Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Wildlife Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
JFAC approves Fish and Game supplemental to repair Valley Fire damage, advances FY2026 enhancement package
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a $270,000 supplemental for fire damage at the Boise River Wildlife Management Area and recommended a larger FY2026 enhancement package including an $800,000 Idaho Power settlement to restore habitat.
A Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee majority on Wednesday approved a $270,000 one-time supplemental appropriation to the Department of Fish and Game to reimburse costs already incurred addressing Valley Fire damage at the Boise River Wildlife Management Area.
Janet Jessup, a budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the request covers work done in calendar year 2024 after the Valley Fire. “The Valley Fire last year burned approximately 9,900 acres,” Jessup said, and the appropriation will address rehabilitation of habitat on state-managed lands.
The action on the supplemental was moved by Senator Woodward and seconded by Representative Manwaring; the committee recorded the motion as carried and the committee chair instructed staff to forward a due-pass recommendation.
The committee also voted to advance a broader FY2026 enhancement package for the agency that would add funding for multiple projects: license and sales system contract increases; the final year of Albany Falls mitigation; increased recreational access lease costs; phase 2 of a website overhaul; regional office and hatchery improvements; remote connectivity and software licenses; and an Idaho Power settlement tied to Valley Fire rehabilitation. The motion listed a combined request of $11,017,400 from dedicated funds and $7,287,600 from federal funds, for a total of $18,305,000.
Jessup said the Idaho Power settlement would convey $800,000 in FY2026 to Fish and Game to continue habitat rehabilitation started last fall. “With those funds, they can continue the work that they started last fall in making sure that the habitat that was damaged as a result of the Valley Fire is rehabilitated,” she said.
Committee members asked about the composition of the agency’s federal funds; Jessup summarized major federal funding sources including Bonneville Power Administration agreements, Dingell-Johnson distributions (federal excise tax on angler gear) and Pittman-Robertson distributions (excise tax on firearms and ammunition).
The committee also approved two reappropriation language items the agency requested to allow unfinished FY2025 projects (deferred maintenance, the Pocatello office remodel and the website overhaul) to use remaining appropriations in FY2026, and to allow the department to retain balances in the depredation fund to match timing of reimbursements.
The committee recorded that the supplemental and the reappropriation language will be forwarded with a due-pass recommendation to the next legislative steps.
