Idaho officials reject grazing fee increase
Idaho officials yesterday rejected a plan to raise grazing fees on state-managed land, costing K-12 public schools more than $530,000 annually. The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners voted 2-2 to defeat the proposal, with Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra voting against the plan, citing concerns among ranchers who said drought was hurting their businesses. "I think, like in education, teachers are the experts, and I believe ranchers are the experts," Ybarra said. The move to stick with the current grazing fee formula appears to call into question whether the state's top statewide elected officials are meeting their constitutional mandate as Land Board members to maximize profit from state lands over the long term. The current grazing rate formula not only doesn't raise fees; it cuts them. Still, Idaho Department of Lands Director Dustin Miller, responding to a series of questions from Wasden, said that overall, the beneficiaries that get money from state lands would come out ahead even if some ranchers decided to stop using state land for grazing.
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