey Hot Springs Ranch, also known as the Democrat Hot Springs Ranch

That’s up from $8.3 million committed a week ago. Bu time is of the essence as the campaign needs to get to $10 million in commitments by a due diligence deadline on Feb. 11. The Wood River Land Trust would then have until Dec. 31, 2025 to raise the rest of the funds.

The Land Trust is inviting Wood River Valley residents see the property for themselves—a property that used to be the site of the Hailey Hot Springs Resort in Hailey’s early days--during one of several site visits, complete with hot drinks and refreshments.

The times:

2-3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30

2-3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13

11 a.m.-noon Tuesday, Feb. 25

1-2 p.m. Tuesday, March 5

2-3 p.m. Thursday, March 13

RSVP by emailing caroline@woodriverlandtrust.org.

The property has been high on the Land Trust’s priority list for 30 years, said Amy Trujillo, executive director of the Wood River Land Trust.

The 2,300-acre ranch a mile west of Hailey, includes property on both sides of Croy Creek Road. It boasts  incredible biodiversity with nine miles of streams and creeks and geothermal hot springs. And it’s critical habitat for sage grouse, pronghorn, elk, deer and moose.

“Scientists from the Nature Conservancy have identified it as one of the places that ha ecological resilience,” Trujillo said, noting that it’s in the middle of other lands the Land Trust and Nature Conservancy have protected.

The owners contacted the Land Trust in January 2024 to see if the organization would be interested in purchasing the property. The Land Trust discussed putting it into a conservation easement, but the owner felt he needed to sell the property so the money from the sale could be given to charities the owner cared about.

“They said if they didn’t get a credible offer by fall, they would call us back. They did get credible offers and we had to react,” Trujillo said.

Under new ownership, public access to the area, which includes the popular Lamb’s Gulch mountain biking and hiking trail, could be closed off, along with the opportunity to enjoy the rich display of arrowleaf balsamroot and lupine that often explode in that area. A developer could build a hundred homes in the area, although there are questions about whether the water is available.

“This is the last holdout in Croy Canyon. If we could acquire this property, the Blaine County Recreation District could create a separated bike path out to Rotarun so people could get off that road. We could consider ways to make the hot springs available to the community again. And Rinker Rock Ranch can’t currently house researchers out there in the winter, and they’re paying an arm and a leg to house them in town. We could house them in the ranch house on the property,” Trujillo said.

The property is being advertised as 2,700 acres, but the Land Trust is currently looking at 2,300 acres. The 2,700 acres includes mining claims that are part of the listing but not contiguous with the main ranch along Democrat Gulch Road, said Meg Pulliam, director of Advancement at the Wood River Land Trust.

The Lands Team and Board will determine whether they want to include the additional 400 acres in the purchase as part of their due diligence and environmental assessment.

“We have a chance to protect something that’s irreplaceable,” said Trujillo. “It’s going to take our entire community to make this happen.”

Want to know more? Visit https://www.woodriverlandtrust.org/.

The Wood River Land Trust will host several tours of the Hailey Hot Springs Ranch, also known as the Democrat Hot Springs Ranch, through March.

This map shows how extensive the property is that the Wood River Land Trust is trying to preserve.