New Law Amends Grazing Leases

Gov. Phil Batt on Monday signed a new law designed to make it difficult for environmentalists to bid on state grazing lands.

His predecessor, Gov. Cecil Andrus, vetoed similar legislation last year, calling it the “great terrain robbery” by cattlemen.

The bill gives the state Land Board, of which Batt is a member, new guidelines to consider when working on the renewal of leases for state grazing lands.

The governor also vetoed a bill allowing the Fish and Game Department to use state Tax Commission information to determine whether a person seeking a resident hunting or fishing license had filed resident tax returns, and a bill eliminating the refund provision in a barley assessment bill.

Environmentalist Jon Marvel of Hailey and his Idaho Watersheds Project have been trying to land leases on state land now used for cattle, contending land and water quality will be improved if cattle are kept out.

The Land Board has ruled against Marvel in the past, and the bill signed by Batt on Monday gives preference to ranchers who currently hold the lease to renew it.

The measure requires an environmental management plan plus the ability to carry it out. Sponsors acknowledged that would make it all but impossible for non-producers to win leases if there’s a conflict with a current cattle operation.

Also signed into law Monday were bills eliminating the outdated requirement for an advisory vote before the Legislature could consider amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and a bill allowing nontraditional students dual enrollment in public schools.

After controversy in the 1970s over Idaho’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, a law was passed requiring an advisory vote before the Legislature can deal with proposed amendments to the federal constitution. But an attorney general’s advisory in 1986 said it was unconstitutional, because only Congress can regulate the process by which states ratify amendments.

“What makes it unconstitutional is that we have to wait until after an advisory vote before we can take action,” said Rep. John Tippets, R-Bennington, during House debate.

The dual enrollment bill could allow nonpublic students to compete on athletic teams and other activities in public schools.When the law takes effect July 1, students in alternative schools also can enroll in public schools.