Remember to care for, respect and share public lands responsibly in 2025

NEWS RELEASE - For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve Stuebner, steve.stuebner@gmail.com, 208-484-0295
Gretchen Hyde, Executive Director, ghyde@idrange.org

BOISE - (April 23, 2025) - Every spring, people all walks of life head for Idaho's public lands to ride trail bikes, ATVs, UTVs, and mountain bikes, as well as go bird-watching, hiking, fishing, camping, rock-hounding and more. We're seeing that trend play out right now as the mountains begin to green up in the lower elevations and wildflowers are sprouting.

In observance of Earth Day 2025, officials with the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission (IRRC) remind all of these folks who enjoy our public lands to remember to "leave no trace," stay on designated trails, pack out your garbage, and show respect for livestock grazing on public lands.

IRRC officials recently learned that some motorized trail users saw a recently-burned area on public lands as an "opportunity" to create new trails on the bald and blackened landscape. Quick educational outreach by some local ranchers and public lands officials helped ensure that the trail users changed course and rode on existing, designated trails that weren't damaged by wildfire.

Local ranchers had been told to avoid that particular area for two grazing seasons to allow the land to heal, so it made sense to also close the area temporarily to motorized trail use.

"IRRC is a state agency with an educational mission, so we want to remind all of our friends in the outdoor recreation community that we all need to care for our public lands in a responsible and respectful manner so we can share them together for many generations to come," said Darcy Helmick, IRRC chairwoman.

"This situation that came up in the post-burn zone with the motorized trail users could be coming up elsewhere in the state where we had wildfires occur on public lands. More than 825,000 acres burned in 2024 on our public lands."

IRRC's recreation brochure provides reminders about closing gates, showing respect for livestock facilities such as water troughs and livestock corrals (do not camp in the corrals), and more. Please see our Top 10 tips below:

• 1 - Know Where to Go - Do research before you go with good-quality online or hard-copy maps, check land ownership before you go; please respect private property and No Trespassing signs.
• 2 - Be a Good Trail Ambassador - Yield to other trail users, what to do if you encounter horses on the trail, keep singletrack trails single, and more.
• 3 - Livestock Grazing - Tips on what to do if you encounter cattle or sheep on the road or on the trail.
• 4 - Rural Traffic Jams - Giving people a head's up that they may encounter a cattle drive or a sheep drive on rural roads. Stop and wait for the livestock to move off the road, take pictures and be patient.
• 5 - Gates and Fences - Open and close gates on Idaho rangelands. Many fences are built to keep livestock in certain pastures. It's important to keep gates closed to keep the livestock where they're supposed to be.
• 6 - No one wants to see Your Mess - Pack out your garbage. Practice Leave-No-Trace principles.
• 7 - Be Prepared for Backcountry Travel - Many remote areas in Idaho have no services. Be prepared for vehicle breakdowns. Let family members know where you are going in advance. Carry a Spot, GPS with a SOS function, or a satellite phone for emergencies.
• 8 - Shooting on Rangelands - Tips on target-shooting, including a reminder that shooting at exploding targets is prohibited on public lands. Leave no trace.
• 9 - Show Respect for Wildlife - Tips on avoiding collisions with wildlife on rural roads and highways. Stay at a safe distance from wildlife at all times.
• 10 - Prevent Human-Caused Fires - Tips on fully extinguishing campfires before leaving a campsite and other best practices. Typically, more than 75 percent of the wildfires that occur in Idaho each year are caused by careless campers, shooters or other activities.

If you'd like to order hard-copies of the IRRC brochure, please contact Gretchen Hyde at ghyde@idrange.org. For an online version of the brochure, click here.

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