Rep. Boyle’s lands bill clears House panel on party-line vote

After a contentious hearing in which many people heatedly objected to opening any door to selloff of Idaho’s prized public lands, the House Resources Committee has voted 12-3 in favor of HB 582 , legislation from Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, called the “Idaho Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act.” Only the committee’s three minority Democrats voted against the bill. It argues that the state should get title to the federal public lands within its borders, and declares that if it does, it’ll manage them for “multiple use and sustained yield in relation to timber production and harvest, livestock range, mineral exploration and development, watershed, fish and wildlife and outdoor recreation.”

Backers of the bill said they believed the state could better manage the land than the federal government. Opponents said they treasure their access to the public lands now for hunting, fishing, camping and more.

You can read an Idaho Attorney General’s opinion here on the bill; it examines the argument in the bill that the state should get title to the lands, and concludes, “This premise has no support in the law.”

Asked about the opinion, Boyle said, “There are a lot of people that have different opinions than our Attorney General.”

Rep. Fred Wood, R-Burley, asked Boyle, “Why was it expressly left out of the bill that we would not sell any lands we get?” She responded, “I left that out because this is solely about management. I thought that should be a separate conversation.”

Wood said, “I think that would go a long way to alleviate some of the issues that we’ve heard, if there was something in the language that said we would not sell the land. Because explicitly leaving that out, whether it’s only because of management or whatever, causes significant consternation in a lot of corners. No matter how you frame it, because it was specifically left out, I think it opens up the whole issue to whether or not we’re being honest with everybody.” Nevertheless, he voted in favor of the bill with the rest of the panel’s Republicans.

Rep. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, said, “I’d hate to see us put bad law and enshrine it in statute.” An attorney, said, “Having listened to the attorney from Utah, I truly believe he is selling snake oil. That equal footing doctrine – it made no logical sense, it made no legal sense. … I do not believe there is a court in this nation that would buy the equal footing doctrine as he laid it out there.”

The bill now moves to the full House. To become law, it needs passage there and in the Senate and Gov. Butch Otter’s signature.