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Idaho Fish and Game director outlines agency finances, staffing and access goals in annual performance briefing
Summary
Idaho Fish and Game Director Jim Fredericks presented the agency’s FY24 performance report to the House Resources and Conservation Committee, emphasizing license-reliant funding, near-target program outcomes and pressures from inflation and system transitions.
Jim Fredericks, director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, briefed the House Resources and Conservation Committee on the agency’s mission, funding and performance measures for fiscal year 2024.
Fredericks said Fish and Game receives no state general fund dollars and is primarily supported by license sales, permits and federal excise taxes. “License revenue accounted for 49% of our total receipts,” he said, and noted that some license prices are set by statute and have not changed in nearly two decades.
The director highlighted four strategic goals: sustain fish and wildlife and habitats; meet demand for hunting, fishing and trapping; improve public understanding and engagement; and enhance departmental capacity. He cited specific performance metrics: a license-check violation rate target under 10% (FY24 was 9.5%), near-target hatchery stocking levels adjusted for stock-recovery priorities, access-enrollment acreage targets for private and corporate lands, and staff hiring/retention measures (two-year retention at 83% vs. an 88% target).
Fredericks said some FY24 variances stemmed from implementation timing for new financial systems and inflation-driven cost increases that raised expenditures for capital projects and maintenance. He also explained the department tracks public-access acreage through several programs and noted some corporate timberlands moved into federal Forest Legacy protections, altering how access is counted.
Committee members asked how baseline performance targets were developed. Fredericks said targets reflect program capacity and managers’ professional judgment — stocking goals, for example, reflect hatchery capacity and region managers’ requests — and are adjusted when ecological conditions change, such as reduced kokanee stocking when natural reproduction increases.
The director closed by noting the agency’s measures are used to guide decisionmaking and that staff remain available for committee follow-up on specific items.
