Fremont County commissioners are set to consider whether to add an advisory question to the November ballot on the construction of wildlife overpasses near Island Park.
Those overpasses are being considered by the Idaho Transportation Department as part of a set of safety improvements to U.S. Highway 20 near Targhee Pass. Such overpasses are intended both to reduce the frequency of accidents involving wildlife and to improve the connection between animal populations on both sides of the road, which may be deterred from crossing it by traffic.
A number of proposals are under consideration by ITD, two of which involve some amount of fencing and wildlife overpasses, along with a number of other road improvements. The cost estimates for those projects range from about $20 million to $30 million, though ITD also expects roadway improvements will reduce ongoing maintenance expenses significantly. The state would pay about 7 percent of the cost, with the federal government picking up the rest of the cost.
The commissioners first examined the prospect of an advisory question on June 11, but they didn’t take any action at that point.
According to minutes of the meeting, proponents argued ITD hadn’t taken local concerns into account when planning the overpasses.
Supporters of the overpasses argued against such a question, saying the vote would occur when a large number of Fremont County’s seasonal residents were out of town for the winter, and that it was misleading to ask voters only if they supported or opposed the overpasses without giving them the option of saying they were unsure.
The issue is scheduled to be discussed and possibly acted upon Monday, according to the commission’s agenda.
If the commissioners agree to add the question, it will be the second such advisory question in recent years.
Fremont County voters in 2014 took a vote opposing the creation of a national monument near Mesa Falls, which passed overwhelmingly, despite the fact that there was no evidence to indicate that the federal government had given serious consideration to the possibility since the Bush Administration.
The proposed language for the advisory vote on overpasses was submitted by Leanne Yancey of the Island Park Preservation Coalition, a group that includes many who fought an national monument designation. Reached by Facebook she referred the Post Register to Ken Watts. Watts did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The language of proposed question is asymmetric, with descriptions of the opinions of both proponents and opponents having been crafted by opponents of the overpasses. The description of the opposing view is approximately twice as long as the description of the supporting view. And while all of the language describing proponents’ views is couched in some version of “they argue,” the advisory question states as fact that: “overpasses, underpasses and fencing will require perpetual maintenance and be a permanent financial burden.”
Dina Sallak-Windes, a civil deputy with the Fremont County Prosecutor’s Office, said all that’s necessary to add an advisory question to the ballot is a vote of the commissioners.
