SB1074 is a bill that would require elk ranchers in Idaho to be licensed. During the debate in the Senate last month, several bills to that ranged from all out bans on elk ranching and ranch hunting, were defeated. In their place the elk ranchers created SB1074.

This bill was passed in a full Senate vote 24 – 9 but when the bill got to the House, Speaker Lawerence Denney said he was going to hang on to that bill until such time as the Idaho Elk Breeders Association had decided exactly what they wanted on that bill. At issue is the licensing. The elk industry is overseen by the Agriculture Department and no other industry governed by the AD is required to be licensed. Some within the elk industry feel this is discriminatory and sets a bad precedence. Others also wonder if this is just one step closer to providing lawmakers an easier means of shutting down the industry.

It appears the the bill will get a bit of a modification before it goes to a hearing of the House Agricultural Affairs Committee on Friday. The amended bill will be worded such that any attempt to remove the licenses of elk ranchers would have to prove that the ranchers “knowingly” were breaking the rules. Previous wording simply stated that anyone not adhering to the rules governing elk ranching could lose their license.

Speaker Denney said he thought this amendment would help to target only those in the elk industry that are “bad actors”. He will move the bill before the committee.

As would be expected, Sen. David Langhorst said the original bill was weak and this bill only further weakens it. He called it an “industry whitewash bill”. Nothing short of all out banning of the entire industry would satisfy Sen. Langhorst so no matter what the elk industry opted to do, he would have criticized.

It is unclear at this time whether this amended bill has the full support of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association.

Tom Remington

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