Otter is responding to several events in August he disagreed with.  The governor condemned an Aug. 5 decision by a federal judge to put Idaho’s wolves back on the endangered species list.  Later in the month, he criticized a move by the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) to stop its payments to livestock producers whose animals are killed or injured by wolves.

The governor appeared on the NRA News, which is broadcast on satellite radio and online.  Otter told IdahoReporter.com he wanted to discuss the shift in expectations from the federal government and wildlife groups.

Defenders has said that federal funds could replace money it gave to ranchers, but Otter said that wasn’t part of the original agreement.

Otter said he supports a plan in Congress that would remove Idaho’s wolves from the endangered species list.  He’s also written a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asking the federal government to let Idaho manage its wolves.

On the NRA broadcast, Otter said that Defenders started the compensation program for livestock “in an effort to get people sedated” during wolves’ reintroduction in the 1990s.  “We knew they weren’t going to keep their promise,” he said.

The Race to the Top Assessment grant will help Idaho and the other states develop new online exams for students in grades three through eight and 11.

“Our goal is to ensure every student graduates from high school prepared to go on to postsecondary education or the workforce without the need for remediation,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said in a news release.  “To accomplish this, we must have high-quality assessment tools in place to measure student progress throughout the school year and provide immediate feedback to parents, teachers, and students.”

All of Idaho’s neighboring states except Wyoming are part of the 31-state group working on the education project, called the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium.  Idaho Deputy Superintendent of Assessment Dr. Carissa Miller is one of seven people on the consortium’s executive committee that will oversee the grant that will last for four years.

“Idaho has been at the forefront in delivering assessments online,” Miller said.  “This partnership is an opportunity to build an online system that includes assessments that transcend state boundaries and give us the chance to see how Idaho students compare to their peers around the world.”

Idaho lost out on another area of Race to the Top, which is the U.S. Department of Education’s grant program funded by the 2009 federal stimulus package.  Idaho applied for the first round of a $4.35 billion program aimed at helping states with a series of education reforms.  The state scored low during the first round, and didn’t apply for the second round of funding.

“He was involved on a very minimal basis,” House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, said in a news release. “There is absolutely no way he can carry the banner on this one and take credit.”

In 2006, state lawmakers approved a plan that increased the homeowner’s exemption on property tax bills from $50,000 to $75,000.  Allred led the non-partisan group The Common Interest at that time.  The group backed the idea and Allred lobbied in both House and Senate committees on property tax issues.  He’s taken credit for the plan in his campaign, which some Republicans reject.

“Keith taking credit for passing the homeowner’s exemption in 2006 is like Al Gore taking credit for inventing the Internet,” said Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot.  “It’s just nonsense.”  Republicans say the legislation came from an interim committee that examined the property tax issue, not The Common Interest.

Two Republicans serving in the Senate committee that handled the plan in 2006 say Allred helped tack an amendment onto the plan that improved it.

“He as an integral part in coming up with that idea,” said former Republican Sen. Hal Bunderson of Meridian, who has endorsed Allred’s run for governor.

The amendment altered how the exemption would increase over time.  The original plan approved by the Idaho House tied it to the national consumer price index, one measure of inflation.  The amendment in the Senate changed that to the Idaho housing price index, which more closely tracks changes in home values.  That amendment eventually passed the Senate and House.

“To say that he was not instrumental in that is an error,” said Bunderson, who led the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee at the time.

Sen. Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, confirmed that Allred worked with Bunderson on that amendment.  “To my knowledge, that was the involvement,” Hill told IdahoReporter.com.  “He came to the committee and convinced them that it would be a better measure.”

House Republicans at the time, including Lake and Debbie Field, who now manages Otter’s re-election campaign, say Allred wasn’t involved on the House’s work on the property tax change.  “The Governor’s opponent is taking credit for passing a bill that he had nothing to do with,” Field said in a news release.

C of I President Marve Henberg credited Congressman Walt Minnick’s office for his help in landing the grant.  Henberg also said the grant money would improve the school’s research training facility.  It will cost C of I $6.5 million for to renovate Boone Science Hall.

Minnick said it was imperative to help the private college in his district.  “This is a critically important project which allows The College of Idaho to expand and meet the growing needs of Idaho students who must compete in a global economy,” Minnick said in  a C of I news release. “This newly renovated and equipped science building ensures that the College continues its tradition of producing excellent scientists and health care professionals.”

The NSF’s description of the award says the renovations will help C of I researchers examine humans’ impact on the Intermountain West ecosystem.  It also said that the grant will help underrepresented populations in science, including female and Hispanic researchers.

Read C of I’s news release on the grant at its website.

Obama addressed the nation to discuss the transition by the military to advise and assist Iraq’s security forces.  “Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq’s future is not,” Obama said.

“Our troops and their families have made great sacrifices and have served our country with great honor, and it is because of their outstanding work and the positive impact of the surge that combat operations in Iraq are able to end,” Congressman Mike Simpson said in a prepared statement. “It is important that we don’t allow Iraq to become a breeding ground for insurgents and that the United States support the Iraqi people as they continue this endeavor to create a stable democratic nation.”

Brad Hoaglund, a spokesman for Risch, said the senator watched the speech, but that the end of combat operations was not a surprise and followed a charted course.

Representatives for Sen. Mike Crapo and Rep. Walt Minnick did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. will keep 50,000 troops in Iraq.  In September, about 1,500 Idahoans will go to Iraq with the Idaho Army National Guard’s 116^th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team as part of a mobilization of 2,700 troops.  Obama said during the speech that all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.

Watch Obama’s speech below.

“It’s unfortunate that Gov. Otter and the Idaho Statesman are mischaracterizing our efforts to date and using this transition to fan the controversy over wolves in the region,” Defenders’ president Rodger Schlickeisen said in a news release.

The group announced on Aug. 20 that it would end its wolf compensation program for livestock producers who can verify that wolves harmed their animals.  Defenders has paid more than $433,000 to Idaho ranchers since voluntarily launching the program in 1987, including more than $140,000 in 2010.  The program will end Sept. 10.

Otter said Tuesday that Defenders never intended to keep its commitment to any agreements on wolf policy and that he will do everything he can to restore Idaho’s state management of wolves.  The Idaho Statesman criticized the group in an editorial in Wednesday’s paper.

Defenders was one of several groups that won a lawsuit in August putting Idaho’s wolves back on the endangered species list and under federal protection.  Schlickeisen said Defenders will continue to work with ranchers to promote nonlethal deterrents of wolves.

Read Defenders’ full response to Otter’s statement on Tuesday below.

Defenders fulfills commitment on compensation

Idaho ranchers have more resources than ever before

- Defenders has invested more than $1.4 million since 1987 to compensate ranchers for livestock lost to wolves, including more than $433,000 to Idaho ranchers

- Despite these contributions, Idaho Governor “Butch” Otter and the Idaho Statesman have falsely accused Defenders of abandoning ranchers, even though Defenders has paid more than $140,000 in compensation to Idaho livestock producers this year.

- Though states are taking over compensation, Defenders will continue to partner with ranchers in Idaho and across the region to prevent conflict between livestock and wolves and to promote coexistence using nonlethal deterrents.

Washington, DC (September 1, 2010) – No good deed goes unpunished, and today Defenders of Wildlife is being criticized for ending its program compensating for livestock lost to wolves, following enactment of federal legislation providing $140,000 to Idaho to establish a state-run compensation program.

The following is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:

“For 23 years, Defenders has been paying ranchers for losses to wolves and we continue to partner with ranchers today to make a difference on the ground.  It’s unfortunate that Gov. Otter and the Idaho Statesman are mischaracterizing our efforts to date and using this transition to fan the controversy over wolves in the region.

“The truth is that Defenders has made tremendous investments in Idaho and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  We started paying compensation voluntarily, when there were no other programs of its kind.  Now, Idaho is receiving more money from the federal government each year for compensation than we were ever able to provide on our own.  At the same time, we’re still working with ranchers and paying for nonlethal deterrents in Idaho.

“The bottom line is that, if Idaho does its job, ranchers will be fully compensated for any livestock lost to wolves.  And despite Idaho’s attempts to stir up more controversy, Defenders remains committed to working toward the long-term recovery of wolves in the region.  That is why we support the proposal by Senators Baucus and Tester to bring all stakeholders together to develop solutions that meet the needs of wildlife and people in the northern Rockies.”

Background:

Defenders announced on Aug. 20 that it would be ending its precedent-setting compensation program on Sept. 10 in response to new federal legislation that provides funding for state programs to take its place.  Idaho has received $140,000 this year to expand its existing compensation program, which already receives $100,000 annually from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—grant money not awarded to any other state.  This appropriation is in addition to more than $140,000 already provided this year by Defenders to compensate ranchers for verified losses of livestock to wolves, which can be used to satisfy Idaho’s federal matching-fund requirements.

Jeff Youtz, director of the Legislative Services Office, says that Christy Perry, who ran against and defeated Rep. Steve Kren in the state’s 13th District, comprised of parts of Nampa, served as a tour guide on three different occasions during the 2010 session.  Youtz explained that during her time as a guide, Perry only gave three total tours – two to Idaho interest groups and one to students from Melba High School.  When asked if his office ever received complaints about Perry being overly political during tours, Youtz said that it hadn’t.  ”She did a great job,” said Youtz.  ”We never got any complaints.”

It is unknown exactly when Perry officially announced her intent to run for Kren’s seat, but the Idaho secretary of state’s office reports that she filed her paperwork to become official in the contest on March 8, 2010.  A search for data on her campaign website shows that it was registered in September of 2009 and it appears one of her first campaign-style events came only a month later.

How did it come to be that an announced candidate for the Idaho House worked as a guide while her electoral opponent was busy voting on bills?  Youtz said that one of his staffers contacted five students in Boise State’s masters of public administration program to find volunteers to serve as guides.  Perry was one of the five.  ”We were just looking for people who were excited about the Idaho Capitol and Idaho history,” explained Youtz.  Perry’s status as a candidate for the Idaho House never came into consideration during the process.   “That wasn’t even on the radar,” said Youtz.

Perry, a self-described “Idaho history buff,” said she only discussed her political campaign one time during tours when someone asked if she is the same person he had seen on a billboard earlier.  Other than that, she says, she kept tour discussions professional and on the topic of Idaho government.  “It’s not about me, it’s not about the campaign, it’s not about all of that,” said Perry.  “It’s about the Capitol.”

Legislative Services has no policies against candidates serving as tour guides during sessions.  That may change, however, in November when the Legislative Council, one of the oversight boards of the Capitol, meets to discuss policies and procedures for the 2011 session, slated to begin in January.  Youtz said his office could set a new policy in motion, but that he would prefer to let lawmakers on the council hash out the details at the November meeting.

At that meeting, lawmakers on the council could opt to ban announced candidates from guiding tours, but that could be messy.  Most of the lawmakers themselves declare their intentions to run for re-election in late February or early March, which means that they are announced candidates for portions of sessions, which typically end in late-March to mid-April.  Standard procedure in the tour program allows state lawmakers from Capitol tourists’ districts to be contacted and give tours to patrons, if legislators have time.

Sen. Nicole Lefavour, D-Boise, up for re-election this fall, said at a council meeting in June that candidates for legislative office shouldn’t be automatically disqualified from serving as tour guides.

Another member of the council, Rep. Gary Collins, R-Nampa, says that Perry incident wasn’t that serious, but that lawmakers will examine the facts of the case anyway in November.  “It was not a conflict of interest, at least I don’t think it was,” said Collins.  “If it (tours program) were to be used in a way it shouldn’t be, then I can see how that would be a problem.  It will likely be a topic at the next meeting.”

Should lawmakers change the policy to prevent announced candidates from serving as guides?  Collins thinks not.  “I think we have enough rules, regulations, and statutes to govern it and we don’t need to get into detail on everything,” Collins concluded.

Perry said a decision to ban certain individuals from giving tours would hurt her and the program.  “I enjoyed it, I loved it, and I would be saddened if I am told I can’t do it anymore,” said Perry.  “It’s hard enough for organizations to get volunteers.”

Mark Johnston, executive director for the BOP, tells IdahoReporter.com that because the problem has only come up recently, no one has concluded what should be done.  ”No decisions have been made at this early stage,” says Johnston.  He also says that the board doesn’t have the authority to necessarily ban substances, but that it can only develop rules in dealing with the drug, which must ultimately be accepted or rejected by the Legislature during its next session.

The incense, sprayed with synthetic cannabinoinds, is sold as a product not for human consumption.  That label prevents the substance from being subject to regulations of the Food and Drug Administration, as well as some rules in Idaho.  When smoked, the substance produces a marijuana-like high, but it can also come with hazardous side effects, including nausea, vomiting, increased agitation, elevated blood pressure, seizures, and loss of consciousness.  There have been no reported deaths in Idaho as a result of use of Spice.  A mother in Indiana died after reportedly smoking the product.

Johnston explains that the board may decide what action to take on Spice at its next meeting in October.  He also said that board members are still in fact-finding mode about the makeup of the incense.  ”We are still gathering information, such as what substances are in Spice,” said Johnston.

Caitlyn Zak, aide with ODP, explained at a meeting in August that Spice is gaining popularity because it cannot be detected by typical drug tests and that it can be produced easily at home, which, she said, can be very dangerous for the user of the drug.  Some producers went so far as to dunk incense in nail polish remover to obtain similar results.  And though the label says the incense isn’t for human use, Zak says people buy Spice for a specific reason.  “It’s being advertised as the new legal marijuana,” Zak said.  “They know what its purpose is.”

If the BOP finds some way to regulate the drug and then take that rule to the Idaho Legislature, results could be mixed.  Rep. Darrell Bolz, R-Caldwell, believes that lawmakers should take up the issue in order to protect children.  Another Canyon County legislator, Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, says individuals should be responsible for the substance they put in their own bodies and that government doesn’t need to get involved.

A short-term jobs projection predicts Idaho’s job total at the end of 2011 won’t top the 692,000 jobs in the state at the end of 2008, but a longer projection predicts the state would have more than 825,000 jobs by 2018.  The 10-year growth, from 2008 to 2018, of 15.6 percent in Idaho would outpace a predicted 10.1 percent national job growth rate.

Idaho fares well in the projections because of expectations that jobs in health care, postsecondary education, and some high-tech fields will be among the fastest-growing and best-paying jobs.

Registered nurses have the hottest job in the state, based on wages and projected employment by 2018.  Other hot jobs include agricultural managers, pharmacists, and computer software engineers.

While the number of jobs across the state are expected to increase, some fields could dwindle.  The report expects some construction jobs, including roofers, carpenters, electricians, and steelworkers to decrease.  Door-to-door sales, utilities meter readers, electrical engineers, movie projectionists, telemarketers, and radio and TV announcers are also professions expected to dwindle.

See more statewide jobs projections at the Idaho Department of Labor’s website.

The group Defenders of Wildlife (DOW) announced on Aug. 20 that it would discontinue its Wolf Compensation Trust, which has paid livestock producers for their wolf-related losses.  Otter said the move, coming after a federal judge put Idaho’s wolves back on the endangered species list, is one of many broken promises from the group.

“It now is clear that the organization never intended to keep its commitment to any agreements,” Otter said in an opinion sent to media outlets.  He likened the organization to wolves in sheep’s clothing, and said the actions by DOW and the courts are hurting the state.

“Unfortunately, the real tragedy is the continued loss of livestock and the impacts to our ungulate herds,” Otter said.

DOW was one of several conservation groups that sued to stop the delisting of wolves in Idaho and Montana, as well as the two states’ wolf hunts.  The governor called the Aug. 5 court decision ending Idaho’s management of wolves inexplicable.

DOW leaders say the nonprofit wants to transition to new partnerships with livestock owners, and money from a new federal program could pay for wolf depredation.  DOW has paid out more than $140,000 to Idaho livestock producers this year.

“For nearly a quarter of a century, Defenders’ livestock compensation program has been a resounding success in helping ranchers who live and work in wolf country,” Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a prepared statement earlier this month.  “Without it, recovery of wolves in the western United States would not have been possible.”

An Idaho Department of Fish and Game official told IdahoReporter.com that federal money likely wouldn’t be enough to replace all the money provided by DOW.

Read Otter’s full opinion below.

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE BREAK ANOTHER PROMISE IT NEVER MEANT TO KEEP

By Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter

In Idaho a promise is a promise. We have lived up to our promise of responsible stewardship of wolves under our approved state management plan. Despite the frustrating federal court decision almost four weeks ago, Idaho remains prepared to manage wolves when State management is once again rightfully restored.

Now that the species will inexplicably receive federal protection, can we expect Defenders of Wildlife to keep its promise to pay for livestock depredations caused by the wolves it fought so hard to bring to Idaho? The answer is no.

Not only did the Defenders of Wildlife sue to overturn delisting and oppose state management, the group now has announced it will break one of its original promises devised to increase public acceptance of this species that was forced upon us by the federal government.  That pledge was to reimburse livestock producers for wolf-related impacts while the species remained under federal protection.

With this unfortunate action, and the Defenders of Wildlife’s disingenuous approach to the depredation reimbursements it did make, it now is clear that the organization never intended to keep its commitment to any agreements.

The Defenders of Wildlife has unreasonably opposed state management at every turn. Wolves in sheep’s clothing perhaps? This lack of sincere commitment is not a surprise for those who have wrestled with the wolf issue and Defenders of Wildlife’s compensation program since the wolves were planted here 15 years ago.

More troubling is the group’s conveniently forgotten commitment to support delisting when the species met recovery goals, which we have since 2002. Now we have three times the wolves required for delisting in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and the Defenders of Wildlife wants to change recovery levels before federal protection is lifted.

The Endangered Species Act does not work and won’t work as long as promises are broken. Unfortunately, the real tragedy is the continued loss of livestock and the impacts to our ungulate herds. Rest assured, I am working with the Office of Species Conservation and Department of Fish and Game to do everything within my power to restore state management and hunting. That’s my promise to every Idahoan and the Defenders of Wildlife.