Week four; boat safety and Pulaskies
February 3, 2013
Like you, I enjoy the outdoors and all of the opportunities afforded to us living in such a beautiful part of the state. We are fortunate to have so many recreational pursuits to choose from. With our many lakes and rivers, one of our most popular activities is boating. Boating is part of our way of life, but we need to make sure that it is done in a safe and responsible manner.

As a result, I plan on introducing a bill to fix Idaho’s Safe Boating Act after cases in our area showed the need to hold irresponsible boaters accountable for their actions.

Part of this effort would be to examine a boating law deemed “unconstitutionally” vague by a court, which led to charges of grossly negligent boating being dropped against two people last year.

The bill will be printed on Monday, February 3, and you’ll be able to find it at our legislative web site, www.legislature.idaho.gov, by Wednesday should the Senate Judiciary and Rules agree that this issue needs a hearing.

I’ll let you know the bill number when it is assigned. Let me know your thoughts on if you think this is a good fix that will hold those boaters accountable who place others, and themselves, in jeopardy on our waterways.

Helping to improve the economy of our area is important to me. One of the ways I can help is by opening doors for our local companies.

At the moment, I have been working on opening potential markets for a company called P2 which makes a tool that is an improvement on the Pulaski – a tool used to fight forest fires.

Since the first of the year I’ve met with the Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Department of Lands, the Lieutenant Governor and the Fire Protection Associations to show them the tool and to encourage them to assist this Idaho based business to grow.

You may know that the Pulaski has its roots here in Idaho.

It was invented by Ed Pulaski, who was a forester for the US Forest Service when the 1910 fires blew up. Mr. Pulaski is credited with saving many lives during that horrible fire year and the Pulaski he fashioned remains a key tool of wild land fire crews.

Mr. Tom Sykes invented and patented an improvement on the tool and manufacturers it in the Sandpoint area. He believes that if the P2 catches on with wild land fire fighters that he can add five to 10 jobs in our area.

I am supporting his efforts. More can be found on the fire tool at http://www.p2firetool.com and more about Ed Pulaski and Idaho’s forest fire history can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Pulaski, here:
http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Policy/Fire/FamousFires/1910Fires.aspx and here: http://www.idahoforests.org/fire.htm

As you know, keeping you informed of what is happening at the Capitol is one of my top priorities. I recently sent a questionnaire to many of the citizens in District 1. As your State Senator, I want to know what is on your mind and it is important that I hear directly from you.

If, for some reason, you did not receive the survey, send me your mailing address and I will make sure that you get one. If you received a survey and have not had a chance to fill it out, please do so. My email is shawn@shawnkeough.com.

With week # 4 behind us the pace of bill introductions is picking up as are debates about various issues that are on the minds of our fellow Idahoans. Be sure to follow all the action at www.legislature.idaho.gov and stay in touch! I value your input!