The outpouring of support for the “No Kings” rallies here in Eastern Idaho demonstrates bipartisan concern with the increasing concentration of power within America’s executive branch. With all eyes on Washington, D.C., it is too easy to overlook how Idaho’s Republican-dominated legislature has mimicked the Trump Administration by exerting its own unchecked power this past Legislative session.
Tying the hands of library boards and local governments has been a trend of recent legislatures, but it has gone even further with State-level interference into local law enforcement, mental health programs, local planning and zoning, and even which flags may fly in local communities.
With last week’s adoption of Senate Bill 1300, the recently adjourned legislature removed the director-hiring authority of the Idaho Transportation Commission, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, and the Idaho Park and Recreation Board in favor of instituting gubernatorial appointments subject to political influence.
Effective July 1, 2026, the current directors of the Idaho Transportation Department, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) will either lose their jobs or be reappointed until January 2027, when a new governor takes office.
As with other state agencies, these three directors will now serve “at the pleasure of the Governor,” instead of reporting to a regionally diverse set of commissioners or board members. What bill supporters identified as a need for “consistency” and “accountability” is, in reality, a total politicization of Idaho’s natural resource and transportation agencies.
This action also violates a key condition of the 1961 Harriman Gift Agreement, ratified by the 1963 Idaho Legislature, that led to the Harriman family donating their beloved Railroad Ranch to the people of Idaho in 1977. The agreement specifies that the Idaho Legislature will create “a professionally staffed career Park Service whose personnel shall be chosen on the basis of merit alone.”
To comply with the Gift Agreement, the 1965 Legislature intentionally established an independent Park Board comprised of members from six regions of the State. For the past 60 years, Board members have been appointed to staggered six-year terms, with no more than three serving from a single political party. Thus, the IDPR Director and the Park and Recreation Board have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations, offering greater stability and more effective long-range planning.
Many believe Idaho has breached its contract with Roland and Gladys Harriman and Averell Harriman. Legal documents available to the public underscore the family’s intent that Harriman State Park be managed by a politically neutral agency. Most Eastern Idaho legislators understand the gift conditions and rightly opposed Senate Bill 1300 because it breaks a promise the State of Idaho made to the Harriman family.
The Harriman heirs are still evaluating their legal options, but the courts may not be their only avenue for relief. In the meantime, there is little question that Idaho’s Republican leaders have dishonored the spirit of Harriman’s gift to the people of Idaho and, in the process, compromised our state’s integrity.
Jan Brown is a retired nonprofit administrator and the statecommitteewoman for the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee.