The state House has approved a plan to keep the names of Idaho hunters in secrecy, a response to concerns that those who have killed wolves legally fell victim to harassment.
On a 55-14 vote Thursday, the House gave its blessing to a measure to make names of hunters exempt from Idaho public records requests.
The measure now goes to the Senate.
Representative Judy Boyle, a Midvale Republican, drew up the bill after wolf hunters received unwanted attention from newspapers and wolf-advocates.
Under current law, the names of those who buy hunting licenses or report killing a wolf to the Department of Fish and Game are available to anybody who files an Idaho public-records request.
The Idaho Press Club argued Boyle’s bill was a heavy-handed response to concerns best handled by targeting harassment, not the public’s access to its government. (AP)
