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Panel moves RS 31921 to print to create depredation appeals board for wildlife kills
Summary
The committee voted to send RS 31921 to print. The request would authorize a Depredating Wildlife Appeals Board to review Wildlife Services' determinations of depredation and potentially alter confirmed/probable findings that affect reimbursement and control actions.
The Resources & Environment Committee voted to send RS 31921 to print after testimony that the request would create a Depredating Wildlife Appeals Board to review federal Wildlife Services determinations of livestock kills by wolves, bears and mountain lions.
Dexter Lake, representing the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, told the committee that currently Wildlife Services, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is the state's only authorized investigator for suspected depredations. He said the federal agency often focuses on examination of the carcass and that, if a producer does not receive a "confirmed depredation" finding, the producer may be ineligible for state or federal reimbursement. "The only authorized investigator in the state right now is Wildlife Services," Lake said. "If the producer doesn't get what's referred to as a confirmed depredation, there's no recourse for that producer in terms of a depredation reimbursement."
Under the proposal, an appeals board made up of directors of Fish and Game and Agriculture or their appointees, and a veterinarian, would review evidence submitted by producers and the initial investigator and could change the original ruling. Lake described a four-tier grading system used by Wildlife Services: confirmed; probable (for which state funds may be paid); possible; and unknown. After a ruling, producers apply to the Office of Species Conservation (OSC) to access available funds.
Committee members raised concerns about process and fairness. Senator Taylor asked who would conduct follow-up investigations; Lake replied appeals would not create a new field-investigation team and that producers would be responsible for submitting photos, game camera footage, telemetry or other documentation. When Taylor said relying on photographs could produce an "inequitable process," Lake responded the board could rely on the initial investigator's report and request clarifying input from that investigator.
On costs and timeline, Lake said the request does not include new full-time staff and that, in consultation with Fish and Game and OSC, he expected the board to meet as needed—"once or twice a year at the beginning"—and that OSC payment timelines would not require immediate hearings. Senator Cook moved to send RS 31921 to print; the motion passed by voice vote.
If printed and later enacted, the appeals board would create a state-level review mechanism for depredation findings but would not eliminate Wildlife Services' role as the initial investigator.
