Idaho Fish and Game has received a $1.65 million federal grant that officials say will go toward supporting and expanding the Access Yes! program.
Access Yes! creates more opportunities for fishers and anglers by compensating landowners who are willing to provide access to their private land or allow access through it.
“Hunters and Idaho Fish and Game are dealing with less private land to hunt on these days, driven by economic pressures, other hunting access markets, and changing land use," said Katie Oelrich, Access Program Coordinator. "The good news is that with solid state and federal incentive programs working together, we can keep hunting access growing, support landowners and rural communities, and help conserve habitat."
The grant was received through the 2026 Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), which funds state and tribal governments to encourage landowners to provide public access to their land for wildlife-dependent recreation.
IDFG reports that as of Aug. 2026, there are 328,000 acres of private property enrolled in the Access Yes! program.
With the new funding, officials say that they are planning to offer more competitive lease rates to participants. Additionally, IDFG says they are looking to increase the acreage enrolled in Access Yes! over the next three years.
"This grant funding goes directly toward strengthening and securing access agreements with landowners, which increases the amount of private land containing quality wildlife habitat that are open to public access in Idaho,” Oelrich said.
IDFG says that along with improving lease rates, a portion of the grant will support a wildlife viewing project in the Teton Valley.
