March 30, 2012
Boundary County
Commissioners will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at the
Becker Auditorium at Bonners Ferry High School for everyone concerned about a
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to set aside more than 600 square miles
of North Idaho and eastern Washington as critical habitat for the Woodland
Caribou.
The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service will also hold a public informational meeting on the issue from
9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 28, also in the Becker Auditorium, to be
followed by a public hearing from 2 to 5 p.m., during which citizens will be
able to provide formal comments on the proposal.
“The commissioner’s
meeting is being held so that people interested in the proposal can ask
questions and learn exactly what that proposal entails, so they have accurate
information and data upon which to base their formal testimony at the public
hearing or in writing,” said Commission Chair Ron Smith.
Representatives from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be on hand during the commissioner’s meeting
to answer questions and explain the proposal.
Also attending to learn
the details of the proposal will be Boundary County civil counsel Phil Robinson,
Idaho Senators Shawn Keough and Joyce Broadsword, Representatives Eric Anderson
and George Eskridge, and representatives from the offices of Idaho Governor
Butch Otter, U.S. Senators James Risch and Mike Crapo and U.S. Representative
Raul Labrador.
“As commissioners, we
are encouraged that our state and federal representatives have agreed to be here
to listen to the concerns and fears of Boundary County citizens,” Smith said.
“They were all supportive and instrumental in bringing about resolution of the
ordeal Jeremy Hill and his family went through, and they’ve all acknowledged
their support of our concerns on the caribou issue.”
On learning of the
caribou habitat proposal, County Commissioners took action and were successful
in obtaining a 60-day extension of the initial USFWS deadline for written
comment through May 21, 2012, as well as in bringing the informational meetings
and a formal public hearing to Boundary County.
“This is an issue of
grave concern for a lot of Boundary County residents, and it’s our hope, as
county commissioners, that people will avail themselves the opportunity to learn
all they can so that their formal comments, either written or verbal, will be
more effective,” Smith said.