STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The community is being asked to help raise $200,000 to replace the Colorado Gulch Bridge over the Big Wood River after a federal grant was pulled.

The future of the long-planned bridge that was ready to be installed this July is now at stake because of the unexpected loss of federal funding.

Blaine County has launched a funding raising campaign to raise $200,000 by July 31.

The area in which the bridge would be located is a favorite place of hikers, bikers and families wanting to play in the water.

“The shortfall follows the unexpected loss of an extension for a federal grant amid a change in federal policy,” said Chris Corwin, Disaster Services Coordinator at Blaine County. 

Blaine County has budgeted more than $400,000 in county funds for the required federal grant match. In addition, Blaine County has already paid for $36,500 on costs to expedite the planning of the bridge project.

The previous bridge had to be removed after it was damaged in the 2017 floods. The Wood River Land Trust restored river banks and habitat in the area of the destroyed bridge in 2022, but replacing the bridge has taken longer despite the public’s interest in seeing it replaced.

The new bridge, which has been designed to be better suited to the area, will reconnect popular trails in the Wood River Land Trust’s Colorado Gulch Preserve with surrounding public lands.

The bridge will be named after former Blaine County Commissioner Dick Fosbury, who turned track and field on its head when he won Olympic Gold with what became known as the Fosbury Flop in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Fosbury, who long called the Wood River Valley home, was a driving force behind rebuilding the bridge until his death in March 2023.

“This bridge is more than a crossing--it’s a symbol of the values Commissioner Fosbury stood for: Community, public access and a love of the land,” said Muffy Davis, Blaine County commissioner. “We’re asking our neighbors to help us honor his legacy and finish what he helped start.”

Bridge the Gap donations will be collected by the Wood River Land Trust, a 501©(3) organization that can accept tax-deductible charitable gifts. If the federal grant is reinstated funds donated for construction of the bridge will be redirected to trail improvements near the bridge.

“We’re glad to partner with Blaine County to reconnect this trail that has long been enjoyed by our community,” said Amy Trujillo, executive director of the Wood River Land Trust. “Special places like this exist because people in our community, like Commissioner Fosbury, care enough to step up. Finishing this project will mean so much to many.”

Want to contribute? Visit https://www.woodriverlandtrust.org/dick-fosbury-colorado-gulch-bridge.

Or, send checks by mail to Wood River Land Trust, 119 E. Bullion St., Hailey, ID 83333. Direct checks to Bridge the Gap Fund.

Donors will be recognized online and at the site.