Subject: Guest Opinion to all Idaho newspapers
by Gene Bray

The three Idaho Supreme Court rulings Friday, April 2nd were major defeats for the "good old boy network."    Idaho now joins Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska and Washington in recognizing that school land trust assets cannot be used to subsidize other state interests.  Subordinating
the interests of trust beneficiaries in favor of highways, ranchers, farmers, logging, existing lessees, or advertising have been tried and struck down by courts in these states.  The top elected officials in Idaho were not ignorant of these precedents (Land Board meeting April 8, 1997) and apparently succumbed to risky, political expediency.

Not that they were alone.  The legislature tried by statute to dispense political favors by passing the Anti-Marvel bill (Idaho Code 58-310B) which attempted to distort market forces by prohibiting anyone but ranchers from bidding on grazing leases.   That bill would even preclude Idaho Fish and Game from bidding on such grazing lands for wildlife habitat uses.  That bill was signed into law in the spring of 1995 by the newly inaugurated Governor Batt after veto the prior year by Governor Andrus.   On April 8, 1997 an unprecedented delegation of  a half-dozen frustrated legislators appeared before the Land Board to clarify the raw intent of HB 793, which had become 58-310B.  As Bruce Newcomb, House Majority Leader, put it, them "lege" was directing the Executive Branch to intentionally favor ranching as an industry and exclude others, and specifically Idaho Watersheds Project from consideration.   This intent was echoed with great fervor, almost rabidly, by the rest of the delegation.

In a letter dated June 21, 1995, Governor Batt personally defended this distorted playing field.  Earlier, on March 31, 1995, the Land Board listened intently to Simplot Livestock officials and consultants who described at length the direct and collateral economic factors that together projected a ten year $54,000 total, added benefit to Idaho from their leasing the  640 acre Clover Creek allotment.  Confronted by this citizen's May 10, 1995 documentation of personal contributions to Idaho's economy ten times greater, the Gov maintained that such contributions from ordinary citizens regardless of their magnitude, gave them no standing or interest in leases of state endowment lands.  These mind-sets and the statute have now been discredited by the highest Court in the state, and it's about time.

Nota Bene:  Documentation or field notes for all of the above incidents are available as are transcripts of the Land Board meetings from Idaho Department of Lands.

Gene E. Bray (208)888-3293