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Birders oppose Canyon County gravel pit for Eagle's nest

An Emmett developer wants to convert the farmland into a 260-acre mineral extraction site. The county tabled the application without a specific future date.

CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — Bordering the Boise River outside Parma, a 260-acre plot of land is home to an Eagle's nest with an uncertain future.

Canyon County Planning and Zoning Commission records show an Emmett-based company, Premier Aggregates, wants to convert farmland into a mineral extraction site to produce gravel. The county tabled the application at an April 4 planning and zoning meeting to request additional information from the applicants.

A date to revisit the project application has not been set, according to Canyon County Development Services Department Assistant Director Jay Gibbons.

"There's definitely an Eagle in the nest. I see the Eaglets and at the moment, she's feeding them," Golden Eagle Audubon Society (GEAS) board member Louisa Evers said. "They've been nesting out there successfully for several years."

Evers is an avid birder and takes a high interest in a nest a quarter mile off a public access road. The nest sits squarely in the proposed gravel pit project boundaries. Eagles are federally protected while nesting; though, after the young Eagles grow up, some protections fade away.

"It may require that [the developers] take certain mitigation measures, so the Eagles would continue to use the nest. But there's absolutely no guarantee with the type of activity that goes on when you've got an active rock pit," Evers said. "It depends on can they find a territory that suitable for them that isn't already claimed by another Eagle pair."

Parma Valley Winery and Bistro opposed the project in written testimony at the April 4th meeting. They argue converting the farmland view into a gravel pit would harm their business. However, multiple gravel sites are already in the area.

GEAS also provided written opposition to planning and zoning. The developer explained their gravel pit would not harm nearby property because it is not unique to the area.

"I mean, we just drove by one when coming in here," Evers said. "Do we really need more?"

KTVB asked Gibbons for details about their additional information requests from the developers and is waiting to hear back.

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