21. February 2018 · Comments Off on Idaho Horse Council – Equine Brand Inspections · Categories: Around The Campfire, Current Events

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Idaho Horse Council [ idahohorsecouncil@yahoo.com ]
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2018 12:00 PM
Subject: Idaho Brand Inspection

Members we need your help!

Representative Judy Boyle will be introducing a Bill soon that will eliminate the need to get a Brand Inspection on equine in Idaho.

She did not make the industry aware of this bill, nor why she felt the need to try and eliminate Brand Inspections for Equine in Idaho.

Please contact Representative Boyle and your legislature representative. It’s important the Industry for the following reasons to continue to have Brand Inspections. Please post on face book pages and email your equine friends and please Call or email your representatives.

Representative Judy Boyle jboyle@house.idaho.gov
Home (208) 355-3225
Bus (208) 355-3225
FAX (208) 355-3225
H602 Statement of Purpose         H0602 brand inspections
Value of Brand Inspections
Brands are livestock’s return address. They are important because:
• They provide evidence of ownership
• They deter theft
• They enable brand inspectors and law enforcement personnel to return stolen or missing livestock to their owners
• They help resolve conflicts over ownership
Deters theft
• Helps determine ownership
• Enables brand inspectors and law enforcement personnel to return stolen or missing livestock to their owners
• Prevents unlawful sale or transport of livestock
• Facilitates commerce by providing a system of checks and balances that is well understood and valued in the marketplace
• Helps protect the livestock industry by putting trained personnel in the field to keep an eye on the industry

Several of our surrounding States require a Brand Inspection to bring a horse into their State.
In case of a disaster how would we find our livestock?

If Brand inspection for Equine is eliminated the Idaho Horse Board would no longer be able to grant funds on a yearly basis ..Since 1989 the Idaho Horse Board has granted $478,495.for Research, Education and Promotion for Equine Groups in Idaho .

If she eliminated brand inspections on Equine then would they need to reclassify the definition of livestock as the law now exists. Equine may no longer be classified as “Livestock.”

Thank You
Debbie Amsden
Executive Director
Idaho Horse Council
(208) 465-5477
idahohorsecouncil.com

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BCHI Chapters: Idaho Brand Inspection

Directors and Presidents, please encourage your members to contact their State Legislators regarding this purposed bill which I have attached along with Boyle’s Statement of Purpose for the Bill. Boyle states that passage of this bill would save the Brand Department $528,000 which I understand from a member of the Brand Board is not correct. I was told the savings would be about $300,000.

The important point to the $300,000 is that what we currently pay for our equine brand inspections does not cover the full cost of conducting these inspections. Therefore other brand inspection fees, such as cattle, are used to subsidize ours which means someday we should expect to pay our true costs.

Bill Conger
BCHI Chairman
208-369-0768
chairman@bchi.org

 

15. February 2018 · Comments Off on Trump pushes 90% cut to America’s most important public lands program · Categories: Public Lands

Here’s what the Land and Water Conservation Fund does

As part of a budget proposal that amounts to a Valentine to special interests, the Trump administration wants devastating cuts to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has been called America’s most important conservation tool. Learn more here.

President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2019 federal budget proposal would cut the long-running and popular Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to the bone, reducing its budget by roughly 90%. LWCF was designed so there would always be money available for its core purpose of protecting land in order to complete national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other protected sites, without burdening American taxpayers. For over 50 years, it has drawn on revenues from oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf to pay into thousands of projects nationwide, gaining popularity across the political spectrum.

But despite broad bipartisan support for the program, billions of dollars have been diverted from the Land and Water Conservation Fund by Congress over the course of the program’s life to pay for unrelated expenses, leaving many outdoor projects unfinished and parcels of land unprotected. In recent years, funding for LWCF has hovered around one-third of the full authorized level, even as new pressures intrude on wildlands and shared spaces become developed, fragmented or otherwise damaged.

The Trump proposal would devastate this popular program already hanging on for dear life, representing the single largest cut in the already weakened Department of the Interior’s budget. We will ask lawmakers to reject Trump’s reckless budget and persist with a larger campaign to demand permanent reauthorization and full funding for LWCF.
READ MORE

04. February 2018 · Comments Off on This year’s 40 years down the trail convention has something new for all you amazing BCHI members · Categories: BCHI /BCHA

This year’s 40 years down the trail convention has something new for all you amazing BCHI members, says BCHI Education chair, Marybeth Conger.

Saturday, March 10th from 1:00 until 4:30, there will be the first ever BCHI Chapter Member Training workshops. Training covers various chapter positions and other pertinent educational topics. These training workshops are listed below along with the name of the instructor.

Chapter President/ Vice President– Bill Conger and Rod Parks

Chapter Secretary– Debbie Samovar

Chapter Treasurer– Kay Ryan

BCHI Foundation and Amazon Smile fundraising– Chris Reed and Bill Holt

Volunteer Hours reporting– Rod Parks

Back country Horseman of America– Steve Didier

Idaho Horse Council & BCHI Website– Raenette Didier and Jill Nebeker

Chapter Education Chair– Marybeth Conger and Karen Kimball

 

Also, at the Friday, March 9th State Board of Director meeting, Steve Didier is presenting to the directors a training workshop covering State Director/National Director. Members are welcome to attend too. So please come join us at this year convention for some great learning, fun, and comradery . The workshop schedule will be posted on the BCHI website too. If anyone has questions, about the training workshops, please reach out to Marybeth Conger at b.mbconger@gmail.com.