Idaho Elk Breeders Changing Of The Guard
April 3, 2007
As many of you know, I traveled to Idaho for a long weekend. While there I attended the annual meeting of the Idaho Elk Breeders Association, among many other things. A new page has been turned at IEBA to begin a new chapter. The title of this chapter may not be written until the story is completed.
Before I got to Idaho, a strife had started between some of the members of the IEBA. In essence, this is what happened. Several bills were brought before the Senate committee on agriculture that would have effectively banned elk ranching to include hunting ranches. All of those bills never made it out of committee. One bill that did survive committee was SB1074, a bill devised by the IEBA and presented to the committee by the Board of Directors for IEBA. The architects of that bill believed it would be a way to better control the “bad actors” in the elk industry while at the same time send a message to the rest of Idaho that the industry is concerned about remaining well regulated. The board of directors believed they had the full support of the membership.
It became clear that other members of the IEBA didn’t agree with the necessity of that bill. They felt so strongly about it they attended the committee hearing in Boise to lobby against it. This not only surprised members of the board of IEBA, it angered them as well. The bill never made it out of committee.
What has been overlooked in this debate is the fact that the real reason the bill never made it out of committee was because two democrats voted against the bill in a roll of the dice hoping that defeating this bill would sway public opinion in their favor for an upcoming citizen’s initiative to ban elk ranching.
Regardless of the outcome of that particular bill, it is my opinion that a citizen’s initiative would still have occurred. Groups that oppose such things that favor animal rights, etc. never stop at one victory. They are never satisfied until an all out ban on hunting, fishing, trapping or any other activity that involves animals is completed.
With a looming battle on their hands, the IEBA appeared divided. On the one hand you had some members of the board who have been around the elk industry for several years. Some of those members are either Idaho politicians, like Sen. Jeff Siddoway, or are well connected to the political scene in Boise.
The other side of the coin looks different. Those who were opposed to the industry sponsored bill, were made up mostly of younger ranchers with a passion for what they do, willing to confront and oppose long-time politicians while fighting for their rights to farm.
In an interesting move, IEBA president Dr. Ted Rea, convinced all of the board of directors to resign in mass at the very beginning of the IEBA convention, which was held at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Idaho Falls. In talking with Rea, he told me that the move was a way to give all members of the association a chance for a fresh start. He viewed the action of some board members and other association members in Boise, rebutting the industry sponsored elk bill as a “vote of no confidence”. He said he believed that this would give the members a chance to decide in what direction they wanted to go.
Once the announcement was made to the general membership that the board had resigned in mass, a long process took place to elect a new board of directors. It was decided to reduce the number of board members from 11 to 7 but the major debate focused on voting. It took some time with the help of one member, Tom VanWitbeck, a longtime elk rancher and one of the authors of the IEBA by-laws, but eventually it was made clear who was eligible to vote and nominees began along with voting.
With the vote complete and new director’s elected, time did not permit the selection of officers for the board. That was decided during a conference call later in the weekend. Here’s the result of the voting and the present slate of board officials.
President: Kristy Sternes, Black Canyon Elk Ranch (Emmett)
Vice President: David Miller, Miller Elk Farm (Jerome)
Secretary/Treasurer: Chuck Warner, Elk Valley Ranch (Cataldo)
Board Member at-large: Michael Ferguson, Velvet Ranch (Rexburg)
Regional Director (North Idaho): Fred Robbins, Selkirk Mountain Elk
Regional Director (Eastern Idaho): Ted Rea, Early Morning Elk (Filer)
Regional Director (Central Idaho): Clint Evans, Elk Springs Ranch (Garden Valley)
The voting showed that the majority favored the group who opposed the industry sponsored elk licensing bill leaving the opposition disappointed with the results but most willing to move on from this point.
Upcoming Initiative
The remainder of the meeting focused on what members had to look forward to should a voter initiative find its way to the ballot in November of 2008. In my address to the general assembly, I focused mostly on the power of the Internet and how the group can use it in their battle. I helped them better understand the enemy they will be facing by explaining that there are basically two kinds of people that will oppose them. One is the uninformed or misinformed and the other the power seekers simply out to gain control over every situation they can. I stressed focusing on the uninformed and misinformed.
Also present at this meeting was Ken Maseros (sp?), a former Montana senator and elk rancher, who recently was involved a citizen’s initiative in that state in which voters opted to put a ban on elk ranching and to eliminate hunting on them as well. The senator shared some pretty frightening events as well as related failures and what worked positively in their battle.
Taking the stage after Maseros, was Eric Simpson. Simpson, a one-time journalist and reporter for a local paper, was directly involved in the battle against the initiative in Idaho to ban bear hunting with dogs, trapping and baiting. That initiative was defeated and Simpson was on hand to share strategies and to rally the troops. Simpson also expressed that he “has no doubt whatsoever in his mind that regardless of whether the industry sponsored bill had passed or failed, IEBA was looking at an initiative.” Simpson seemed quite eager to offer his expertise to the group.
At one point during the day, Kristy Sternes, newly elected president of IEBA, and Erin Miller, presented to the group some information they had gathered in a campaign effort to begin a public education for Idaho and beyond.
One thing became clear by the end of the convention. The IEBA was ready to move on. There may very well be some hard feelings about the turn of events but I believe as a whole the general membership was ready to put the past events behind them and ready themselves for battle.
Some of the board members are young and will need to rely heavily on the experience and advice of those that got ousted. Will that happen? I’m not sure. Before I left the convention, I had a chance to talk with Kristy Sternes. I told her how important it was for her and the rest of the board not to alienate the ousted board members like Jeff Siddoway, Gary Queen and Steve McGrath as well as long-time member Tom VanWitbeck. I expressed not only the importance of inclusion but the reality that these guys hold a wealth of knowledge and experience that shouldn’t go wasted.
The IEBA will now move forward. They will form committees and begin fund raising. Their committees will focus on ways to begin an ongoing educational program into every community around the state along with countless other projects necessary to beat back the opposition. Will they be up to the task? Personally, I think they will. Will it be hard? Absolutely!
Tom Remington
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We feature the latest news, events and politics effecting the sports of hunting, fishing, and all outdoor activities in North America.
Sounds like Idaho has their hands full on this issue.
Wanted to say thank you for letting me guest blog. It was a special treat to me. Thank you again.
Rex
[...] Skinny Moose Media and prominent blogger for the Black Bear Blog traveled to Idaho last Spring to attend an elk breeders meeting and do a little speaking. Tom had been following some of the political events happening in Idaho [...]