Bill Description: House Bill 910 would formalize the responsibility of the Idaho Department of Lands to find and create managed recreation opportunities on state endowment lands in collaboration with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.
Rating: -3
Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?
House Bill 910 would create Chapter 16, Title 58, Idaho Code, “Managed Recreation Opportunities on Endowment Land,” to create and define a formal responsibility for the Idaho Department of Lands to find and create managed recreation opportunities on state endowment lands in collaboration with the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.
The bill would define a “managed recreation opportunity” as “a specific, defined site or area of endowment land that is developed and operated for fee-based recreation opportunities, including the associated infrastructure. A managed recreation opportunity may include providing, promoting, and expanding outdoor education and research opportunities, similar to the McCall outdoor science school.”
It says, “A managed recreation opportunity may also include but is not limited to: camp, tent, recreational vehicle, yurt, park-and-ski, and picnic sites; bike, equestrian, off-highway vehicle, and snowmobile parks; and development of the land for hiking, backpacking, fishing, hunting, and other such recreational uses as may be desired by the departments.”
The departments would be instructed to “develop a managed recreation plan after identifying endowment land suitable for a managed recreation opportunity.”
Any proposed managed recreation plan would have to be approved by both the Board of Land Commissioners and the Park and Recreation Board before its implementation.
And once a plan is approved by both boards, “the departments shall implement the plan and take the necessary actions to open the managed recreation opportunity to the public as soon as is practicable.”
(-1)
Does it directly or indirectly create or increase any taxes, fees, or other assessments? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce any taxes, fees, or other assessments?
The bill says, “For each managed recreation opportunity, the department of lands shall set an IDL fee.” The fee would be “based on the fair market value for a similar recreation opportunity on the specific area of endowment land sought to be used for the managed recreation opportunity.”
(-1)
Does it transfer a function of the private sector to the government? Examples include government ownership or control of any providers of goods or services, such as the land board’s purchase of a self-storage facility, mandatory emissions testing, or pre-kindergarten. Conversely, does it eliminate a function of government or return a function of government to the private sector?
While the bill gives the departments broad latitude to develop and implement managed recreation opportunities, the examples provided suggest that many of these opportunities would compete directly with private-sector alternatives.
(-1)
