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Legislative finance panel approves Fish and Game relief for Valley Fire damage and FY2026 enhancements
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a supplemental $270,000 for FY2025 to cover Boise River Wildlife Management Area damage from the Valley Fire and later voted to advance a larger FY2026 funding package that includes an $800,000 Idaho Power settlement for fire rehabilitation.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on the floor approved a $270,000 supplemental appropriation to the Department of Fish and Game to cover costs already incurred to address damage at the Boise River Wildlife Management Area after the Valley Fire.
Janet Jessup, a budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the department requested the supplemental to cover work done in calendar year 2024 to repair habitat damaged by the fire. “This action was requested by the Department of Fish and Game, to provide for funds that were already expended in fiscal in calendar year 2024 to address damage that was done at the Boise in on the Boise River Wildlife Management Area as a result of the Valley Fire,” Jessup said.
The committee also considered the Department’s FY2026 enhancement package, which included upgrades to license and sales systems, hatchery and regional office repairs, software and IT hardware, and funding tied to mitigation agreements with Bonneville Power Administration. Jessup told the committee the Valley Fire burned roughly 9,900 acres last summer and that Idaho Power agreed to convey $800,000 in FY2026 to fund rehabilitation work.
Committee members asked about the sources of the agency’s federal funds and federal distributions used by the department for hatcheries and research. Jessup explained that the agency’s federal funds include Bonneville Power Administration reimbursements, federal distributions under the Dingell-Johnson program and Pittman-Robertson funds, and other federal grants. “Those sources alone are about 92% of the agency’s federal fund budget,” she said.
Senator Woodward moved the FY2026 enhancement package for the department, which totaled $18,305,000 from a mix of dedicated and federal funds (the motion itemized multiple line items including license system increases, Albany Falls funding, hatchery equipment and regional renovations). The motion received a recorded committee vote and was forwarded with a due-pass recommendation.
The committee also approved two reappropriation language items to allow unspent FY2025 appropriations for the department’s website overhaul, Pocatello office remodel and other ongoing projects to be used in FY2026, and to permit the department to carry forward the balance of the depredation fund for timing of reimbursements.
The committee recorded its formal votes and issued a due-pass recommendation for the supplemental and the FY2026 package to move forward to the full Legislature for consideration.
