BOISE, ID – Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed into law a bill on Wednesday that changes how some state agency directors are appointed. The bill has raised concerns from opponents that the law could jeopardize the future of Harriman State Park.
Senate Bill 1300 changes current practice to make it so that the directors of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Transportation Department and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation will be appointed by the governor and subject to confirmation by the Idaho Senate.
Previously, those directors have been appointed by independent boards.
Officials with the nonprofit Friends of Harriman State Park have publicly raised concerns that changing the appointment process for the director of the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation could violate the agreement the Harriman family made to give the land for the park to the state.
Situated in eastern Idaho, Harriman State Park is an 11,000-acre park and wildlife refuge that is home to moose, cranes, trout, trumpeter swans, bears and other animals. The park provides year-round recreational activities for the public, including cross-country skiing, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and fishing. The park is home to about eight miles of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, a world famous fly fishing stream.
Political appointment process could violate Harriman State Park management requirement, Friends group says
One of the conditions of the gift agreement is that Harriman State Park be managed by a professional staff selected on the basis of merit, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported. The Friends of Harriman State Park said shifting to a political appointment process to name the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation director could violate that requirement to staff and manage the park based on merit.
“It’s very concerning to the Friends of Harriman State Park,” the group’s vice president, Mary Noonan, said in a phone interview March 5. “The gift agreement was very specific on the terms by which this extremely generous gift was given to the people of Idaho. One of those terms is this over-11,000 acres of wild and pristine land, which was known as Railroad Ranch, would become a state park managed by professional staff chosen on merit.”
When he signed the bill this week, Little wrote a transmittal letter to legislators saying that even though the bill changes the appointment process, the agency directors will still be selected based on merit.
“The confirmation process and the separation of powers provided therein ensure that agency directors are selected on the basis of merit to carry out the mission of their respective agency,” Little wrote.
Little did not specifically mention Harriman State Park in the letter.
“These professional qualifications are not only an expectation but statutory requirements, not just for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game but all agencies,” Little added. “Senate Bill 1300 does nothing to alter the statutory qualifications; it simply amends the appointment process.”
The law is scheduled to take effect July 1.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
