Idaho Legislative Session
The Idaho Legislative Session began Monday, January 6, with Governor Little's State of the State address. IDL has several pending rules this session, however, we have no proposed legislation this session.
IDL is following several bills:
The IDL Legislative Update will be available each week as we follow the session noting hearings and legislation that we will be following.
IDL Budget
JFAC Natural Resources Maintenance Budget
For the second year JFAC is first setting maintenance budgets for categories of agencies. IDL falls under the Natural Resources Maintenance Budget which also includes DEQ, Fish & Game, EFIB, Parks & Recreation and Water Resources.
On January 17, 2025, a combined total of $513,855,000 was approved for the agencies.
IDL's Decision Units are scheduled to go before JFAC on February 11.
Rulemaking Presentations
IDL will present seven sets of proposed rule changes to House Resources & Conservation Committee on Thursday, February 13. The hearing before the Senate Resources & Environment Committee is scheduled for February 26.
Rules Governing Administration of Cottage Site Leases on State Land
IDAPA 20.03.13 - Pending Rule
Rules Governing Grazing, Farming, Conservation, Noncommercial Recreation, and Communication Site Leases
IDAPA 20.03.14 - Pending Rule
Rules Governing Geothermal Leasing on Idaho State Lands
IDAPA 20.03.15 - Pending Rule
Rules Governing Oil and Gas Leasing on Idaho State Lands
IDAPA 20.03.16 - Pending Rule
The Idaho Department of Lands administers IDAPA 20.03.16, Rules Governing Oil and Gas Leasing on Idaho State Lands, an oil and gas leasing program on behalf of the Land Board for state endowment trust lands and lands owned by other state agencies.
Rules Pertaining to Forest Fire Protection
IDAPA 20.04.01
Rules Pertaining to the Idaho Forestry Act and Fire Hazard Reduction Laws
IDAPA 20.04.02
Rules Governing Conservation of Oil and Natural Gas in the State of Idaho
IDAPA 20.07.02 - Pending Rule
Watch the committee hearings:
Safety Employee of the Year Award 2024
Jonathan Luhnow has been named IDL’s 2024 Safety Employee of the Year for his outstanding contributions to the IDL safety culture. This award is to recognize Jonathan for consistently making safety a priority and for his safety contributions that go above and beyond normal responsibilities.
Here are a few examples of how Jonathan’s involvement and dedication to safety have improved the quality of the IDL workplace:
- Jonathan goes above and beyond to assist with medical kits for the area fire crews. He helps order medical supplies, reviews kits checklist, and leads first aid kit inventory training in the spring. He has also facilitated fire related medical scenarios in order to expose the fire crew to potential medical incidents in a safe setting.
- He has expanded his safety knowledge outside of IDL with his local community through EMS, along with Search and Rescue. In turn, he brings that knowledge back to IDL to improve workplace safety.
- Jonathan’s approach to safety is both proactive and comprehensive. He played a key role in the purchase and carrying of soft stretchers and other appropriate first aid gear on our engines, further improving our firefighters’ capabilities during medical emergencies on an incident. He is often the first to identify potential hazards and take the appropriate steps to address them. Whether through conducting regular safety audits, leading training sessions, or improving safety protocols, John has made a tangible impact on our safety culture.
Jonathan was selected for this award from nominations submitted to the IDL Safety Committee. Be sure to keep safety your priority and notice when your fellow employees go above and beyond for workplace safety. This is an annual award, and nominations will be requested next fall for the 2025 award.
Please join me in congratulating Jonathan!
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 left to right, Jonathan Luhnow and Dustin Miller, photo by Michele Andersen
Opinion - Ongoing fire suppression funding needed now
Director Miller, Boise Fire Chief Mark Neimeyer and White Bird Volunteer Fire Department Chief Paul Hefner sent out a joint opinion piece to media statewide.Here is a portion of the article:
Wildfire is a big part of life in the West but how states prepare and respond to it can vary greatly. Let us give you an example.
A few months ago, the governor of Oregon had to call a special legislative session to pay the state’s fire bills for the 2024 fire season.
In Idaho, we had the resources ready to pay firefighters and contractors for their work on our fires, thanks to the good sense of our governor and Idaho Legislature in ensuring the state’s fire suppression account was adequately funded.
Our state leaders have a superior track record of giving us as fire managers the tools we need to expedite initial attack on wildfires, thereby limiting overall fire costs. In fact, the State of Idaho’s fire suppression costs are nearly seven times LESS than our federal partners!
Fighting wildfires is becoming more expensive, but debt financing is not a responsible or effective approach for quickly suppressing fires. Debt financing fire suppression leaves state and local fire managers like us in the undesirable position of telling our people on the front lines that there is uncertainty whether the funding will be there to pay the bills at a later date.
Director Miller Featured on The Ranch Podcast
Director Miller was interviewed on The Ranch Podcast, discussing Fire Preparation in Idaho. Along with explaining the IDL Fire program, he emphasized the need for ongoing funding in the Fire Suppression account, the Governor's commitment to improved fire management through his Wildfire Report and the Keeping Promises budget recommendations that grew out of the report, and the improved federal land management coming with two key USDA appointees.
Foresters Forum
The 23rd Foresters Forum took place in Coeur d'Alene February 5-7.
The forum is dedicated to providing professional foresters the opportunity to focus on their professions, learn new ideas, techniques and technologies and share information.
IDL State Forester Julia Lauch welcomed the attendees on Thursday February 6. She gave a overview of her background, education, and key decision points in her career. Julia noted challenges, potential for changes on the horizon, and how Idaho is poised well to adapt to these opportunities. The future for forest health, active forest management, and effective fire suppression in Idaho looks bright. Julia is honored and excited to be the State Forester and looking forward to collaboration and advocating for Idaho forests.
IDL's Forest Health Specialist Isabella Valdez was featured in a breakout session titled Insects and Disease: Sharing is not Caring. Isabella has been with IDL for nearly three years helping diagnose, manage, and monitor forest diseases and insect pathogens.
IAC Public Lands & Natural Resource Committee Presentation
The Director was asked to present at the Idaho Association of Counties Mid-Winter Conference. On Monday, January 27, he spoke to the Public Lands & Natural Resources Committee regarding an update on the past fire season, the Governor's request and report and the state's fire preparedness.
Idaho 2025 Environmental Policy Forum
The Environmental Policy Forum was held on Thursday, January 30 at the Capital City Event Center.
State Forester Julia Lauch participated on a panel titled Living with Fire. Other participants included Grant Beebe from NIFC, Mike Maltaverne from Teton County Fire, and Mel Junkel with Idaho Power.
Several members of IDL staff attended the event, including Director Miller.
Congressman Fulcher Wildfire Prevention Roundtable
Rep. Russ Fulcher held a wildfire prevention roundtable on Friday, January 31 in Cascade. IDL State Forester Julia Lauch joined representatives from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, county commissioners and key stakeholders.
The discussion focused on addressing the financial toll of Idaho’s devastating 2024 wildfire season, the importance of wildfire prevention and land restoration efforts, in addition to the need for stronger collaboration among federal, state, and local agencies.
Idaho Rangeland Conservation Partnership 2025 Annual Meeting
On January 28th and 29th, IDL staff attended the Idaho Rangeland Conservation Partnership (IRCP) annual meeting at the Idaho Fish and Game office in Nampa. The IRCP serves as a conduit among rangeland stakeholders. It helps bring groups together that may not always have another avenue to communicate with each other on rangeland issues. This year, the topics covered at the annual meeting were fire and fences.
On day one of the meeting, IDL’s Dean Johnson joined other panel members to discuss fire management and the value of partnerships when fighting wildfire and using prescribed burns as a management tool. The panel highlighted the work on the ongoing juniper treatment project in the Owyhee’s that brought together state, federal, private and NGO representatives for a common goal of improving the rangeland condition, habitat and hydrology of the project area. This project uses prescribed fire and strategic livestock grazing to manage fuel loads in conjunction with the juniper removal.
Day two focused on fencing laws, flaws and benefits on rangelands. Panelists discussed the different types of fencing and various height requirements depending on the purpose, location, and wildlife concerns across the range. Director Miller was joined by Addie Faust and John Richards across the two day event in support of Dean and Idaho’s rangelands.
photos by Addie Faust
 
Revised Fleet Management Policy
Several changes are now in effect regarding IDL's vehicle fleet. IDL Facilities/Fleet Manager Derrick Reeves offers a summary of the policy changes:
The most significant change is standardizing the fleet by vehicle class. The primary impact of that on staff is that vehicles will no longer need to be spec'd when ordering vehicles. Some of the responsibilities associated with fleet management have been delineated and documented, and some minor changes were made to the forms that will be utilized for transferring and disposing of current fleet vehicles. In addition to the changes in the Fleet Management Policy, there are now procedures documents detailing the steps to take when transferring or disposing of vehicles.
Other changes are the upgrades to the Capital Outlay Vehicle Replacement Order Form. The form autoroutes users through the process and is very user friendly with forms and instructions for employees on SharePoint.
Two micro-learnings will be offered to employees in February.
In Case You Missed It
Here's a recap of other recent IDL newsletters you may find interesting:
One Team One Voice Webpage
Did you miss some important news? Are you curious about knowing what's happening across IDL? Our One Team, One Voice webpage contains an archive of IDL's newsletters covering:
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