Jerald Raymond

A bill being proposed in the Idaho Legislature aims to increase the authority of local farmers and ranchers to improve range land across the state.

Rep. Jerald Raymond, R-Menan — who represents District 31 covering Jefferson, Fremont, Clark and Lemhi counties — is introducing legislation he’s calling the Rangeland Improvement Act.

He tells EastIdahoNews.com this bill would give boards in local grazing districts the ability to prioritize projects in specific areas and direct the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to apply for grants to pay for those projects. Examples of rangeland improvement projects could include water distribution, cross-fencing (fences built on grazing land to divide the property into smaller pastures) or predator and invasive species control.

Raymond and his wife, Cheri, own a feedlot near Menan and have worked in the cattle industry for decades. The beef cattle market in Idaho ranks 13th in the nation, according to the ISDA. Rangeland occupies 54% of the land area. Of the 22 million acres in the southern part of the state, the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission says 80% of it is managed by the state or federal government.

For this reason, Raymond says this bill is needed in the Gem State. He points to the Taylor Grazing Act passed by Congress in 1934, which established grazing rights for livestock ranchers across the U.S. and gave authority to the federal government to manage it.

Bill sponsor Rep. Megan Blanksma and proponents of the legislation said HB 24 will help employers who are dealing with staffing shortages, by connecting Idaho kids with Idaho jobs.

“Through a conversation with a private business in East Idaho that stated he had 150 job openings this morning, if he hired every single welder, and every single machinist that was trained in the state of Idaho this coming year, he would still have job openings,” said Rep. Jerald Raymond. “He needs this program to help fill jobs in his business.”

Additionally, those in favor of the legislation said it’s going to help students who don’t have the financial means to go to school. Blanksma said the aim of the legislation is to be a “hand up, not a hand out”.

Those who were against HB 24 in part, saw the legislation as a form of government overreach, and they felt it isn’t the state’s job to fix issues in the private market.