HB 195: Delaying wildlife transplants — 2025

[NOTE: This Bill has been replaced by House Bill 302, which excludes game fish from the bills’s requirements.]

Rep. Doug Pickett (R-Oakley) introduced House Bill 195 in the House Resources & Conservation Committee. The bill would complicate efforts to relocate or transplant wildlife. The bill would require the Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) to notify the county commissioners and any affected federal and state land ranchers, owners, or lessees about proposed wildlife relocation efforts. The bill would require a 30-day waiting period if anyone requests a hearing before the county commission, along with approval from the commission before the animal(s) could be relocated. Such notification, hearing, and approval would be required for each relocation effort.

Relocating wild animals is an important tool that the IDFG uses when animals cause conflicts or threaten communities. In addition, from time to time, IDFG works to reestablish or augment wildlife populations where they are absent (yes, like parachuting beavers), or where species have become genetically isolated.

If enacted, the bill could result in excessive detention of wild animals in captivity (cages or traps) for a period extending beyond 40 days. This would stress wildlife, limit options for animals that need to be relocated, delay efforts to reestablish native wildlife, and would likely lead to increased wildlife mortality. Instead of detaining animals for this length of time, the more likely outcome is that IDFG would simply dispatch animals that were causing conflicts, instead of relocating them.