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Idler's Rest
Idler's Rest in managed by the Palouse Land Trust. The site has
several trails, one easy along the creek with towering fir and cedar,
one middle that goes through a grassland, and one longer and harder
that climbs out of the valley floor.
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Directions to Idler's Rest
This Google
map is centered on Idler's Rest (parking just north of the road), it
can be zoomed & panned to help you find your way from Moscow, but the
basic directions are: from Hwy 8 in Moscow, take Mountain View Road
until the "T" with Idlers Rest, bear right and follow that until near
its end.
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History preserved; Changed little since 1908, nearby Idler's Rest
continues to offer visitors a forest retreat among the wheat
Written by Laura Hixon, For the Daily News
A little ways out of town, down Mountain View Road, there is a tract of
land, unchanged since at least 1908, when logging stopped short of a
grove of cedars and pines. It may have been because even back then
Idler's Rest was a popular recreation area. "It is unique. Cedar groves
are scarce," Jay Pengilly, secretary of the Palouse Land Trust said.
Cedar is a valuable wood because the tree is slow growing and it is
highly resistant to rot.
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The Palouse Land Trust is a local conservation group that is now
responsible for maintaining and protecting the 33 acres of preserved
land. It officially acquired the easement from the Nature Conservancy
in December of last year. "This is our first land holding. It's nice to
have it back in local hands," Pengilly said.
In the mid-1960s the descendants of the first landowners decided to
sell the property. The Inland Empire Chapter of the Nature Conservancy
mounted a campaign to raise $7,000 to purchase and improve the land. In
January 1967, the deed was officially transferred and the property fell
under the protection of the Nature Conservancy. University of Idaho
students built the foot bridge that spans Paradise Creek. A rail fence
and bulletin board also were added as well as labels identifying
different plants, erected by a professor from the College of Forestry
at the UI.
Idler's Rest has historical significance as well ecological importance.
In places along the creek, the sites of several cottages can be seen, as
well as what may have been a tennis court. There is an old fruit
orchard, whose evenly spaced fruit tress are slowly being reclaimed by
the forest. As well as several shallow pits marking the labors of early
gold prospectors. |
A plaque is mounted on a boulder to memorialize Jim Manis, a student who
died in a car accident in 1974. Friends and family established a fund
that was offered to the Nature Conservancy for use at Idler's Rest and
the money was used to study the area and to provide interpretive
facilities at the site.
The Palouse Land Trust received grants from the Latah County Community
Foundation and Tri-State. They plan to use the grants to build a new
fence along the creek and to provide trail guides to educate people
about the changing ecosystem and the plants that flourish there.
Land trusts are nonprofit, volunteer organizations whose members
contribute time and resources to maintain and enforce easements. There
are more than 1.6 million acres of conservation easement land
established across the nation. |
The Palouse Land Trust is just one of more than 1,500 organizations
responsible for conservation easements. The Palouse Land Trust isn't
just about preserving land. The organization maintains conservation
easements and enforces landowners wishes for the land. A conservation
easement is a legal agreement between a land trust and a landowner that
limits the use of the land. Future owners are bound to the terms of the
easement. The agreements are somewhat flexible and allow for some
development or agricultural use while preserving some significant tract
of land. A farmer could agree not to build any more structures on a
property but continue to grow crops. There are also groups that meet
the needs of farmers specifically.
"We encourage membership of farmers. It's probably the biggest gap in
our (group)," said Gerry Wright, acting president of the Palouse Land
Trust. While there has been some vandalism, most people who frequent
the area are responsible recreationists.
"A lot of people watch over the place. People feel protective of this
place," Pengilly said.
"They recognize its value as a protected place."
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