Partnerships
Sawtooth National Forest staff regularly work in partnership with other tribes, states, federal agencies, local government, non-profits, businesses, communities, and private land owners.
They help with trail work, such as maintenance and monitoring of summer and winter trails. They help with education, including: school programs, summer camps, campground programs, and dark sky programs; visitor education at visitor centers and museums; bear, river, wilderness, and aquatic invasives visitor education. They participate in Forest Health initiatives, such as reforestation, restoration, and wildfire mitigation. They help with wildlife monitoring and work together to manage invasive species through cooperative weed management agreements. Many partners come together for coalition and collaborative efforts for fire information, visitor education, trails, and noxious weeds.
Some of the organizations and individuals that we have worked on projects with are listed below.
Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center
High Desert Nordic Association
Institute for Bird Populations
Magic Valley ATV Riders Association
Magic Valley Trail Machine Association
Nordic and Backcountry Skiers Alliance in Idaho
Sawtooth Interpretive and Historical Association
Selway Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Treasure Valley Trail Machine Association
The 750,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area includes more than 20,000 acres of privately owned land within its boundaries. Congress’ effort to protect the Sawtooth NRA was in part aimed at preventing inappropriate development that would detract from the area’s natural, scenic, historic, pastoral, and fish and wildlife values.
As part of Public Law 92-400 that created the Sawtooth NRA, Congress authorized the Forest Service to acquire land and development rights in the form of scenic and conservation easements where needed to protect those values. There are currently 92 scenic/conservation easement that limit development on approximately 17,000 acres of private land within the Sawtooth NRA. In addition, Public Law 92-400 directed the agency to publish regulations setting standards for the use, subdivision, and development of all privately owned property within the boundaries of the Sawtooth NRA.
The 2018 publication Private Land in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area: A Handbook for Landowners provides details on this history, provides a text of both Public Law 92-400 and the private land regulations codified in 36 Code of Federal Regulations, and provides specific information, steps, and guidelines for developing private land in this area. It’s a handy reference for:
- Landowners who wish to develop their property within the Congressionally-designated boundaries of the Sawtooth NRA
- Realtors, brokers, and others involved in the transfer of real property
- Anyone interested in the history of the Sawtooth NRA
Partner Resources
The Sawtooth National Forest works with partners through grants, agreements and volunteer agreements. If you already partner with us here are some helpful links below. Have questions, want to be a partner or volunteer? Feel free to Contact Us below! If your interested in volunteering you can volunteer through our partners websites above or check out the volunteer page to volunteer for the Forest Service.
Partner Highlights
The Ketchum Ranger District, in partnership with the National Forest Foundation, Bureau Land Management, and Sun Valley Company, participate in the Wood for Life Program.
Last summer the Ketchum Ranger District in partnership with Trout Unlimited completed the Bassett Gulch project.
Every spring multiple partners come together for the Stanley Saw Training.
Photo Gallery
Check out these photos of partners in action
Contact Us
If you have any questions or want to learn more about partnerships, feel free to reach out to our Forest Partnership Coordinator or the Partnership Coordinator for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Ketchum Ranger District.