Lawsuit seeks to halt central Idaho hiking-biking trail

A planned hiking-and-biking trail connecting the popular central Idaho tourist destinations of Redfish Lake and Stanley is being challenged in federal court by the owners of Sawtooth Mountain Ranch.

David Boren and Lynn Arnone filed the lawsuit last month seeking to stop a U.S. Forest Service plan to build a 4.4-mile trail for pedestrians, cyclists and horseback riders.

The trail cuts across the Sawtooth Mountain Ranch. But the Sawtooth National Forest has a conservation easement deed dating to 2005 it says allows the trail to cross the private property.

The lawsuit contends the planned trail deviates from the easement and has “numerous flaws and illegalities.”