Ponderosa Improvement Projects

Summer 2024

The park waterline and Kokanee Cove projects are underway and will bring enhanced service and new recreational opportunities to Ponderosa State Park.

The line will provide better, more reliable service to guests, while the Kokanee project will bring new opportunities for the public to enjoy a largely unused area. Besides a new beach access, the Kokanee project will include an event center, rental cabins and an outdoor fire pit/gathering place.

See video of the work CM Company is doing to transform Kokanee.

For more information, please see this article about the project.

Please note that some clearing of trees has been required to run the line and create the Kokanee service road. Every effort has been taken to minimize the overall impact.

For more information about the forest health projects, click the documents below:

• Ponderosa Pine Restoration Project (one page)
• Ponderosa Pine Restoration Project (full document)

Most of the $1.3 million in work will start in September 2020 and run through the winter, when visitor activity slows and weather conditions favor construction and rehabilitation work on the MeadowMarsh Forest.

The construction work includes utility upgrades to the Aspen loop in the Peninsula Campground, paving of the road to Osprey Point, and repair of the Peninsula Boat Ramp.

Here is a summary of upcoming and completed work:

2023 Updates:

• Phase I and Phase II have both been completed. This includes fir thinning and slash piling and burning. 
• Brush clearance has been completed along the main road
• Next phase will include the broadcast burn followed by tree and native seed planting of the project area.

2022 Updates:

• Beginning October 2022: Working with SITPA (Southern Idaho Timber Protection Area), the Park has developed a plan to reintroduce fire gradually and systematically in a prescribed way to small units (5 – 20 acres at a time) on the 90-acre MeadowMarsh Ponderosa Pine restoration area over the next 3 – 5 years.

  This fall (2022), the Park plans to burn the remaining piles from the mechanical thinning/piling portion of the restoration project and broadcast burn 2 units, encompassing seven acres on the north and south ends of the project area.

• Pine restoration project work will continue in the fall with removing pockets of 8” and under trees where they are too dense.  Piling work will also continue with special attention paid to completely consuming the large woody remnants that did not completely burn in the initial lighting. Piles will be burned when conditions permit. 
• Work has wrapped up on the Aspen loop utility upgrades and will now focus on the Blackberry loop this fall 2022. Work is slated to begin on the Wednesday after Labor Day 2022 and continue until the weather forces shutdown. 

Camping will be closed in the Blackberry loop starting Wednesday September 7,2022. Aspen and Chokecherry loops will be open and available for camping after Labor Day, but construction crews will be working in the Blackberry loop so consider that before planning a stay.

2021 Updates:

• The Aspen loop’s electrical and water service will be improved with a $730,000 project, starting after Labor Day and set for completion in November.
  Camping will continue in the Blackberry and Chokecherry loops, but power and water may be temporarily interrupted by the installation of new electrical transformers and water lines for the campground. 
• The road to the Osprey Point Overlook will be paved as part of a $290,000 project that will include three parking areas. The 1.3-mile project begins after Labor Day and will end in late October; the road will be closed throughout the work. 
• The $200,000 Peninsula Boat Ramp Repair will give boaters a better, safer access to Payette Lake and includes two new docks and Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to improve mobility for all users. The work will start in October and is expected to conclude by the end of November. The ramp will remain closed throughout the work. 
• The demolition of the dilapidated Kokanee Cove dining hall, a remnant of an old church camp that’s now part of the park, this summer was a first step in the development of a future event site. The $25,000 project eliminated a hazard and created an unobstructed view of Payette Lake. Other improvements will come in subsequent years.

The MeadowMarsh II project will improve the health of 90 acres of forest while decreasing the risk of a catastrophic fire. A combination of targeted tree thinning, prescribed burning and other techniques will restore the historical balance to the forest, which in a natural state should be dominated by Ponderosa pines. The sale of harvested trees is anticipated to raise $88,000, which will fund the restoration work.

Today, largely because of fire suppression, the forest is overgrown with Grand firs and other species vulnerable to severe and potentially uncontrollable fire. Under normal conditions, the Ponderosas are adapted to withstand periodic, low-intensity fires, which clear space and improve forest health. The project will return the forest to a more natural and sustainable state.