Residents say Gov. Otter has abandoned rural Idaho

Gov. Butch Otter spent six hours Tuesday fending off accusations he's abandoned rural Idaho and surrendered state sovereignty to the U.S. government. Doris Baker told Otter that she saw him on TV vetoing bills last week and found him wanting. "If I had been your mother, I would have come up there and spanked your little butt," said the retiree from Indian Valley. "You say that you're for the people of this state, then you better start showing it and don't let the Forest Service and these environmental groups tell us what to do." Otter escaped Boise on the Legislature's 107th day for the friendly confines of Washington County, where he got 64 percent of the vote in 2006 - 11 points above his statewide mark. But he found no respite from a session of grief at his 26th Capitol for a Day event. Instead, he spent the day defending his reputation as a champion of states' rights. At issue was his veto Saturday of a bill that would have required the state to kill or remove bighorn sheep that wander onto federal lands grazed by domestic sheep. Otter is working on a new bill that passed the Senate Tuesday and promised to do everything he can to protect grazing on public lands. "The gas tax is not the most pressing issue, because if these guys can't put their animals to pasture, they're not buying gas," said Midvale Mayor Ed Meyer. "They'll lose the farm." Ron Shirts of Weiser, a third-generation sheep rancher whose grazing allotments in Hells Canyon are at risk because the Forest Service wants to separate his sheep from disease-prone bighorns, also confronted Otter. After Otter, Shirts was the star of the day, supported by most of the 60 people in the room and pickets outside. "I'm damn mad," Shirts said. "I'm getting my head cut off right now." Shirts said he'll be forced to unload his sheep for what it costs to haul them to slaughter if the issue isn't resolved soon. "We draw a line in the sand and we tell the federal government and these environmental agencies we're not taking it any more," Shirts urged, winning hearty applause...Idaho Statesman