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Committee hears reappointment pitch from Office of Species Conservation administrator Mike Edmonson
Summary
Mike Edmonson appeared for a gubernatorial reappointment hearing before the Senate Resources & Environment Committee and discussed priorities including grizzly bear delisting and sage-grouse resource management.
Mike Edmonson, administrator of the governor—s Office of Species Conservation, appeared before the Senate Resources & Environment Committee for a gubernatorial reappointment hearing.
Edmonson said he appreciates serving the governor and the legislature and that he had been administrator since approximately February (confirmed in 02/2022). “I love serving the governor. I love working with this body and I love leading the office of species conservation,” he said.
Committee members asked about priorities and challenges facing his office. Edmonson identified federal rulemaking under the Endangered Species Act and NEPA as a current area of focus and said Idaho will work on the status of grizzly listing and on resource management plans for the greater sage-grouse.
On grizzly bears, Edmonson described a recent federal rule that combined Western-state grizzly populations into a single distinct population segment, and said Idaho would pursue a rulemaking path that could delist recovered populations while allowing other populations a route to delisting. He noted that litigation would likely follow any federal rule change and said Congress passing a delisting statute, as happened with wolves, could offer a faster path.
The committee did not vote on the reappointment at this meeting; the hearing concluded and the committee will consider confirmation at a later date.
