Gubernatorial Candidates Let Issues Do The Talking Paths Diverge When Questions Turn To State Leases, Dam Breaching

Dirk Kempthorne wants to experiment with state management of federal land, but Bob Huntley says there’s no point unless Idaho gets money to do it.

“We have been managing and mismanaging lands for years, and know how to do both,” said Huntley, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Kempthorne, the Republican candidate, contends Idaho has proved it can “do a very effective, efficient job of it.”

“We could take parcels of that in a pilot project … and demonstrate how effective we are.”

Independent candidate Peter Rickards is open to the idea, but worries about funding.

“You don’t want to assume control of what you can’t really afford to control,” said Rickards, who is campaigning to draw attention to nuclear waste issues.

Idaho’s governor, who also heads the state Land Board, plays a key role in decisions that affect the state’s economy and environment. The Idaho Spokesman-Review asked the three candidates for governor about their positions on some of those issues. Here’s where they stand:

Docks in swimming areas

Should private boat docks be allowed in public swimming areas? The state Land Board granted a permit for one next to Coeur d’Alene’s City Beach, then revoked it, prompting homeowner Don Dupont to sue. Now that a court has ruled for Dupont, at least three other dock applications are pending in busy Lake Coeur d’Alene swimming areas, and the state is asking the court to rethink its decision.

Kempthorne advocates a careful approach.

“While I am a staunch advocate of private property rights, we must be very careful how and to what extent we allow private property owners to impact state resources,” he said.

Huntley, as a state Supreme Court justice, wrote the landmark decision in the case of Kootenai Environmental Alliance vs. Panhandle Yacht Club that established the “public trust doctrine” for dealing with lake access. The Legislature two years ago overturned portions of that decision.

“This is a tough one,” Huntley said. “Private individuals should be allowed reasonable use of public waters, consistent with maintaining reasonable access for the general public.

“In some instances it’s appropriate to have private piers, and in other instances it is not. That would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

Rickards said he’d lean toward public access and against private boat docks where the public swims. “You can’t really legitimately swim around speedboats and such coming into a dock,” he said. “I am a firm believer in public access to the beautiful parts of the state, especially when there’s a history of public access there.”

Dam breaching

With scientists suggesting that removing the earthen portion of the four lower Snake River dams would help save endangered salmon runs in Idaho, debate has swelled over the costs and benefits of such a move.

Kempthorne said, “Throughout the region … there remains considerable doubt about the wisdom of breaching the dams.”

Even if future studies show that’s the way to go, he said, the studies, engineering work, lawsuits and the congressional end of the change could take decades. “I don’t think we can stand around and argue while waiting for a single draconian measure to be implemented.”

Kempthorne said he would push for other, more immediate measures, from pushing for limits on commercial fish harvests downstream to measures designed to cut down on predation on fish by birds and other fish. He also favors research into new ways to make dam turbines less lethal to fish, and changes to the Columbia River to provide better fish habitat.

Huntley, on the other hand, favors breaching the four dams, as long as the action is combined with programs to compensate Lewiston-area interests that would suffer economically from the loss of the Lewiston seaport.

“Since the construction of the Lower Snake dams, wild salmon and steelhead runs have plummeted by more than 80 percent,” Huntley said.

The four dams were built to provide the Hanford Nuclear Reservation with power during the Cold War and to make Lewiston an inland seaport, he said. “The dams have outlived their benefit to the regional economies and stand in the way of economically vital salmon and steelhead recovery.”

Huntley said breaching the dams is the only option being considered that is likely to restore Idaho’s fish runs, and the only plan that doesn’t rob Idaho of precious water. “We have to emphasize again and again that the only way to save eastern Idaho water is to restore the normal river on the Snake by breaching the dams,” he said.

Huntley also said breaching is reversible - if the dams are needed in the future, the earthen portion could be restored.

Rickards also favors breaching the four dams. “You look at the original salmon runs - that is God’s blessing of plenty, and we’re squandering it,” he said. “I don’t think every endangered species should be saved, but the difference between the spotted owl and the salmon is we can eat the salmon. That’s a huge difference to me.”

State land leasing

The Land Board has struggled in recent years with how to set fair rents for state-owned plots that are rented to people who have built private cabins on them. It has also refused to consider bids for state grazing leases from Jon Marvel’s Idaho Watersheds Project, a group that wants to let the land rest rather than graze livestock on it.

The state is constitutionally required to manage state lands for long-term gain to the school endowment fund.

Kempthorne said he thought the current board had “acted responsibly” in setting up bidding qualifications designed to exclude Marvel. “As chairman of the Land Board, the governor must carefully balance the fiduciary responsibility to Idaho’s education system and other endowment beneficiaries with the time-proven, long-term returns associated with historical uses of endowment lands.”

The same balance is called for on cottage sites, Kempthorne said. “At the same time, lease-holders deserve reasonable, predictable and fair rates and rate changes, as well as recognition for the improvements they have made to the land.”

Huntley said his guiding principle would be “managing the lands for the highest and best use to bring in money for the endowment fund.”

“In some cases, that might mean something other than grazing,” he said. “But in most cases, I would not vote for a nongrazing bid where it would destroy the economic viability of an adjacent cattle or sheep operation,” such as by cutting off the operation from its water.

Cottage site rents “should be pegged close to fair-market value,” Huntley said. “But the state in the past has underpriced rents, and people have invested in cottages based on that level. The rate of increase should be phased in over a number of years, perhaps 10.”

Rickards said, “I will continue the Land Board vote against Jon Marvel. … You can’t eat lawsuits, but Idaho cattle are delicious.”

He would support moderate increases in cottage site rents, but favors exemptions for people who can’t afford the increases. “If there are really first-class accommodations used by rich people, I wouldn’t mind having a sliding scale, so we do extract a little more money from the Bruce Willises and such.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: IN THIS SERIES This is the second of a two-part series examining Idaho gubernatorial candidates’ positions on issues facing the state.