Idaho House says no to conservation permits

BOISE - A divided House voted 43-25 Thursday to kill a measure aimed at charging non-hunters to set foot on Idaho's 32 state-owned wildlife management areas.

The plan, sponsored by Republican Rep. Judy Boyle from Midvale, would have required Idaho adults to purchase a $10 conservation permit if they wanted to go hiking or boating in one of these areas, with proceeds going to help maintain such areas.

Adults from outside the state would have paid $20 for the permits.

Boyle says she's "complained bitterly" for years about non-hunters getting a free ride on Department of Fish and Game lands, while people who buy hunting, trapping or fishing licenses are forced to pay.

After an hour's debate, however, a majority of the chamber sided with lawmakers who described this as a new tax that would make it tough for families and children to enjoy Idaho's great outdoors and a possible public-relations nightmare for Idaho.

The bill was "nothing more than trolling for dollars," said Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, who offered to let her House colleagues come to her home in the central Idaho mountains and watch deer in her front yard and wolves out the back door - for free.

Boyle was joined by passionate hunters like Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, as well as bird watching enthusiasts such as Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d'Alene, in backing the plan.

They called it an extension of Idaho's increasing "user pay" philosophy that's taken hold this year in the form of weaning agencies like the Department of Parks and Recreation off much of its state support, in favor of boosting rates.

"People are not paying their fair share," Hagedorn said. "We've got to start collecting some revenue, or hunters and fishermen are going to close down places like the Farragut Wildlife Management Area" near northern Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille.

In crafting this measure, Boyle secured commitments from Fish and Game Director Cal Groen to ease Idaho into this new concept. That plan included giving warnings, not immediately issuing fines, against people who wandered onto wildlife management areas without a hunting, fishing, trapping or conservation permit.

"Fish and Game has always been a pay to play organization - except with these non-sportsmen," Boyle said.

In the end, however, Idaho lawmakers were reluctant to give up on the notion that their constituents can use the state's public lands without having to reach for their wallets.

Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, says he's had a hunting license for years that helps maintain Fish and Game property, but he doesn't mind sharing with non-hunters if they want to step off the beaten path, too.

"For the families that need to get outside and enjoy free exercise and good, free recreation time, this is going to be a detriment," Nielsen said.