To have this lady all over your ass, I wouldn't wish her on anyone. "Sacred land, a place of holy quiet, Native ground....". She forgot to mention it's not HER land, but Mr. Willis's, if she likes it so much she should have bought it, sheeesh.

Getting the proper permits etc. is all well and good, but obviously with people like her, NOTHING is going to shut her up or make her happy It's high desert sage land, big whoop.


Oops, forgot the link, here tis: http://www.mtexpress.com/opinion/guest_ ... 918da.html

I don't feel sorry for him. He's been a cancer on Idaho for twenty years. I don't think that "airstrip" belongs there, either.

Some historical background:
Interesting line for me is:
"Right now, (2004) 30 ski areas in the U.S. operate as nonprofits."

http://www.theskichannel.com/news/20120 ... nonprofit/

Map:
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews ... =518%2C360


Soldier Id. I Googled Soldier Idaho and spent several hours chasing history again:
Soldier was the first town established on Camas Prairie located about four miles northeast of Fairfield.
Soldier was by-passed by the Oregon Short Line RR by 2 miles south towards Fairfield.

Soldier Bank had it's own currency:
http://www.antiquebanknotes.com/images/ ... C10162.jpg

Hope the links work - just copied and pasted

Chris C

If the man paid for the land and wants to put a runway on it, where is the hard on? The last few lines of that news letter are telling.."Work shouldn’t continue without more answers and public input."....she's just a nosy bitch that wants to know and approve of his plans before he continues. It's his land, he can do with it as he pleases.

Sounds like this lady needs to go run a homeowners association where she can tell people what colors they are allowed to paint their front doors

I tend to side with the landowner in these situations, dickweed or not. He bought and paid for it, let him do what he wants with it.

This article states he plans on building it with local contractors, and employing local people to staff it.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/bruce-wi ... /318893998

I'd love to have 2,000 acres to do what I like with. Unless there is something that says you can't build a runway on private land... build it.

As for Judith Freeman, who apparently does not like free men with private land doing what they want that land...

Since I'm not from there and I have no knowledge of what should or shouldn't be there from a locals point of view... I'll ask the BCP folks who actually do live in Idaho:

Our mutual love for aviation aside... Is there any legitimate reason that he should not be able to construct a large airstrip at that location? Is it an ancient Indian burial ground? Would it cause any environmental damage, or would it screw up some important wildlife migration route? Would it mess up any one's drinking water? Would it be an eyesore for the community?

MOST IMPORTANTLY... would it make more friends or more enemies for aviation?

If good ol' Bruce and his attorneys are smart, perhaps they should go out to the community (and idiots like the woman with the complaints) and give them the good news that even though it is his private airport, he is gladly GIVING a little chunk of FREE land and airstrip access to the local law enforcement, fire, rescue, EMT's, Life Flight, Forest Service, etc. etc. so the airport becomes a community asset.

Big Blizzard closed the roads? Get the sick and injured flown right out to the hospital thanks to Big Bruce. Earthquake or storm left people without water or food? Bring the C-17 filled with donuts and drinking water (and medicine, and blankets, and doctors, and veterinarians, and nurses, and search dogs that can find that missing little girl) right in to Die Hard International. Unless there's a large airport already there nearby (I have no idea), then Bruce can position his airstrip as a huge community asset.

What does the RAF and the local Idaho pilot population think about this strip? Are there any legitimate reasons to oppose it?

No to all of the above, though I'm sure mz Freeman could come up with endless reasons. Like the way she just threw out the term, "native lands", good point, as once the entire country was once thus described. But now, there, no. I'm no local, but I'd bet most are watching with amusement, if anything. I'd bet anything she is not a local, as in from a farm or ranch family that's been there for generations. But a newbie, from " somewhere else". Personally, low flying area as I've done, its a pretty boring flat high desert, prairie sounds more attractive of course. The Hailey airport is fairly close, 20, 35 miles maybe. A few other small dirt strips. I don't know anything about Bruce, but even if he is a rich prick, he doesn't need this lady spouting off with her BS. She would, I'd bet, have the same attitude if it was you or me, and a2000' grass strip.

It looks as if Mr. Willis is a much more successful actor than business man. Seems as if he has a pretty long track record of ventures going Tango Uniform in the Haley area, not the least of which was the Soldier Mountain ski resort which he ended up donating to the town as a tax write off.

I would be very surprised if he is living anywhere near the airport location just off Highway 20. It looks like a "if you build it they will come" venture, but the FAA has not approved it for jets and it is in an area zoned for agriculture unless that has changed since late September.

It looks as if the goal it to draw the airport for Haley-Sun Valley to his new "private" strip as a replacement for Friedman airport.

I guess if you have lots and lots of money you can bulldoze a strip of land, call it an airport then hope your lobbying connections will get you the result you are wanting from the feds . Why else would there be a 8,100 dirt strip that cannot legally handle jets.

The whole Willis/Idaho saga is a bit strange.

TD

Actually, almost anything having to do with overpaid entertainers is a bit strange.

Cary

A few things worth mentioning here

1: The person who wrote this letter is the same person quoted in the KTVB article as being opposed to the construction.
2: Bruce Willis offered to build a new airport somewhere in Camas county a few years ago and donate it to the county as a replacement for Freidman airport in Hailey, the county turned him down. I don't think this is the same location, but I'm not certain.
3: Bruce Willis has had his paw slapped by the judge in the past for ignoring zoning laws. Some people think it's easier to get forgiveness than permission, he appears to think it's easier to just do whatever he wants and pay the fine afterwards.
4: Anything coming out of "The Peoples Republic of Blain" (Sun Valley) is usually entertaining.

I'm sure there is a lot more to this story than the press has reported so far, I'll watch and see what happens.

Like Jackson Hole is to Wyoming, Hailey/Ketchum is to Idaho. Way different then anywhere/anything else in the respective states, for sure. Only 1 hr from my hood, but worlds apart. Willis, good actor that he is, seems like a loose cannon otherwise. But, the lady still annoys the hell out of me.

Man, It’s hard to believe that a 8000’ graded surface buried inside a private 2000 acres could stir any controversy, Christ, the driveway is probably longer than that, never mind the almost infinite length of pavement, aka highway 20, not far away. It looks as though this crazy broad is cut from the same cloth as that fine piece of work down in Sedona, accusing pilots spending their hard earned money dumping valuable fuel over the town. Who also believes that aircraft are causing disruptions to UFo’s. These two have such meaningless lives that they feel their self worth comes from meddling in others affairs. I bet they're both from Placer County California. That seems to be where a lot of self appointed nose bodies wack jobs come from.

courierguy wrote: I'd bet anything she is not a local, as in from a farm or ranch family that's been there for generations.

Nope she's not. Google her - she's a "novelist" who lives in LA and has a summer home in Idaho. http://www.judithfreemanbooks.com/

"People's Republic of Blaine County" I'm hearing that term more and more. First time was for Boulder in the late 1980's. The cancer of intolerant, busy bodied a-holes has spread across the West. Boulder Colorado used to be a Western town with horse parades through downtown and a rodeo arena where the Whole Foods is now. The 1960's came and with it the hippies and lib-tards who overthrew normal people and set up the People's Republic of Boulder. That cancer has now spread to the surrounding towns including Denver. Aspen looks more like Beverly Hills than a mountain town. Crested Butte is falling that way too. I guess it's also spread up to Sun Valley. Why can't they stay in their concrete Ivory Towers?

Rant off.

Cary wrote:Actually, almost anything having to do with overpaid entertainers is a bit strange.

To quote Jeremy Irons in the movie Reversal of Fortune... "you have no idea" .

But make no mistake, today's entertainers and athletes are paid exactly what they are worth. If a movie producer pays Bruce $10 Million for 30 days of work to be in a movie, it is only because the movie will make $100 Million... because enough people want to go see a Bruce Willis movie, and pay that ten bucks to get in for the privilege of buying a bag of popcorn for ten bucks.

They pay some 25 year old athlete a $100M ten year contract not to overpay the athlete... they pay because it's a good deal... the people will fill up the stadium, and the team owner will make a Billion dollars over that ten years.

If you want Kim Kardashian to come to your club on Saturday night, and you have to pay her $25K to just show up (OMFG, are you kidding???), believe it or not you'd pay it gladly. You even pay the biggest paparazzi guys to show up, so there are cameras flashing and a big commotion in front of the club (at some showbiz events years ago we would send food trays outside just for the paparazzi to keep them happy and stay onsite). You'll gladly pay TMZ another $25K to show up. When word gets out that your club is where (insert today's pop tart's name) hangs out, and a quick video clip is on TV showing that person being quickly hustled into a car "for her own safety", there will soon be a line around the block to get into that club, and the club owner makes $200K over the next 2 months.

EZFlap wrote:

Cary wrote:Actually, almost anything having to do with overpaid entertainers is a bit strange.

To quote Jeremy Irons in the movie Reversal of Fortune... "you have no idea" .

But make no mistake, today's entertainers and athletes are paid exactly what they are worth. If a movie producer pays Bruce $10 Million for 30 days of work to be in a movie, it is only because the movie will make $100 Million... because enough people want to go see a Bruce Willis movie, and pay that ten bucks to get in for the privilege of buying a bag of popcorn for ten bucks.

They pay some 25 year old athlete a $100M ten year contract not to overpay the athlete... they pay because it's a good deal... the people will fill up the stadium, and the team owner will make a Billion dollars over that ten years.

If you want Kim Kardashian to come to your club on Saturday night, and you have to pay her $25K to just show up (OMFG, are you kidding???), believe it or not you'd pay it gladly. You even pay the biggest paparazzi guys to show up, so there are cameras flashing and a big commotion in front of the club (at some showbiz events years ago we would send food trays outside just for the paparazzi to keep them happy and stay onsite). You'll gladly pay TMZ another $25K to show up. When word gets out that your club is where (insert today's pop tart's name) hangs out, and a quick video clip is on TV showing that person being quickly hustled into a car "for her own safety", there will soon be a line around the block to get into that club, and the club owner makes $200K over the next 2 months.

The rich get richer, and all that excess money could go a long way toward putting food on the table of the impoverished 17% of America (read that somewhere, so don't quote me as any authority).

Cary

Maybe it's just the recent political climate (protests), but it seems to me that the pendulum has swung in this country as far as what people feel is their business. By that I mean, lot of people out there demonizing certain individuals or corporations because of perceived Privilege; are they somehow less entitled to the fruits of their labor?

Would it be a national news sorry if instead of Bruce Willis it was a guy named Ted from Sheboygan wanting to build a runway on his farm? Would there be protests from all over the nation if instead of an "evil oil company" laying a pipeline it was a local utility laying a heating oil line to a new neighborhood in Ohio?

Don't know Bruce, don't know his finances, don't know his intentions, don't know jack about it really....I do know that it seems to be his private property though and he's a citizen. Last time I checked, we as Americans believed in private property rights and are clinging to what little we have left.

good hell, if he wants an airstrip out there...big deal...he isnt hurting a damn thing....might do more good than harm...KSUN is always jammed up with heavy iron, and if they had an alternative in low WX mite be a good thing...even us deplorable locals that travel between boise and eastern idaho may need it some time...ya just never know.....IF he can get approval for big iron....i really doubt its that much for personal gain...lots of folks come to idaho cause they are a little bored, and want to stimulate the local economy a bit...just sayin....

I live 8 miles west of the Willis "strip" and have a strip of my own at my house but not nearly on the same scale. Mine is actually an alfalfa field which I still farm. I think any large project brings objections from neighbors and this has been no exception. I know the woman who wrote the letter to the editor and she is not as bad as she sounds in her letter. Her house is off the west end of the runway.

My involvement has been as an observer since I am the manager of the airport in Fairfield (U86), a dirt strip less than 3000 feet long. Nobody has yet figured out why Willis is building this but he has run afoul of local zoning and we are having a commissioners meeting about it after Thanksgiving. The land is pretty poor farmland and probably only good for grazing. If he wants to be able to land jets there he needs to build up a suitable base which doesn't appear to be happening. Many people here think it is just another Willis boondoggle. As far as hiring locals I know of one. The construction company is not local but then we don't have anybody in the county with the equipment required.

My only concern is worrying about some private 737 and it's wake turbulence flipping me upside down while I am out tootling around. Hopefully they will be on 122.9. By the way, I was also on the board of the non-profit that received his ski hill.

Slight tangent here...

Good news for people flying commercial into Hailey, a certain airline that I fly turboprops for just got approval for a new RNP approach lowering the minimums by almost a thousand feet, should improve our track record operating there dramatically. Looking forward to flying that approach this winter, looks fun!