Stumped by 'stumpage?'

BOISE — Stumped as to what a stumpage district might be?

If so, you’re not even close to being alone, according to Rep. Ed Morse.

“I’ve been an appraiser in northern Idaho for 40 years — worked on all kinds of timberlands,” the Hayden Republican said Thursday, “and not only have I never heard of a stumpage district, but I’ve never met anybody who has known of the use of a stumpage district.”

Furthermore, Morse told the House Resources and Conservation Committee that Idaho still has a law on its books that sets the legal parameters for the stumpage districts. Morse said he contacted Kootenai County and the Idaho State Tax Commission and neither entity had any records of stumpage districts.

Morse wants to repeal that 97-year-old stumpage law through a one-sentence bill (“It’s very straightforward,” he said) that he received introductory approval for Thursday from Idaho Legislature’s House Resources committee.

“It is out of date, archaic, and unworkable,” Morse told the committee.

Morse said he ran across the stumpage districts statute in Idaho code while working on other legislation.

Just what were stumpage districts?

Well, they were overseen by commissioners who were tapped by counties during some bygone era — at a rate of $3 per day in pay — to arrange the financing for the removal of stumps, Morse said.

“They were appointed by county commissioners,” Morse explained, “and then they would proceed with making economic plans and estimates and they had the power to issue bonds. And, they would create a stumpage district bond for the cost of removing the stumps. And then, the bonds would be paid off like a tax levy.”

Morse said that during the early 20th century, as the railroad and transportation corridors expanded westward, many stumps were left in the ground following the logging of thick forests in the West, “and particularly northern Idaho.”

A $100 bond is required under the terms of the law to create a stumpage district. “Which, of course, is totally inadequate in modern society,” Morse noted. Also, the law requires that the stumpage districts be created basically on the demand of landowners — within 10 days, Morse said. “Which is a completely inadequate period of time to study the formation of a district like this,” Morse said.

The repeal legislation’s statement of purpose indicates there would be no expense to the state general fund if the repeal became law, but a fiscal note indicates the measure — now House Bill 413 — would ultimately “save money from printing obsolete Idaho code sections.”

The bill now is eligible for a full committee hearing.