Camas Creek NWF, USFWS photo by Brent Lawrence

In the past week, we saw the Idaho State Legislature adopt Senate Joint Memorial 104 which requests that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) transfer ownership of the Camas National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) to Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG). Echoing the sentiment of the larger movement to transfer ownership of federal lands to the states, Senate Joint Memorial 104 is short-sighted and casts misplaced blame on the USFWS for what is a larger, region wide water resource issue. At the same time, it ignores the Camas National Wildlife Refuge’s quality waterfowl, upland bird, and big game habitat and hunting opportunities created by the refuge nearly 90 years ago.  

Water Woes on the Eastern Snake River Plain 

While we understand State Sen. Burtenshaw’s concern with water usage in the area and perceived slow permitting to dredge Camas Creek, transferring ownership of the refuge to the state is misguided. Over the past 40 years, the water table in the Camas NWR has changed from being at the surface to dropping by nearly 20 feet. This is largely due to the expansion and adoption of center pivot irrigation and a 25 percent decrease in late season snowpack. The refuge itself has become more reliant on groundwater as surface water quantity decreases, including some years like 2015 when no surface water entered the refuge through Camas Creek. To address this issue and better steward water resources, the USFWS invested $8 million of Great American Outdoors Act funds in a project in 2022. This project improved efficiencies and decreased the amount of surface water required to be diverted for the wetlands.  

When we zoom out, the larger picture becomes clearer; the Snake River Plain has an extensive and complicated water issue. Since the 1950s, the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer has seen a precipitous drop in water levels. Just last year, the Idaho Water Resources Board issued a curtailment order on 500,000 acres of irrigated farmland. No amount of dredging in Camas Creek, or transferring of ownership, will solve the region’s water issues.  

Transferring to the State Causes More Problems Than Solutions 

Senate Joint Memorial 104 echoes many similar arguments made by proponents of transferring federal lands to the states. Proponents argue that the federal government is mismanaging our federal public lands, and that the states can do it better. We can all agree that federal land management can be improved, but jumping to the conclusion that the state has the resources to do better is inaccurate at best.These are complicated landscape scale problems that require collaboration between many stakeholders to solve. Transferring to the state is the easy way out, but its just that; an out. The path outlined in Senate Joint Memorial 104 does nothing to improve the health of our forests, wetlands, and rangelands. 

While the intent may be to have IDFG take over management of the refuge, a transfer to state ownership does not guarantee this outcome. Instead, a transfer to state ownership is likely to put additional pressure on this landscape as Idaho’s state trust land is constitutionally mandated to produce a profit or be sold to the highest bidder. This ask from Idaho’s legislature is a step towards putting IDFG in the same boat that America’s national wildlife refuge system is in – an increase in acres without the associated support needed for management. 

We ask our congressional delegation to oppose Senate Joint Memorial 104, and work on real solutions to support our shared wild public lands, waters, and wildlife for the American people.