Madilynne Clark

Idaho’s regulatory stewardship is impressive, but there is always room for improvement. HB 539 offers these favorable reforms that protect the role of the legislature and limit the ability of the executive branch to go overboard with the definition of an ‘emergency.’

What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander, or so the saying goes. But this adage never seems to hold true for the federal land discussion, even when an alliance could benefit both sides of the debate.

Decades of federal forest managers pursuing suppression-focused tactics led to a logjam of unmanaged forests waiting to ignite. Current federal policies barely chip away at the buildup, with only 0.08% of public lands treated with prescribed fire. A rate far below the accumulation of vulnerable fuels on public lands in the mountain states.