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North Idaho up in arms over caribou
habitat proposal |
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January 13, 2012 |
By Mike Weland
In late November, with little to no fanfare, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
made public an intricately detailed
proposal to set aside more than 600 square miles
of the Selkirk Mountains in North Idaho and
eastern Washington as habitat critical to the
Selkirk Mountain Caribou.
People who were interested or who might be
impacted were quietly told that they had until
January 30 to comment so that their interests
might be taken into account before the proposed
plan became federal law.
Until Monday night, there was little fanfare
regarding the proposal, though county
commissioners and the Kootenai Valley Resource
Initiative, a quiet little group that has been
cited at all levels of government as the ideal
when it comes to local people working to have a
voice in big matters, have been hard at work to
make sure that decision makers in Washington,
D.C., hear our collective voice loud and clear.
Not long after the federal proposal was
announced, Bonner County commissioners made
headlines by passing a resolution demanding that
the USFWS coordinate with them and calling on
commissioners from the other four North Idaho
counties join with them.
In Boundary County, commissioners didn't make
headlines, but they didn't sit idle, either.
They conferred with their counterparts in other
counties, studied the arcane 50-plus page
proposal published in the
Federal Register, and enlisted KVRI
to gather the facts and information they'll need
to become involved in the process effectively.
The KVRI, as they do each month, held an
informational meeting Monday evening, January 9,
and invited representatives from the USFWS to
explain to them and their guests the details of
that proposal and what it might mean to the
people and businesses of Boundary County.
According to those in attendance, those
representatives were unprepared for the greeting
they got.
A few days prior to the meeting, social media
sites like Facebook lit up with the urgent
message that "Idaho Fish and Game" was proposing
to "shut down hunting" on all those lands west
of Highway 95. Catching wind of the growing
sentiment, KVRI booked the bingo room at the
Kootenai River Inn and changed the location of
their meeting, normally held in the Extension
Office meeting room.
It was a good thing they did, as more than 150
people, mostly irate, filled the room to
standing-room-only capacity, and despite
encouragement to remain calm and abide the
organization's primary goal of learning the
facts and the methods required to effectively
participate in the process, peppered the people
asked to present those facts with invictive.
"For years," said KVRI member Patty Perry,
representing the Kootenai Tribe, "the people and
governments of this county fought federal
regulation loudly and ineffectively. We learned
that there had to be a better way, because we
kept losing."
Every local government agency fought each battle
independently, and their arguments, while valid,
were scattered, and usually fell on deaf federal
ears.
The KVRI was founded as a way to bring the many
disparate voices of Boundary County together,
providing a vehicle by which Boundary County's
disparate agencies can present, when possible, a
more united front.
"We don't agree on everything," Perry said, "and
it's not our intent that we do so. Our goal is
to cut through all the emotion surrounding an
issue, glean the facts, and learn how we can
take part in the process so that each of our
voices will be listended to by the people who
matter."
Since it's founding, the KVRI has been held up
as an example of how local people, organizations
and governments can effectively work "with the
system," both state and federal, and it's been
lauded by Idaho governor Butch Otter, Idaho
Senator Shawn Keough, former Senator Larry Craig
and many more, and looked to as a framework to
other states as to how local interests can be
heard and taken into account by those elected to
make the decisions.
"The days of expressing anger and outrage never
worked very well," Perry said, "Rage and anger
are easily overlooked by the people who are in
position to make decisions. While we've not won
every battle, the KVRI has definitely influenced
decisions made about this place we live in, and
our goal is to keep up the dialogue and foster
cooperation instead of antagonism."
While they've been quiet, Boundary County
Commissioners have been able to prompt the USFWS
to acknowledge the need for public participation
and public hearings, at which the
decision-makers might hear the voices of those
who will be affected and argument from all sides
of the issue. Commissioners, with the support of
the KVRI, are working to firm up an extension to
the January 30 deadline by which all interested
parties may provide input.
When everything is in place, Boundary County
Commissioners assure, they will annonce to the
world the dates and times of those public
hearings, during which those who have something
to say will be afforded the opportunity, and so
that everyone, no matter where you might stand
on the proposal, might participate.
In the meantime, they suggest, it would be
beneficial if those who are interested in this
matter take time to read the proposal, once
again
available here, as
published in the Federal Register.
As the KVRI has proved many times since it was
formed, it's well considered fact, presented in
the proper fourm and on time, and not emotion
ranted in the heat of the moment, that people
listen to.
And like 'em or not, those in federal government
are people. |
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