UPDATE: Trident Legislation to Change Land Exchange Process-Pulled
Payette Lake. Photo: Courtesy of United Payette
Update 03.10.022 - Rep. Terry Gestrin (R-Donnelly) has confirmed he will be pulling this bill from Idaho legislation.
Yes, that Trident.
After the Department of Lands (IDL) rejected Trident’s proposal to privatize tens of thousands of acres surrounding the Payette Lakes, they appealed the decision to the Land Board alleging IDL did not follow the correct process. The Land board roundly rejected that appeal late last year, confirming IDL did indeed follow the right process.
Now Trident is setting out to change that process. HO587 sets specific job experience requirements for IDL administrators and also creates a new position - an ombudsman - who is granted some sweeping powers, including:
Overseeing the hiring of all new hires for the department. Every hire must also have “significant industry experience”, which is not only not defined, but also severely limits the Department’s ability to hire seasonal staff or positions like fire fighters, GIS analysts, etc.. IDL, like most state agencies, has for years had trouble hiring/retaining employees and competing with the private industry, and this would make things much more difficult.
Presiding over all land exchange applications.
Hiring and firing private cousel (at taxpayer expense).
Hiring and firing “independent outside experts” to evaluate leases, sales, and land exchanges.
What does this mean? Aside from strange job-experience hurdles for every employee, the bill would fundamentally change IDL’s and the Land Board’s duties and processes of leasing, land sales, and land exchanges. The duties of dozens of positions and entire divisions would be granted to this new position, creating a new layer of structurally flawed bureaucracy.
In short, this HO587 attempts to move IDL and the Land Board as out-of-the-way as possible for large land exchange proposals. IWF will work to make sure this bill stays in a drawer as out-of-the-way as possible.