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Kempthorne, lawmakers at odds over wolf pact
Many members of panel not keen on wolves
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Managing wolves
Legislature 2004
Gregory Hahn
The Idaho Statesman
The first deep rift this year between the Legislature and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne tore open over wolves and Native Americans on Tuesday, and a House committee meeting ended in an argument between Republicans.
House Resources Committee Chairman Bert Stevenson banged his gavel down Tuesday afternoon to abruptly end a discussion on an agreement between Kempthorne and the Nez Perce Tribe on how to manage wolves.
Challis Rep. Lenore Barrett threw her pencil, and the two lawmakers argued at the end of the committee table.
Barrett and a number of other legislators had wanted the committee to take a stand against the agreement, but Stevenson realized something was up and stopped the meeting before she had a chance to make a motion.
“I wanted to do something immediate,” she said later. “I figured that would be a pretty strong message to say that the House Resources Committee doesn´t support the (agreement).”
Legislators have been steaming over the “memorandum of understanding” since a draft of the agreement was handed out to key leaders a few days ago. Republican leaders angrily left a meeting with Kempthorne last week, and some key lobby groups, including the Idaho Farm Bureau, have been bashing the agreement in their updates to members.
The agreement basically hashes out the role of Idaho Fish and Game, the state Office of Endangered Species and the Nez Perce Tribe in wolf management once the wolves are taken off the Endangered Species List.
The tribe has been managing Idaho´s wolves since the Legislature refused to let the state take over more than a decade ago.
This agreement leaves the Nez Perce in charge of reservation land and the “ceded lands” in north-central Idaho given by the tribe to the United States government in the 1850s.
“People were really upset with it on the Senate side and the House side when we found out about it,” House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said. “We didn´t know there was an agreement.”
But Kempthorne´s Office of Endangered Species Director Jim Caswell said the talks have never been secret.
And Kempthorne´s spokesman Michael Journee said the tribe has held a key role in wolf management for years and Kempthorne has no intention of ending that.
Journee said the governor is willing to work on some specific changes to the agreement — which would all have to be approved by tribal leaders — and that he wants the Legislature to be involved.
But he doesn´t have to get legislative approval to sign the document.
“Keep in mind,” Journee said, “this is an executive decision.”
But some of these lawmakers, who have opposed the wolf reintroduction process from the very start, may not be happy with any agreement.
Just two years ago, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed a House memorial that stated “that this Legislature not only calls for, but demands, that wolf recovery efforts in Idaho be discontinued immediately, and wolves be removed by whatever means necessary.”
Of the 12 lawmakers listed as sponsors of that measure, eight of them are on the House Resources Committee, which was pointed out by Donnelly GOP Rep. Ken Roberts to Caswell on Tuesday.
The legislative heartburn comes down to three main issues:
1) The success of that memorial shows they don´t want the wolves in Idaho at all.
2) Many, especially Republicans, don´t like Idaho dealing with the state´s Native American tribes in ways that treat the two governments as equals.
And 3) they don´t want to pay to manage the wolves at all, and they´re afraid that when the feds finally “delist” the species, the money to manage them will stop coming from Washington, D.C.
That could force the Legislature to either pony up the money or risk the chance that the federal government would take over the whole project again.
Legislators like Barrett and former Resources Chairwoman JoAn Wood think the agreement is simply against the state laws passed in the past few years making sure the Legislature has oversight of the management process.
Others, like House Majority Leader Lawerence Denney, think the agreement gives the tribe too much power.
“But what is frustrating to us is this agreement kept us out of the loop entirely,” he said Tuesday.
“This was secret from us until about a week ago.”
Newcomb acknowledges that neither his caucus nor the Senate can stop Kempthorne from signing the deal, though.
“But it would not be a good thing to sign something the Legislature is totally against,” he said.
Many members of panel not keen on wolves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Managing wolves
Legislature 2004
Gregory Hahn
The Idaho Statesman
The first deep rift this year between the Legislature and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne tore open over wolves and Native Americans on Tuesday, and a House committee meeting ended in an argument between Republicans.
House Resources Committee Chairman Bert Stevenson banged his gavel down Tuesday afternoon to abruptly end a discussion on an agreement between Kempthorne and the Nez Perce Tribe on how to manage wolves.
Challis Rep. Lenore Barrett threw her pencil, and the two lawmakers argued at the end of the committee table.
Barrett and a number of other legislators had wanted the committee to take a stand against the agreement, but Stevenson realized something was up and stopped the meeting before she had a chance to make a motion.
“I wanted to do something immediate,” she said later. “I figured that would be a pretty strong message to say that the House Resources Committee doesn´t support the (agreement).”
Legislators have been steaming over the “memorandum of understanding” since a draft of the agreement was handed out to key leaders a few days ago. Republican leaders angrily left a meeting with Kempthorne last week, and some key lobby groups, including the Idaho Farm Bureau, have been bashing the agreement in their updates to members.
The agreement basically hashes out the role of Idaho Fish and Game, the state Office of Endangered Species and the Nez Perce Tribe in wolf management once the wolves are taken off the Endangered Species List.
The tribe has been managing Idaho´s wolves since the Legislature refused to let the state take over more than a decade ago.
This agreement leaves the Nez Perce in charge of reservation land and the “ceded lands” in north-central Idaho given by the tribe to the United States government in the 1850s.
“People were really upset with it on the Senate side and the House side when we found out about it,” House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said. “We didn´t know there was an agreement.”
But Kempthorne´s Office of Endangered Species Director Jim Caswell said the talks have never been secret.
And Kempthorne´s spokesman Michael Journee said the tribe has held a key role in wolf management for years and Kempthorne has no intention of ending that.
Journee said the governor is willing to work on some specific changes to the agreement — which would all have to be approved by tribal leaders — and that he wants the Legislature to be involved.
But he doesn´t have to get legislative approval to sign the document.
“Keep in mind,” Journee said, “this is an executive decision.”
But some of these lawmakers, who have opposed the wolf reintroduction process from the very start, may not be happy with any agreement.
Just two years ago, the Legislature overwhelmingly passed a House memorial that stated “that this Legislature not only calls for, but demands, that wolf recovery efforts in Idaho be discontinued immediately, and wolves be removed by whatever means necessary.”
Of the 12 lawmakers listed as sponsors of that measure, eight of them are on the House Resources Committee, which was pointed out by Donnelly GOP Rep. Ken Roberts to Caswell on Tuesday.
The legislative heartburn comes down to three main issues:
1) The success of that memorial shows they don´t want the wolves in Idaho at all.
2) Many, especially Republicans, don´t like Idaho dealing with the state´s Native American tribes in ways that treat the two governments as equals.
And 3) they don´t want to pay to manage the wolves at all, and they´re afraid that when the feds finally “delist” the species, the money to manage them will stop coming from Washington, D.C.
That could force the Legislature to either pony up the money or risk the chance that the federal government would take over the whole project again.
Legislators like Barrett and former Resources Chairwoman JoAn Wood think the agreement is simply against the state laws passed in the past few years making sure the Legislature has oversight of the management process.
Others, like House Majority Leader Lawerence Denney, think the agreement gives the tribe too much power.
“But what is frustrating to us is this agreement kept us out of the loop entirely,” he said Tuesday.
“This was secret from us until about a week ago.”
Newcomb acknowledges that neither his caucus nor the Senate can stop Kempthorne from signing the deal, though.
“But it would not be a good thing to sign something the Legislature is totally against,” he said.
