Federal Government
Insider Trading at Tamarack
November 2, 2005 
President George W. Bush may have gone mountain biking last summer on trails illegally carved out of National Forest land by Tamarack Resort.
Since the public was not allowed to witness his ride, it is hard to be certain exactly which trails he rode when he visited the resort at the behest of Governor Dirk Kempthorne.
The U.S. Attorney has filed criminal charges against the resort in U.S. District Court which could lead to $20,000 in fines if the resort is convicted. The complaint alleges the resort built trails on Payette National Forest land without necessary permits required by law.
Former staffer of Guv. Dirk, Scott Turlington, is now a spokesman on Tamarack’s payroll and would not comment on the case. Hearing is set for March 1, 2006.
The GUARDIAN has also learned from sources within the Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands that Guv. Dirk and staff is working to trade 18 square miles of Federal land on either side of Tamarack for scattered state owned parcels throughout Idaho.
Their mantra is they could make more money for Idaho’s school children with land more accessible and profitable. They have already gotten the entire Idaho congressional delegation on board and plan to slip through an act of congress to seal the deal. It becomes some sort of “congressional land swap” of the type most often used to donate vacant military sites to states.
Sounds innocent on the face, but truth is Tamarack will end up controlling or at the very least getting a direct private benefit of 18 square miles of public land.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Nov 3, 2005, 8:24 am
This is just one more example of one of our highest profile, People’s Socialist Republik of Kalifornia refugees, Hollywood Dirk’s flawed philosophy. “Yeah, verily verily, Growth at any price. . . (My subjects will ‘gladly’ pay to subsidize your move to Idaho). Oh, and by the way, did I mention my support can be bought? Idaho is for sale. I will not rest until I have messed it up to the same degree that my home state has achieved.”
Hollywood Dirk, and his henchmen have done as much, or more, by repeatedly giving Idaho to developers and transplant businesses, to negatively impact my life than Usama Bin Laden!
Nov 7, 2005, 10:48 am
My response to Guardian and “dh”:
No surprise here. I have followed Gov. K’s career path, such as it is, from the time he was Director of the Idaho Home Builders Association, onwards to Mayor of Boise, through his stint as Senator Slime, and more recently his self-administered demotion to governor. The guy has always been pro-developer, pro-business, pro-economic development, anti-environment, and he only pays lipservice to quality of life issues. Hell, the same dimwits, who keep re-electing Shrub, keep re-electing Dirk. They are in the majority, so there is little hope of any changes.