Texas billionaire brothers block another Idaho road, prompting criticism over public access

Dan and Farris Wilks, a pair of wealthy Texas businessmen who own thousands of acres of Idaho land, have installed a gate across a Forest Service route through their property, prompting concerns over public land access.

In a video posted on the Idaho Wildlife Federation’s Facebook page late last week, director Brian Brooks showed a gate across a route he identified as Cabarton Road in Valley County, also known as Forest Service Road 645.

“That sign right there reads ‘Private road, no trespassing,’ and as you can see, the gate is closed and locked,” Brooks said in the video. “Which means that they exclusively control who gets to use the road and get to the public lands beyond.”

It wasn’t immediately clear where or when the gate was installed. The route, which runs northwest of Smiths Ferry between the Cascade and Emmett ranger districts of the Boise National Forest, crosses over a section of land belonging to DF Development, a Wilks brothers company. DF Development could not be reached for comment.

Read more: https://www.idahostatesman.com/outdoors/article231467743.html