Senator seeks fair field-burning plan

BOISE – Bonner County is being unfairly targeted with smoke during field burning, a freshman senator from North Idaho contended Tuesday.

Sen. Joyce Broadsword, R-Sagle, brought up the issue during a presentation by Mike Everett, the deputy director of the Department of Agriculture, to the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee on the status of field burning in Idaho.

“We need equitability in the smoke plan,” Broadsword told Everett. “It seems when the wind is blowing north, you start burning. It seems like you would rather have it go up north.”

Bonner County residents long have complained that dense smoke from field burning on the Rathdrum Prairie inundates their area during the summer burning season.

Everett disputed Broadsword’s claim.

“If it comes down to going to Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint or Spokane, Spokane will get the smoke every time.”

Broadsword’s main concern is with public health risks from the smoke. In a conversation after the meeting with Everett, however, the first-term senator said many of her worries were eased.

“He told me that the state only burned three days on the Rathdrum Prairie last year, and that they only burned 2,800 acres,” she said.

“That makes me feel a lot better.”

Yet, the ultimate goal is to find alternatives to burning, Broadsword said.

“We have to balance the benefits with the harmful effects, however,” she added.

Under the current plan, field burning is regulated only in the 10 northern counties in Idaho.

The Agriculture Department is working on legislation to get rid of the two-tier system and replace it with a statewide one, Everett said.

But by letting residents of North Idaho know when field burning will start – through additional television and radio advertising – Everett said the number of complaints last year in North Idaho was down 60 percent from 2003 and down 82 percent from 2002.

“The key is communication,” he said.

Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, backed up Everett’s claim during the deputy director’s presentation to the House Agriculture Committee later Tuesday.

He said the complaints he’s received about burning have gone from 50 in 2000 to zero last year.

Broadsword also voiced concern over the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s ability to burn without consulting the Agriculture Department.

She said she hears complaints from constituents in her district about how much leeway the tribe has.

“We troubleshoot with the tribe on a daily basis,” said Sherm Takatori, program manager with the department.