ICL Blog

Every two years electric utilities must develop a resource plan that details how much energy they will need and how they will generate that energy. It’s a complicated process that considers economics, fuel prices, greenhouse gas emissions, energy-efficiency measures, and many other factors.

I’ve been participating in Idaho Power’s planning process for over a year. I sit on an advisory council where I advocate for more energy efficiency and renewable energy. Idaho Power has come a long way in developing a cleaner resource portfolio, but the company still has so much more it can do to reduce its contribution to climate change.

Now is your chance to participate!  Idaho Power is holding three public hearings next week in Boise, Pocatello, and Twin Falls so it can hear from customers on its 2009 plan.

Idaho Power must also submit its plan to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which gives you the chance to make your own comments. The PUC is taking public comment through April 15.

Look over Idaho Power’s plan on its website or the PUC’s. Let Idaho Power know you support energy efficiency and renewable energy!

Police departments in Boise, Garden City and Meridian are now offering a safe way to dispose of old or unwanted medications and drugs. Metal bins are available at these police departments. Residents can drop off pharmaceuticals in a "no questions asked" environment. 

Kudos to these police departments and the cities for sponsoring the regional "takeback" program. This program will help keep these medications from tainting our water and littering our streets.

Idahoans have let policymakers know that we value our state parks. But there are other conservation issues that you should also be aware of. Keep reading!

State Parks
Thanks in part to you, Governor Otter has backed away from eliminating the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the state is committed to keeping all our state parks open! Check out our park system and make your plans to visit one soon!

Water Quality
After two years of budget cuts and holdbacks, one of the most fundamental functions of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has been eliminated–water quality monitoring. On Wednesday, DEQ proposed to suspend all water quality monitoring for another year. This is troubling news, given that water touches the lives of Idahoans every day and should be protected. This move will also likely cost Idahoans more money in the long term.

Grazing
Hoping to resolve ongoing conflicts between ranchers and conservation groups, legislators passed rules governing grazing leases on state land. These rules add new opportunities for leases on state lands, such as conservation and recreation. Time will tell if these rules are enough to end the conflicts.

Dairies
The Idaho Supreme Court ruled this week that Gooding County can enact protective ordinances pertaining to large dairies in the county. Following this ruling, the Idaho Dairy Association will likely push for legislation to prevent local governments from approving tighter restrictions on large dairy operations. I agree with the Times News editorial and think counties should be able to take action to protect the air, water and health of their citizens.

Winter months can mean muddy and messy trails. You can avoid causing permanent trail damage by traveling only on frozen or dry trails. Morning hours are often best for finding a frozen trail. Above all, you should turn around if you encounter muddy trails.

Rules of Thumb for Winter Trail Use

If you are consistently leaving tracks or if mud is sticking to your shoes or tires, turn around. Travel through the puddles and muddy spots. Do not leave the trail to go around them.

In Boise? Look It Up!

But how to do you know a trail will be muddy before you decide to go? Maybe you've wished there was a website where you could read about local trail conditions. In Boise, Ridge to Rivers created a website where trail users can look up current trail conditions.

Today I attended an Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation board meeting. There, Clearwater County Commissioner Don Ebert and several state legislators spoke up for keeping state parks facilities at Dworshak open.

A few months ago, the board attempted to play "hardball," as one member put it, by threatening closure of state park facilities at the North-Central Idaho reservoir. The board had hoped that the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the land around Dworshak, would put up the money to assume management of the campgrounds and boat launches now operated and managed by the state.

The tour de force of elected officials present at the meeting was more than enough to convince the board to change its stance on closing Dworshak after the Army Corps called its bluff.

Everyone acknowledged challenges the Idaho Legislature faces with the state budget, but all of the elected officials present spoke adamantly about keeping state parks open. What was not clear is where the money to do so will come from. A few suggested increased user fees. Others disagreed.

I attended to show support to keep Dworshak and other state parks facilities open to the public. Parks like Dworshak are an important part of the economic vitality of rural Idaho. They are also part of Idaho's great quality of life.

Today, we joined seven other conservation groups in a lawsuit against the Forest Service to protect the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness from illegal mechanized intrusions.

Normally, helicopters are not allowed to land except in emergencies. But the Forest Service recently gave the Idaho Department of Fish and Game permission to use helicopters to collar wolves in the wilderness. 

Fish and Game has the right to monitor Idaho's wildlife, but methods need to be consistent with wilderness values. For example, the Nez Perce Tribe has collared over 30 wolves in the wilderness using traditional trapping methods. 

Almost everywhere else, folks can use ATVs instead of hiking boots and snowmobiles instead of snowshoes because those methods are faster and easier. But we decided the Frank Church is different, it's special, it's the last of what once was, and it's important to meet this wild country on its own terms. 

For these reasons, ICL helped pass the Central Idaho Wilderness Act in 1980, which is why we're stepping up to protect it today. 

This use of helicopters isn’t necessary, isn’t legal and violates the values that the Frank Church Wilderness was designed to preserve.

A recent High Country News article posed the question: "Does the Forest Service truly believe in collaboration?"

It's a worthwhile question because most public land collaborative groups have formed as a result of the inability of the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management to find middle ground on controversial issues.

So interested stakeholders try to learn from "opponents" in search of consensus decisions.

Collaboration doesn't always work, but if local communities, industries, conservationists, off-roaders and others can work toward lasting protections for Idaho's magnificent backcountry and clean water, it's worth a shot.

After years of collaborative discussions, earlier this year Congress passed a bill to protect 517,000 acres of wilderness and 384 miles of wild and scenic rivers in the Owyhee Canyonlands. It was the first Idaho wilderness bill to pass since 1980.

In the Clearwater Basin, we're part of an effort to protect some of the state's most important fish and wildlife habitat, all while providing for economic development and recreational uses. On the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, we are participating in a new effort to find solutions to decades-old disagreements over land use.

The bottom line is that these collaboratives represent the best opportunity we've had in decades to protect Idaho's magnificent backcountry.

Idaho's water quality is of the utmost importance to Idahoans. In fact, protecting ground and surface water quality comes up again and again as the most important environmental issue to Idahoans.

It makes sense: This is the water we drink, bathe our children in, and depend on for the health of our families. It is, therefore, disappointing to see significant reductions in water quality monitoring programs for Idaho.

For a long time, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has partnered with the U.S. Geological Survey to sample and test water quality in the state. By providing minimal matching funds (about $120K), DEQ worked with the USGS to collect information on endangered species, water quality in Idaho, and water contamination cleanups, as well as to identify water quality problems in the state. 

This partnership ended in 2010, when DEQ implemented Governor Otter's holdbacks.

Water quality monitoring is so important for the health of our families. If this is a question of money, consider that it's much cheaper to keep Idaho's water clean than to clean it up after it's degraded

This morning, the legislative body that determines Idaho's state budget discussed the future of our Department of Parks and Recreation with Department Director, Nancy Merrill.

After experiencing a 17% budget cut in 2009 and a 56% holdback in 2010, the Department proposes to cut another $8 million from its budget. Over time, the Department plans to wean itself from state general funds—proposing to make up some of the funding through RV registration fees (about $2 million annually) and the rest in park fees and management changes.

According to the Idaho Department of Commerce, our state parks bring $40 million to Idaho's rural communities. The Department expects the additional cuts to change both who manages parks in the state and how they are managed—looking to volunteers for some staffing and approaching counties to manage some parks. 

We think Idaho has a duty to maintain its state parks and support rural economies through this tough time. There is still time to tell JFAC how important parks are to you.

As part of the Sun Valley Nordic Festival, ICL will host a half-day of ski touring in the Boulder Mountain Foothills Friday, February 5.

The Sun Valley Nordic Festival is a week-long festival celebrating incredible Nordic opportunities in the Wood River Valley and annual Boulder Mountain Tour. The 35th annual Boulder Mountain Tour is a 30-km cross-country ski race from Galena Lodge to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area headquarters north of Ketchum along the Harriman Trail. 

Join ICL's Suki Molina and Megan Stevenson and tour the southwestern edge of the proposed Boulder-White Cloud wilderness area. This tour is open to people of all abilities.

We'll tour snow or shine so come prepared! Bring a lunch and some water; we'll eat partway through the tour.

If you need gear, Backwoods and The Elephant's Perch have great rental fleets.  

Meet at 9:45 Friday morning in the SNRA parking lot to carpool the rest of the way. 

Call Megan at 208.726.7485 to get information or register.

The Idaho Legislature is focused on agency rules, so look for increased activity in the coming weeks.

Water Quality
The Idaho Legislature has approved rules from the Department of Environmental Quality that lower the arsenic level allowable in water. This rule will be more protective of public health and the environment.

Air Quality
The Legislature also approved the final set of rules requiring auto emissions testing in Canyon County. This has been a contentious issue in the state and politically unpopular. But the time has finally come to get serious about improving air quality. A rule to reduce air emissions from gas stations was also approved.

Green Jobs
Idaho democrats introduced a series of bills to create jobs in Idaho. One of the pieces of legislation expedites permitting of renewable energy projects to create more green jobs in Idaho.

Fish and Game
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission presented updates on an array of issues to the House Resources and Conservation Committee. Wolves and bighorn sheep remain hot buttons. The issue seems to be less about science and wildlife management and more about who should be managing these animals—the state or “the feds” (the term of choice for the federal government or federal agencies).

In 2007, the Idaho Legislature passed the Idaho Energy Plan, which included key recommendations to secure Idaho's energy future. The plan called for using renewable energy throughout the state, setting energy efficiency and conservation goals and working to keep energy affordable in Idaho.

Although this plan is aging, many goals are still relevant and should be worked toward. The Idaho Energy Collaborative is trying to build grassroots support for the plan and its goals. Interested? Here is the language of the petition. If you agree, sign it.

"We the people of the state of Idaho, in order to ensure our long-term energy security and independence, request all state agencies, regulatory bodies and our elected officials demonstrate a commitment to the Idaho Energy Plan through expeditious implementation of its recommendations and a demonstrated effort to keep the plan current. We ask the Idaho Legislature to place the high priority on policies and actions promoting conservation, efficiency, and clean renewable energy expansion during the upcoming 2010 legislative session."

Think back to your fondest memories in Idaho’s magnificent outdoor places. Chances are some of those memories include one of Idaho’s 30 state parks. Maybe you hiked in Harriman, camped in Ponderosa or fished at Henrys Lake.

Idaho’s state parks are treasures, and they are threatened by severe budget cuts.

Send Idaho legislators an email today—let them know that you care about Idaho's state parks and want them protected.

Yesterday I attended a meeting of community leaders, elected officials, tribal interests and stakeholders in Bonners Ferry to discuss convening a collaborative process for addressing national forest management issues in Bonner and Boundary Counties.

The idea was floated by Rep. Walt Minnick, based on collaborative models used or underway in the Owyhees and the Clearwater Basin.

So far, three informal meetings have be held. But there has been no definitive commitment to explore opportunities for wilderness designation, timber management and economic development.

But yesterday a show of hands led to the decision to bring in an independent facilitator to explore whether to convene a formal process.

Professional facilitation can be an important tool for drawing out interests, finding common ground and reaching agreement. Still, such groups reach the finish line only if participants share a vision and agree to work toward that vision.

Only time will tell if possibilities for the Panhandle are real.

This is the end of week 2 of the Idaho Legislature. Like many of us, the state is struggling to make ends meet.
 
Budget
Idaho’s budget woes go from bad to worse. The state’s revenue estimates are lower than expected and the state will either need to cut $100 million from the budget or find a way to raise it.
 
Energy
If you're curious about the state of energy policy in Idaho, then check out this report.  In 2007, the Legislature approved an energy plan, which made energy conservation and renewable energy a top priority. As part of the plan, the Idaho Office of Energy Resources and Idaho Public Utilities Commission must submit a report on the progress every two years to ensure it's not collecting dust.
 
State Parks
Despite earlier remarks, Governor Otter announced a proposal today to keep state parks. The proposal has budget reductions and fee increases but keeps the parks open and funds the department that oversees them.

In a victory for North Idahoans, the owners of the Blackwell Island marina have made much-needed changes to their controversial project.

Hagadone Hospitality had proposed to dredge a channel next to Blackwell Island to deepen and enlarge the marina. The dredged material would then be stored on top of the island, which is susceptible to regular flooding.

That's a problem because the sediment is contaminated with toxic heavy metals that have washed downstream from the Silver Valley, home of the Bunker Hill Superfund site.

The Idaho Conservation League teamed up with Spokane Riverkeeper, Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Lands Council and Idaho Rivers United to protest the plan last year.

Concerns expressed by our organizations that the toxic materials could be mobilized and spread downstream were echoed by members of the public and agency representatives.

Thanks to the public outcry and hard work by government agencies, the company has realized it makes more sense to haul the most contaminated wastes to a designated hazardous waste dump than to leave them on the island.

After watching the movie Food Inc., I'm even more appalled by the food industry in our country—and more eager to know exactly where the food I eat comes from.  

Filmmaker Robert Kenner does a fantastic job at showing what is hidden from the American consumer when government regulatory agencies stand by the inhumane practices taking place within our food industry.

Factory farming may provide cheap prices in the grocery store, but the actual costs are much greater. The low prices do not reflect local and global environmental pollution; health issues for consumers and factory workers, including food-borne illnesses; costs pertaining to workers rights and litigation, and the list goes on.

If you're ready to take the next step into the local, sustainable food movement, watch this movie and become outraged! Here are ten simple things you can do to start.

Food Inc. is now on DVD. You can find it at your local movie rental shop or on Netflix.

The BLM has a new website showing how some "stimulus dollars" are being spent in Idaho. While some projects are not that exciting (such as chip-sealing a parking lot), others benefit Idaho's pristine backcountry. For instance, one of the projects is installing boundary signs for the new Owyhee wilderness areas!

 Some pertain to trail restoration in wilderness study areas (WSAs) in North Idaho. Resource damage from motorized vehicles has been documented, but instead of closing the trails to motors, as we've asked for years, the BLM has simply fixed up the trails.

The Forest Service also has a list of the projects funded by the Stimulus Bill, but without pictures of the projects. All in all, it's good to see some needed trail maintenance accomplished so that we can safely access Idaho's backcountry.

A welcome news release came through my email last Friday: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to put off a decision about changing the winter levels of Lake Pend Oreille, pending more public review and study.

That's good news for folks in Bonner County who were worried what would happen if the Corps started raising and lowering the lake level during the winter.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

This does not preclude future operations to produce power benefits," said Stuart Cook, chief of the Corps' Operations Division in Seattle. The Corps operates Albeni Falls Dam, which regulates the level of Lake Pend Oreille. "But we do recognize public concern about the proposed operation and we want to fully consider those concerns before making a decision.

BPA requested the option of varying the winter lake level within an up-to-five-foot range to help generate power at Albeni Falls Dam and downstream at Grand Coulee Dam. Local residents questioned whether lake level changes could pose risks to fish and wildlife and infrastructure such as docks.

According to the press release, they plan to hold public meetings in the spring, but it doesn't mention anything about a pending environmental assessment, which many have argued is needed, given the proposed changes.

High Country News covers the issue of mercury in Idaho coming from an Oregon cement plant in an in-depth story featuring our own Justin Hayes. This has been an important step in our efforts to reduce mercury in Idaho's waterways. Protecting the health of Idaho’s children is a key priority.