Jerome County running out of time to apply for grant money for canyon park

JEROME — Development of the landlocked Snake River Canyon Park north of the river may be delayed if the county can’t get the Idaho Department of Lands on board.

Time is running out for Jerome County to apply for Idaho Parks and Recreation grants to develop the park, said Ryan Lay, a land consultant working with the county. This round of grant applications are due in January.

No physical barriers block entrance to the 4,000-acre park, but in order to fund and develop the park, Jerome County needs to secure legal access to the property, which can only be reached by way of endowment land owned by the IDL. That’s land currently used for cattle grazing to produce income for public schools.

The park is a 6.25-square-mile block of land owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management north of the Snake River — roughly from the canyon rim to Interstate 84 and from U.S. 93 to near Devils Corral. The park has been a possibility since Jerome County signed lease agreements with the BLM in 2003 and 2007, but locals have been talking about building a north rim park for decades.

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