Plan angers anglers

ROOSEVELT — A Georgia-based company's proposal to build a private fishing lodge near Little Hole, east of Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River, has drawn heated criticism from angry anglers.

The development company, Flint Timber, is working with a local outfitter, Spinnerfall Guide Service, and wants to build the fishing lodge in Red Canyon, across the river from Little Hole. Their long-term plan may include several cabins. To accomplish those plans, the developers want to lease 356 acres of land owned by the state's Schools and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA).

When SITLA advertised the 356-acre parcel for bid last year, it did so with the goal of maximizing revenues for the beneficiaries of the land: schoolchildren. The administration received many applications to use that property, SITLA director Kevin Carter told members of the SITLA Board of Trustees on Thursday during their monthly meeting in Roosevelt.

Carter said SITLA is now reviewing two offers. The second offer, from the Division of Wildlife Resources, proposes a land trade for the 356 acres and does not involve construction of commercial facilities.

SITLA has not disclosed the dollar amounts of the two offers.

Jim Karpowitz, the division's director, said DWR offered to trade for or purchase the land from SITLA because it is an important winter habitat for elk and deer and would be better left undeveloped.

"It's a unique piece of land because it is both big-game land and a fishing habitat," he said.

Flint Timber's proposal has drawn strong opposition from Trout Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and individual anglers and environmentalists. The stretch of river along which the lodge would be built is a favorite of anglers in search of rainbow and brown trout.

Steve Schmidt, who serves as a member of the Blue Ribbon Fisheries Council and operates Western Rivers Flyfishers in Salt Lake City, said when word got out about the potential development of the property along the Green River, an alarm sounded. Fishing enthusiasts voiced fears that commercial development would ruin public access to the river, create an eyesore along the banks and deplete the blue-ribbon trout fishery.

"There were a number of people who were very concerned about the potential of this project coming forward," Schmidt said Friday. "We are already dealing with a river which is seen as an overused resource," and the site is "in an area already one of the most congested in the corridor."