Briefly
Crews get handle on lightning fires
Boise By late Sunday, fire crews had put out all but one of 14 fires started by lightning this weekend in the Boise National Forest and the Idaho Department of Lands management areas. None was larger than half an acre.
The majority of the fires were within the Lowman and Cascade ranger districts. Two were within the Warm Lake area and five near Deadwood Reservoir.
The cloud cover and high humidity helped crews battle the blazes this weekend, officials said. A storm brought scattered rain that helped in the suppression efforts.
Meanwhile, 18 crews continued to work on the Dollar fire near Donnelly. The first major fire of the season has burned 782 acres of parched sub-alpine fir. Crews worked to construct a fireline on the southeast flank while controlling hotspots outside the line. The fire was 35 percent contained Sunday.
FERC tosses appeal
Boise The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dismissed an appeal by environmental groups and said Idaho Power Co. won’t have to do additional fish passage studies for its three-dam Hells Canyon complex.
The commission rejected an appeal filed in June by American Rivers and Idaho Rivers United that said more studies were needed on the habitat of native salmon above the dams. They dismissed the claim because it was submitted after a 30-day deadline to appeal.
The groups said they were disappointed by the dismissal because FERC needs these studies in deciding whether to grant Idaho Power’s request for relicensing the dams on the Snake River.
“Independent scientific studies and studies by all the fisheries agencies indicated more studies were needed for FERC to make a meaningful decision,” said Idaho Rivers United conservation director Jenna Borovansky.
On May 4, the commission ordered Idaho Power to complete additional studies on 14 different topics, excluding fish passage. The commission said then that the utility provided adequate information on its application to evaluate reasonable fish passage alternatives and restoration strategies for native fish above the Hells Canyon dams.
The environmental groups disagreed and filed an appeal on June 11. Later, the Nez Perce Tribe joined the groups, who argue that the Hells Canyon dams are the final barrier barring native salmon from their historic habitat.
They said restoring fish passage at the dams should be Idaho Power’s priority in the efforts to gain a new 30-year federal operating license.
The commission’s decision saved the utility money on the costly studies, but said it does not guarantee the company is exempt from moving salmon past the dams.
Legislator gets threat
Idaho Falls Amid bills and junk mail Rep. Ann Rydalch, R-Idaho Falls, received a handwritten letter threatening her life.
She called Saturday to alert the Idaho State Police, which plans to investigate.
Detective Paul Egbert said the State Police have a good record identifying people who make death threats against public officials.
Rydalch served four terms in the Idaho Senate from 1983-90. She was elected to the state House of Representatives in 2002.
Rydalch won the GOP primary election against Mike Adams in May by a mere 351 votes – even though Adams dropped out of the race. She is running unopposed in November’s general election.
During the 2004 legislative session, Rydalch was involved in a number of high-profile pieces of legislation. She sponsored a tumultuous charter school bill on the House Floor that she called a work in progress.
The package allows charter schools to be created by a state committee without the local district’s approval, while ensuring that the local districts will not be saddled with liability for any charters they refuse to approve.
On hot-topic issues, Rydalch voted to remove Qwest and other local landline telephone service providers from price regulation under the Public Utilities Commission. She also voted for House Joint Resolution 9, which would have changed the Idaho Constitution to say that the only state-recognized marriages will be those between one man and one woman.