Boise's Open Space

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first foothills levy passed by voters on May 22, 2001. The foothills have long been a favorite place for Boiseans. Native Americans lived in the Boise Valley for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Euro-American settlers. Tribes followed seasonal migration patterns, spending summers in the foothills and winters in the valley. With the arrival of Euro-Americans, the foothills began to be used primarily for ranching, agriculture, and recreational activities.

Housing developments in the foothills proliferated during the mid-twentieth century. Recreational use of the foothills by Boiseans expanded to include not only activities such as hiking and picnicking, but also off-road vehicles and motorcycles.

Decades of overgrazing, military and recreational use, trash dumping, and brush fires all contributed to a measurable deterioration of the foothills' environment. Ranchers grazed sheep and cattle in the hills, and the United States Army, based at Fort Boise (later called the Boise Barracks) used the foothills for their horses and as a military training ground. Overgrazing and fires resulted in the replacement of native plant species with invasive newcomers such as cheatgrass. The hills were used as a dump for trash, and off-road vehicles marred the landscape and contributed to erosion.

A devastating fire in 1959 followed by a storm resulted in flooding and mudslides which inundated hundreds of homes primarily in Boise’s East End. In 1996, the Eighth Street Fire burned over 15,000 acres. After the 1996 fire, pieces of unexploded ordnance sourced to the United States Army were discovered in the foothills. As a result, the Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the area to ensure the safety of the public.

During the second half of the twentieth century, as recreation use in the foothills increased, tensions began to mount between private landowners and recreationists. Issues involved trespassing, damaged terrain, and ecosystem health. By the 1980s, the situation reached a boiling point and proved a catalyst for a variety of groups to begin working together to manage access to the hills, prevent trespassing, establish a formal trail system, and actively promote better stewardship of the environment.

 The Boise Front Coalition, formed in the late 1980s, worked with citizens, foothill users, and government agencies to build a shared vision of the foothills. This was followed by the establishment of the Ridge to Rivers partnership in 1992. Consisting of local, state, and federal agencies with the City of Boise as lead, Ridge to Rivers manages trail systems throughout the foothills. Efforts by the Boise Front Coalition and Ridge to Rivers inspired public involvement, public care, and increased awareness of the environmental conditions of the foothills.

This shared vision helped pave the way for the $10 million foothills levy. Passed in 2001 by 59 percent of voters, the two-year property tax serial levy intended to permanently preserve thousands of acres of open space in the foothills. Twenty years later, the foothills continue to see active use, with unprecedented numbers accessing trails in 2020 during the Coronavirus pandemic.