Commission to Meet in Pocatello April 5-7

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will meet at 8:00 a.m. April 6 at Cavanaughs Pocatello Hotel, 1555 Pocatello Creek Road in Pocatello. A public hearing will be held the previous evening, April 5, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the same location. New Fish and Game director Rod Sando will make some comments early in the meeting. It will be his first formal address to the Commission as director. Much of the meeting will involve financial business such as the fiscal year 2001 budget which will be decided in the current session of the Legislature. The outcome of proposed fee-increase legislation will impact budget discussions. The Commission will have a briefing on the possibility of a season this year on hatchery salmon. Good water conditions two years ago helped outmigrating smolts which may come back this year in sufficient numbers for a season. The Commission will review possibilities for a big game harvest reporting system, and a report on how the 1998 increase of $6 on deer and elk tags was spent. Friday's meeting will convene at 9:30 a.m. after a breakfast with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Business Council.