Panel May Require Permit To Feed Wildlife

Feeding wintering deer and elk may soon take more than just hay. It may require a permit.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is considering a plan to require rural residents who want to feed deer and elk to get a permit. It directed the Department of Fish and Game staff on Thursday to prepare legislation to regulate private feeding.

Feeding is popular in many areas of the state, but it often causes more problems for the animals and other people. It attracts deer and elk near roadways where they get hit by cars, alters natural migration patterns and concentrates the animals so they are more susceptible to disease.

“We need to discourage people from doing it,” said Jeff Siddoway, a commissioner from Terreton.

But other commissioners prefer a voluntary permit that would reduce the private feeders’ liability and gently nudge them into practices that could be sanctioned by the state.

“It would allow us to control it when it started,” said John Burns, the commission’s chairman from Salmon.

The program may be very unpopular with rural residents who like to feed the animals near their homes and hate to see them starve.