News and Fishing Reports

by Steve Trafton

The last few weeks have been an emotional ride for lovers of Harriman State Park. On January 11 the Governor of Idaho, C.L. “Butch” Otter, unveiled a draft state budget that showed the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR; the agency that manages Harriman and other state parks all over Idaho) receiving no funding for the coming fiscal year. The Henry’s Fork Foundation sent out a press release that day raising two fundamental concerns:

• Without IDPR, what will happen to the lands, facilities, and programs currently administered for the public benefit by IDPR?

• IDPR came into being as part of the agreement between the Harriman family and the State of Idaho through which the family gave what is now Harriman State Park to the people of Idaho; if one of the fundamental terms of that agreement is broken, or even called into question, then the future of Harriman State Park is in grave jeopardy.

The public response was overwhelming. Between January 11 and January 22, countless people wrote, called, or e-mailed the Governor’s office, and State and local officials at all levels, to express their concerns not only about Harriman State Park, but also for IDPR and the state park system as a whole. On January 22, Governor Otter and the IDPR Director, Nancy Merrill, held a press conference to announce their plan to continue to fund and staff IDPR (though at dramatically reduced levels). Disaster was averted; your concerns were heard.

That said, the future of both IDPR and Harriman State Park is still cloudy. IDPR needs to find a way to continue to provide its public benefits with fewer dollars and fewer hands. Harriman State Park, for its part, will be under pressure to generate more revenue, a recurring theme in the park’s history (does everyone remember the RV park proposal of 2002?). I encourage all of you to track this issue carefully, and to make your concerns known to the Governor. At the moment, nothing has been decided (the State Legislature still has to approve the budget). I am going to Boise on February 10 to meet with Director Merrill and offer the HFF’s assistance to her, and to Harriman in particular, in finding a way to ensure that this year’s scare will not be a recurring theme.

Steve Trafton
Executive Director
Henry's Fork Foundation

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