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Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun
A bald eagle at the Camas National Wildlife Refuge in winter. The refuge, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 to protect migratory birds. | (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – The Idaho House of Representatives on Monday voted to adopt a nonbinding piece of legislation that calls for the state to take over management of the Camas National Wildlife Refuge from the federal government.
The Camas National Wildlife Refuge is a roughly 11,000-acre refuge that is located in Eastern Idaho and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the refuge in 1937 to provide a habitat for migratory birds.
Although it would not carry the effect of law, Senate Joint Memorial 104 amounts to a written request from the Idaho Legislature to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Idaho’s congressional delegation to transfer ownership and administration of the Camas National Wildlife Refuge to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The joint memorial also calls on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to promptly process a permit application for Camas Creek.
Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan, listens to proceedings on the House floor on March 10, 2025, at the Idaho Capitol Building in Boise. | (Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun)
Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan, who presented and spoke in favor of Senate Joint Memorial 104, said farmers in the nearby Mud Lake area are not able to get water through the refuge.
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“Camas Creek runs seasonally, and it doesn’t always get all the way through the refuge and into Mud Lake,” Raymond said. “That’s the problem. The real problem is that the reason it doesn’t get to Mud Lake is because we have not been able to maintain that creek. We’ve not been able to get in and clean it, remove the debris and the sediment that’s in there. When the water does not get to Mud Lake, the farmers have to pump from the aquifer into the lake, into that storage lake, and then irrigate further out of that lake.”
All nine House Democrats and six Republicans voted against the joint memorial.
Rep. Monica Church, D-Boise, led the opposition to the joint memorial. Church said the Idaho Constitution requires the state to manage land very differently from the federal government. The Idaho Constitution requires the state to manage public lands to secure the maximum long term financial return, not the multiple uses and benefits the federal government must consider.
Church also said taking over additional public lands to manage would create additional costs for the state that could result in a tax increase.
Finally, Church said the Camas National Wildlife Refuge sits on lands reserved under valid treaties to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
“A vote for this is not only increasing people’s taxes, but it’s also saying the Idaho Legislature does not care about the supreme law of the land or the tribal rights of the people living in this state right now, who have been here long before Idahoans, and we cannot be saying that,” Church said.
After a short debate, the Idaho House voted 53-15 to pass the joint memorial.
The Idaho Senate previously voted by voice vote March 17 to adopt Senate Joint Memorial 104. Unlike bills that seek to create new laws, Senate Joint Memorial 104 does not need to go to Gov. Brad Little for consideration.
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