Regional News Roundup: Valley County commissioners consider land management court case

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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Valley County (Idaho) Commissioners on Monday discussed a Supreme Court case that aims to put states in charge of millions of acres of federal lands, sparking public outrage about the proposal.

About a dozen people attended Monday’s meeting and at least 83 letters were sent to county commissioners, all in opposition to to the county supporting the court case.

The commission’s agenda listed the possibility of supporting the lawsuit Utah v. United States, which argues the about 18.5 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land should be turned over to the state. The court’s decision could also have sweeping implications for land managed by the Forest Service and other federal agencies.

There are about 1.89 million acres of Forest Service lands in Valley County, but few acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

There are no platted parcels of BLM land in Valley County, and if there is any unplatted land, the acreage is “like a grain of sand compared to the whole ocean,” when compared to the size of Forest Service land, said Valley County Assessor Sue Leeper.

Across the state, however, BLM oversees about 12 million acres, mostly in southern Idaho.

The deadline for the county to submit an amicus brief, or “friend of the court” lawsuit passed in October, said Commissioner Sherry Maupin.

With the deadline to participate in the case behind them, Maupin instead said Monday’s agenda item was “a discussion on how we learn to communicate better with our federal partners, and how they learn to communicate better with our communities.”

The case was filed in August by the State of Utah. Idaho joined the lawsuit in October. Other signatories include several states, counties and organizations interested in land management.

A hearing for the case has not yet been scheduled.

Commissioners discussed management of all federal lands, not specifically BLM oversight.

Commissioners said that Valley County being 86% federally owned land is a burden on local taxpayers.

“We have to go back east every year and beg for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) money and also for Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funding,” Maupin said, referring to two federal programs that support rural counties containing federal land.

Last year Valley County received about $983,000 from the PILT program and about $1.38 million from SRS.

“Over the years, that fund has gotten less and less and less,” said Commission Chair Elt Hasbrouck.

Commissioners also complained that the county has little say over how local federal lands are managed, and when they do give input, agencies like the Forest Service do not have the funding to complete those goals.

“Over the last 12 years, we’ve worked arduously, built up all these coalitions — the Boise Forest and Payette Forest Coalitions — to try to instill a lot of our ideas into their management plans, and it just never seems to happen,” Hasbrouck said.

“Local decisions are always better than federal,” said Maupin. “You can walk into someone’s office and discuss concerns instead of being ignored from Washington.”

At the meeting, Idaho Conservation League representative Randy Fox urged commissioners to lobby for more funding instead of a change in management or ownership.

“Money needs to be allocated to these agencies so they can properly manage the lands that they’re responsible for,” Fox told commissioners.

Following the hearing, Fox asserted to The Star-News that this case is not just about management, but public access and potentially the ownership of millions of acres of land in and around Valley County.

Turning federal land over to the states could open the door to selling the land.

“To put those lands at risk of development or privatization is to risk the heritage of every Idahoan,” Fox said.

Jack Hurty, a representative of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association (IOGA), told commissioners that the case jeopardizes Idaho’s recreation industry.

“If Idaho were to take over management, it is unclear which agency would be responsible,” Hurty told commissioners.

“Idaho Department of Lands seems to be the most likely candidate,” he said.

IDL’s constitutional mandate to maximize revenue from endowment lands and its inadequate background and limited staff would jeopardize access, opportunity and current uses on Idaho’s public lands creating chaos for outfitters and other permit holders, Hurty said.

Letters submitted by individuals as well as groups like the IOGA, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and Idaho Wildlife Federation unanimously urged commissioners to not support the court case.

The lone voice supporting the case came from Faye Thompson, who will represent District 8 in the Idaho House of Representatives following her election in November.

“If I were in your seats, I would be in favor of looking at being a part of this lawsuit that Utah has started,” said Thompson, who is the spouse of County Commissioner Neal Thompson.

— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday