The 12-member committee assigned to develop a solution to the big game depredation problem that plagued Idaho last winter has unveiled its compromise recommendations.
And while it emphasizes prevention of damage from marauding wildlife and "mutual respect and trust" between landowners, sportsmen and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to keep the problem in check, the agreement also details a plan for compensating farmers and ranchers for future losses.Committee members Dave Bivens of the Idaho Farm Bureau and Don Clower, chairman of the Idaho Wildlife Council, said at a Boise news conference Monday that the plan worked out over six months of hearings and negotiations throughout the state is virtually guaranteed to please hardly anyone.
"I think the hardest thing will be to get everybody to leave it alone," Clower said. He cited a statement near the end of the nine-page agreement that says the plan is "a delicate balance of accommodations and decisions and must be viewed as a package. Additions or deletions will void the consensus that the committee worked so hard to achieve."
While Bivens and Clower were presenting the plan in Boise, it also was being unveiled by committee members in Lewiston and Rexburg.
The recommendations, including a request to allow the committee to reconvene at least once a year to review the program, will be presented to a legislative oversight panel on Dec. 7. They then will be drafted into the form of legislation for consideration when the Legislature convenes in January.
Included in the plan is establishment of a Wildlife Depredation Account, which would be financed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's operating budget. Clower said although no provision was included in the agreement, committee members discussed the possibility of the Fish and Game Commission increasing hunting license fees by $2 to raise the extra money.
The Wildlife Depredation Account would contain up to $200,000 a year for payment of depredation claims up to $10,000 each, with a $1,000 deductible.
The second fund, called the Wildlife Trust Fund Account, would be established by a $1 million state general-account appropriation from the 1990 Legislature, plus $250,000 a year for five years from interest on Fish and Game dedicated accounts.
As that fund grows toward a maximum of $3 million, interest generated would be used to pay depredation claims over $10,000, or any claims remaining if the Wildlife Depredation Account runs out in a given year.
Any money above $3 million would be used for wildlife habitat enhancement projects or the planting of diversion crops to minimize depredation on private lands.
Toward the goal of prevention, the plan calls for Fish and Game to appoint a Landholder Relations Field Officer in each of its six regions to improve communications with landowners and respond to depredation problems. Any claims for big game damage would go to the field officer, then to a three-member arbitration committee if no agreement could be reached on compensation.
The arbitration committee would be made up of a representative from Fish and Game, a representative of the landowner and a third member chosen by both sides. Any decision reached by the panel would be binding.
The agreement also calls on Fish and Game to carry out a continuing census of big game species in hunting units with identified depredation problems to help balance the number of animals with available habitat.
For their part, hunters would be assured "reasonable access" under the agreement. It would deny payment of any depredation claim to landowners who do not permit reasonable hunting access on or through their property.
Clower said it was one of the final sticking points in negotiations, and one of the keys to final agreement.
The recommendations also include provisions for improving habitat, developing water sources for big game use away from private crops or grazing land, efforts to control herds on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and a number of other projects aimed at reducing or eliminating depredation or potentially damaging wildlife concentrations.
The negotiating committee that came up with the recommendations was created by the 1989 Legislature. Six members were appointed by Fish and Game director Jerry Conley and six by Dick Rush, director of the state Department of Agriculture. It was assisted by Frank Gaffney, a mediator from the Northwest Renewable Resource Center in Seattle.
The 1989 Legislature also appropriated $500,000 from Fish and Game license and tag fees to compensate landowners for big game depredation.