Editor’s Note: IDFG’s online comment portal is now open. ICL encourages all wildlife enthusiasts to read the blog below for information on how together, we can re-envision and improve wildlife management in Idaho. Then, attend a public meeting and submit your comments in IDFG’s online portal by Tuesday, April 15: https://idfg.idaho.gov/about/strategic-plan/update. You can also submit your comments by clicking the “Take Action” button below! If we are to protect Idaho’s wildlife heritage, all wildlife enthusiasts must speak up!
Our souls benefit when we pause to refresh in our minds the things we hold dear. Daily obligations and happenings of life can sometimes leave us feeling disconnected to even the most important parts of our personal universes. Zooming out and reflecting on the bigger picture can help us recenter.
Idahoans love animals. We are highly dependent on wildlife to fulfill our ways of life, provide for our physical, mental and emotional health, and sustain our traditions. If there was ever a time to sit for a minute to consider our love for wildlife and how native species are managed in Idaho, it’s now.
In the next several weeks, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) will be engaging wildlife lovers across the state to help review the direction of the agency as they embark on a once-per-decade strategic planning effort. They’ll gather public input over a series of eight public comment meetings in each of IDFG’s seven regions. An electronic comment portal will also be available beginning March 11.
Last month, ICL wrote that it’s high time we begin the process of reimagining wildlife conservation in Idaho. IDFG is now giving Idahoans a rare opportunity to do just that. As wildlife advocates of all shapes and sizes, we should be encouraging the agency to ask itself: What are the future needs of Idaho’s wildlife, and what conservation approaches do they require of us?
IDFG leadership has already identified eight “internal and external” priorities to address in the new strategic plan, including:
- Hunter, Angler, Trapper and Wildlife Viewer Satisfaction
- Habitat Loss
- Invasive Species and Disease
- Predator Management
- Relationship with Legislature
- Public Outreach, Engagement and Education
- Fiscal Sustainability
- Agency Culture, Recruitment and Retention
While this list is a good start, ICL believes urgent conservation challenges faced by all wildlife species in Idaho require a more holistic perspective that ties back to IDFG’s original mission.
The future of Idaho’s wildlife must not be taken for granted. It’s critical that IDFG uses this review to rediscover their “North Star” and develop an updated conservation vision in light of the biodiversity challenges facing all Idaho’s native species—not just the animals pursued by sportsmen and women. Below, we dive into our biggest priorities for IDFG to consider in pursuit of its mission.
1. IDFG should stay true to its mission to manage wildlife for ALL Idahoans—Idaho’s wildlife belongs to all of us!
In 1938, Idahoans passed a ballot initiative that created the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and directed the agency to manage all species in Idaho—for all Idahoans. IDFG’s current strategic plan reiterates their “responsibility to preserve, protect and perpetuate and manage all wildlife for the people of Idaho.” Since then, that mission has been interpreted by IDFG as serving hunters and anglers almost exclusively. ICL believes the agency’s charge to conserve all Idaho’s native species must be rekindled as their guiding principle.
IDFG must also take care of wildlife for future generations. Surveys say Idahoans are connecting with wildlife differently than when the agency was created. A much higher percentage of us now cherish native wildlife for all those animals offer us—not just for hunting, fishing and trapping. According to the Idaho Wildlife Values Report, we increasingly value fish and wildlife because “interacting with them makes (us) feel better physically and/or mentally” and believe those species should exist “for their own sake.” IDFG’s culture, science and management decisions need to expand and deliver wildlife benefits that reflect these values.
2. Build off Idaho’s past conservation successes to address coming conservation challenges
Idahoans are seeing our natural landscapes change in all sorts of ways. A rapidly warming climate, declining water quality, rapid development, disease and invasive species, drought, and large-scale fires are negatively affecting the wildlife we all love. All of Idaho’s native species are facing the same set of threats.
Significant population declines in all sorts of wildlife—mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, insects—are a result of ecosystem stressors that weren’t a conservation issue when the agency’s mandate came about in 1938. IDFG’s State Wildlife Action Plan has identified almost 270 native species that are imperiled or at potential risk in our state.
With the help of all Idahoans, IDFG can reimagine the direction of the agency to ensure it’s better equipped to be stewards of our wildlife in the face of coming conservation challenges. IDFG needs to hear from wildlife lovers that these threats need to be accounted for when the agency sets new priorities and makes policy.
3. “Growing the conservation pie” to honor today’s traditions and welcome tomorrow’s generations
Another growing challenge is IDFG’s current funding structure. The agency claims that their Wildlife Diversity Program “works to protect almost 10,000 species… 98% of Idaho’s biodiversity.” However, their income stream, based almost exclusively on a tiny number of game species like deer and elk, isn’t sufficient to fulfill the broad stewardship responsibilities and original mission of the agency. IDFG’s budget has doubled in the last 20 years, yet funding to the Wildlife Diversity Program has been reduced by nearly 50% in the same period.
IDFG should work with the public and elected leaders to explore ways to “grow the conservation pie,” ensuring the agency is well-equipped to manage all native wildlife while continuing to honor Idaho’s world-class sporting traditions. ICL recommends that IDFG convene a working group to make sure it’s well-funded and able address priority conservation needs of all Idaho’s wildlife. An IDFG budget that pursues conservation values of all Idahoans will make for a stronger, more resilient agency.
4. IDFG Must Remain Independent and Free from Legislative Meddling
Every year, ICL works hard to defeat ill-conceived legislative attempts to puncture the independence of IDFG. Increasingly, state representatives try to manipulate wildlife management to serve special political interests, taking decision-making out of the hands of professionals. This results in bad policy for our native species. IDFG needs to take a firm stance that wildlife policy should be determined by science, not politics, and assert the agency’s autonomy that was enshrined in the 1938 citizens ballot initiative.
Next week, a webinar and follow-up blog will highlight several other specific challenges IDFG should be paying close attention to including:
- Making infrastructure wildlife-friendly to enhance and protect wildlife movement corridors, migration, and landscape connectivity, as well as improve safety for motorists
- Human-wildlife conflict prevention through increase of programs and staffing in priority areas, and other collaborative efforts
- The need to address the threat of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) to wild deer and elk from game farms by advocating for responsible practices to Idaho Legislature and Idaho State Department of Agriculture
- Engage in planning processes early on to better ensure developers avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to wildlife and habitat on development projects in Idaho
Just as native species must inevitably adapt to a changing landscape, so must the agency that acts as custodians of our public wildlife resource.
The job of reimagining conservation possibilities for IDFG must be shared by all Idahoans. In the past, a relatively small percentage of public opinions have tended to dominate the conversation and driven IDFG decision-making. Now, discussions of how to address large-scale threats to Idaho’s wildlife must involve a wider diversity of voices, as originally intended. A recent IDFG press release acknowledged this, stating “much has changed in Idaho since (the 2015 plan) so it’s important for those who value wildlife to provide input on how Fish and Game can fulfill its mission in the future.” ICL couldn’t agree more with this conclusion and we’re excited that IDFG has provided this opportunity for all Idahoans to speak out about their love for wild critters. IDFG and the citizens of Idaho have risen to meet the needs of important conservation challenges in the past through collaboration and trust. We can do it again. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and develop a new conservation vision for Idaho’s beloved wildlife.
Don’t miss out on this historic opportunity to shape how Idaho’s wildlife is managed for generations to come. While both in-person public meetings and the portal to submit comments don’t open until March 11th, you can prepare by joining us for our Wildlife Webinar on the evening of Wednesday, March 11th. We will dive deeper into IDFG’s public comment process, this unique opportunity for wildlife and wildlife lovers, and the specific ways ICL thinks IDFG policy could be improved to benefit all Idahoans.
If you can’t make the webinar or a public meeting hosted by IDFG, TAKE ACTION and submit your comments on the strategic plan to IDFG by Tuesday, April 15.