F&G receives $209K federal grant to provide access for hunting, fishing and other recreation

Idaho hunters and anglers can expect to see an increase in public access to private land as early as this fall through Fish and Game's Access Yes! program, thanks to a $209,000 federal grant recently awarded to the department.

The $209,000 grant will allow for the continued expansion of Fish and Game's Access Yes! program, which improves access to private land or through private land by compensating willing landowners who provide access.

As of April 2023, there are about 310,000 acres of private property enrolled in Access Yes!, and Fish and Game officials hope to substantially increase the number of acres over the next three years using the new funds.

Idaho Fish and Game received the $209,000 grant through the 2024 Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP). The VPA-HIP is a program under the congressional 1-year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill that provides funding to help state and tribal governments encourage landowners to allow public access to their land for hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-dependent recreation.

"All of the grant funding made available through this program will go directly toward securing access agreements with private property owners, thereby increasing the acres of private land containing quality wildlife habitat that are open to public access in Idaho," said Sal Palazzolo, State Wildlife Manager for Fish and Game. "We had already begun notifying landowners of this opportunity this summer in anticipation of this funding, with the goal of having those properties accessible to hunters and anglers by the fall hunting and fishing seasons."

Access Yes! is one of a handful of partnerships and programs geared toward improving access for hunters and anglers in Idaho, which also includes State Endowment Access and the Large Tracts Program. More information about each is available on the Hunting and Fishing Access page.

Fish and Game will also be using a portion of the grant funding to continue a wildlife viewing project in the Teton Valley, which will provide habitat and viewing opportunities for Sandhill cranes and waterfowl.