A man hooks a fish on the Snake River in Idaho Falls in mid-October 2020. Some top officials in Idaho are raising alarms over the Republican attorney general’s decision not to join a 24-state lawsuit against new waterway protections by the Biden administration. Instead, the state will be joining another lawsuit filed in Texas, which Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador’s office says is a better fit for his state's interests.
February 25, 2023
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Rift in Idaho GOP exposed amid multistate water rule lawsuit
Some top Idaho officials are raising alarms after the state's Republican attorney general declined to join a 24-state lawsuit against Biden administration waterway protections. Opponents say the new water rules could impact public and private land across the state. Instead, Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador's office says the state will soon join a lawsuit filed in Texas. He says it's a better fit for the state's interests. The decision surprised some state leaders. Idaho Governor Brad Little recently led the multistate coalition of Republican governors opposing the new rules, which restore federal protection to thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways.