Legislation eyes Fish and Game Commission turf
Bills introduced by Idaho lawmakers would allow governor to pick Fish and Game director and put five-year ban on doe hunting in certain units
Legislation eyes Fish and Game Commission turf
A pair of bills introduced in the Idaho Legislature would tread on the turf of the state’s Fish and Game Commission.
Senate Bill 1078 by Sen. Doug Okuniewicz, R-Hayden, was held in the Senate State Affairs Committee on Friday and faces an uncertain future. It would strip the Idaho Fish and Game Commission of its authority to hire the director of the Idaho Fish and Game Department and hand it to the governor.
House Bill 196, written and introduced by Rep. Josh Tanner, a Republican from Eagle, would impose a five-year moratorium on doe hunting in units 19, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 52A, 53, 54, 55, 56 and 57. The bill cites low mule deer survival rates and low hunter success rates as reasons for the pause. It includes an exception allowing the commission and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to cull deer herds in chronic wasting disease hot spots.
Tanner did not respond to an interview request from the Tribune.
On Thursday, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted to not support the bill. During a phone interview, commissioner Don Ebert, of Weippe, said the commission, working with the department, is better suited to managing hunting seasons, which is part of its mandate.
“I think the game managers do a good job and I think they make whatever recommendations for good reasons,” he said. “I don’t know that the legislature should be doing game management, which is the charge of the commission. Let the department do what the department does. We are actually pretty good at it.”
Nick Fasciano, executive director of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, called the bill a “clear example of legislative season setting which in our view should be done by Fish and Game and the Fish and Game commission.”
The federation is also fighting Senate Bill 1078 that, in addition to giving the governor authority to hire and fire the Fish and Game director, does the same for the departments of Corrections, Transportation, Lands and Parks and Recreation. The bill would dictate four-year terms for each of the affected department heads.
Fasciano said his group is speaking out only against the part of the bill related to the Idaho Fish and Game director.
“If the commission doesn’t have the authority to hire and fire the director, their ability to manage and supervise the department is meaningfully reduced,” he said. “This injects politics unduly into the Fish and Game Department making the Fish and Game director a political appointee and goes against the 1938 initiative.”
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission was created by a citizens’ initiative in 1938 that was designed to insulate the management of fish and wildlife from politics. Members of the commission are selected by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The commission hires the director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
While the system doesn’t entirely remove political influence, it does place layers between game managers and lawmakers and the governor.
“The citizens of Idaho voted overwhelmingly with 75% clearly saying we want science-based wildlife management to be the bedrock of game management in the state,” Fasciano said of the 87-year-old initiative.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmitribune.com.
