March IDFG Commission Recap
By: Kyle Maki, IWF Sporting Partnerships and Policy Manager
The IDFG Commission met in Boise on Wednesday, March 25th for their quarterly meeting. There were a number of agenda items ranging from CWD, to bighorn sheep, and deer and elk status updates to name a few.
CWD made a couple appearances throughout the meeting, first of which being a potential rulemaking change. Rulemaking is a long process that generally begins in late spring, goes through public comment, then the IDFG Commission takes action to approve the changes, and finally it gets sent off to the Legislature where they have the final say on the matter. Currently, there are restrictions for moving carcasses out of a CWD management zone, but a person could still move a carcass from one unit to another as long as they’re in the same management zone. The potential change would restrict the movement from one unit to another, even if the units are both in a CWD management zone, unless the quarters are removed and skull cap is cut from the rest of the head.
As we find out more about CWD on the landscape, testing needs can change. As a result of no CWD positive animals being found in recent years, the Commission decided to remove required CWD testing from units 24 and 32A, but with a couple domestic cervid facilities having animals test positive for CWD, units 64 and 69 will now require testing in an effort to see if it has spread from domestics to our wild deer and elk populations in the area.
It seems the last few Commission meetings have all had bighorn sheep as part of the discussion, and this one was no different. In January, the Commission decided to take drastic measures when Movi was found in the small Reynolds Creek herd and removed all sheep from that herd. Over two days, using both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft, all 25 sheep were lethally removed and of those that were able to be recovered, 91% tested positive for Movi. There were additional dead sheep spotted on the landscape during the eradication effort and zero lambs were seen, indicating the sheep were in dire straits already. As a result of the reduction in population to the unit, the Commission voted to remove the one sheep tag in 2026 for unit 40.
In better news, while the low snowpack we’re experiencing this year isn’t great for water levels and drought prone areas, our deer and elk populations have done great this winter. Both deer fawns and elk calves have fared very well the last couple winters which is great news coming off the rough winter of 2022-2023! I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the next couple hunting seasons as our populations continue to grow!
A few other items from the meeting are below:
Seasons are set for spring chinook salmon and migratory birds which can be found on the IDFG website.
The second non-resident tag draw for deer and elk are complete with 97.5% of the tags being purchased. The remainder will be available in returned tag sales throughout the year and will be available for resident purchase as a second tag beginning in August. Over 42,000 individuals applied for these tags.
There were informative presentations on deer and elk tag allocation for outfitters and how that process was developed and has evolved, as well as the history of IDFG conservation officers.
As always if anyone wants to watch the whole meeting, it’s posted in the IDFG YouTube channel and please reach out to us if you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on how the meeting went!
Cover Image Credit: Cherise Retherford