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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law two anti-transgender bills, making Idaho the first among states that introduced some 40 such bills this year to enact them. The Republican governor on Monday signed a bill that prohibits transgender people from changing the sex listed on their birth certificates, and another that bans transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports. The birth certificate legislation ignores a 2018 federal court ruling that a past Idaho law barring transgender people from making the birth certificate changes was unconstitutional. The Idaho attorney general's office said it could cost $1 million if the state had to defend the ban again and lost.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Secretary of State Lawerence Denney say the state primary will be held on May 19 as planned, but it will be conducted by mail with no in-person voting due to the coronavirus. The Republican governor is urging all Idahoans eligible to vote to request an absentee ballot. The state primary includes a U.S. Senate seat, both U.S. House seats, and all 105 seats in the Legislature. Idaho held its presidential primary on March 10, with President Donald Trump winning among Republicans and former Vice President Joe Biden for Democrats.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park has rounded up nearly 550 wild bison and most have been sent to be slaughtered as part of a bison population control program. Park officials say 442 of the hulking beasts were consigned for slaughter. The meat will be distributed to American Indian tribes. Another 270 or so bison were killed by tribal hunters and 105 are being held for potential relocation to other sites, according to figures released Friday. The culling happens under an agreement between federal and state officials to prevent the spread of the livestock disease brucellosis to cattle. Officials want to reduce Yellowstone's bison by 600 to 900 animals this year.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Idaho biologists have counted 57 mountain goats in the Selkirk Mountain Range this year, the first survey of the animals in the range since 2001. The Spokesman-Review reports the Idaho Department of Fish and Wildlife made an aerial observation of the goats in February in the mountain range along the Idaho and Washington state border. The count of 57 goats was an increase from 34 in 2001. A state biologist says the figure indicates the goat population has held steady despite an expanding human population. Idaho implemented a conservative management plan in 2019 to set limits on hunting the goats.
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