A rodent ‘emergency’: Lawmakers start to set a trap for Treasure Valley rats

Rats are already a problem in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. Soon, they could be considered an official “nuisance.”

The change sounds semantic, but a bill moving through the state Senate to shift the classification of rats could have a big impact on how Idaho deals with – and ideally eradicates – the newfound pest.

The Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee on Tuesday agreed to print a bipartisan bill by Treasure Valley Sens. Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, and Steve Berch, D-Boise, that would declare an emergency and require “prompt abatement” of Norway and roof rats, which have gained footing in southern Idaho in step with the region’s rampant population growth.

The “Idaho Rodents of Unusual Size Act,” as Senate Bill 1271 is known, would declare the two common rat species a “public health and safety nuisance,” as well as invasive species, agricultural pests and a “vermin and public health and welfare pest.”

The kitchen-sink approach would empower a range of local and state authorities to take on the problem under the oversight of the state Department of Agriculture. The bill explicitly allows county commissioners, pest control and abatement districts and public health districts to take action on rats of their own accord. Any state agency as well as “any other public or private entity” can also “summarily abate” rats if the director of the Department of Agriculture deems it necessary.

The bill mandates that Director Chanel Tewald draft and implement a “coordinated plan of action” by Nov. 1. And, importantly, it empowers the department to spend money on rat abatement – something it previously lacked legal grounds to do.

As an emergency measure, the law would kick in as soon as Gov. Brad Little signs it.

This is new territory for rats in Idaho. The rodents have existed outside state code for the simple reason that they weren’t known to be in the state. Idaho’s pest management programs traditionally deal with agrarian problems, like noxious weeds, or agricultural raiders like pocket gophers, marmots or voracious insects.

As it stands, rats are not considered wildlife (the purview of Idaho Fish and Game), classified as an invasive species (managed by the state Department of Agriculture) or defined in statute as a “control species” threatening farms or infrastructure (typically handled by county programs).

In committee Tuesday, Nichols pressed for urgency, citing “a concerning increase” in rat activity “where they have not formerly existed in Idaho,” as well as their rampant capacity to reproduce. Under ideal conditions, a single rat pair can theoretically turn into 15,000 more in one year, according to Oklahoma State University.

In January, Nichols hosted informational hearings with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, the Ada County Board of Commissioners and the Ada County Weed, Pest and Mosquito Abatement agency. Each speaker echoed concerns Nichols heard from constituents.

“Their input confirmed that this is a real and growing problem that requires early coordinated action,” she told the Senate committee on Tuesday.

That action will depend on the public’s help. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture to distribute educational materials on the pests and to encourage people to report rats via Idaho’s invasive species hotline. The goal here is mapping – something that social media groups have taken up informally since rat sightings began.

In a previous meeting, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said that it could repurpose the geographic information system reporting software the department developed to monitor aquatic Quagga mussels to track rats. The data, which would be publicly available, could help tailor programs to rat hot spots and concentrate limited resources where they’re most needed.

Down the line, those resources will cost money – and that’s where the legislation stops short. Though it allows the Department of Agriculture to spend on rate abatement, it doesn’t allocate any specific funding to support it.

“These are not free programs,” Tewalt, director of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, said of abatement efforts during the information session on Jan. 22. But, she said, “it really helps us if we have legislative clarity to go out and do this thing.”

For political subdivisions like counties, it mandates that they help “to the maximum extent possible” and “share in the costs of abating rats to the extent that funds are available.” With the Legislature eyeing budget cuts at every turn, “initial costs” of rate abatement would “be addressed by city and county budgets, particularly in the Treasure Valley, Idaho area,” according to the bill’s statement of purpose:

“As additional information becomes available regarding the extent of the rat population, its spread, and appropriate response strategies, costs and potential funding needs may be evaluated by the legislature at a later time.”

In January’s information session, Ada County Weed, Pest and Mosquito Abatement Director Adam Schroeder reiterated that his department was not funded, staffed, equipped or trained to fight rats. While they may be the agency “best positioned” to take on the task, he said, that doesn’t mean they are “well positioned” to do it.

The Senate bill would do little to help that right away, but it would check one item off his wish list: “a framework” for control.

“Legislators need to take a look at some sort of statewide effort,” he said, “so we’re not just moving rats all over Idaho.”