As wildfires spread across homes in Southern California, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said the state of Idaho is working to prevent similar devastation from happening in Idaho. 

At a press conference on Friday morning in Boise, Little and state agency leaders shared progress on how the state is implementing recommendations from the governor’s office’s inaugural Wildfire Report created in August, including financing and improving fire mitigation technology, helping utilities protect their infrastructure and supporting legislation to help protect Idaho homes and insurance rates. 

“The devastating southern California fires are heartbreaking, and we continue to pray for the many families impacted,” Little said. “However, the extent of the damage is, unfortunately, not altogether surprising. The decisions of California’s elected leaders have made many places in the Golden State unsafe to live. The opposite is happening in Idaho. We are strategically and proactively reducing fire risk and ensuring Idahoans’ property is covered.”

For the 2026 fiscal year, Little is recommending $100 million for fire management in Idaho — $60 million of which would replenish the Fire Suppression Deficiency Fund depleted during the 2024 fire season and $40 million which would cover the five-year average of fire suppression expenditures. The governor’s budget also includes funds to support wildland firefighter bonuses to help recruit workers. 

Idaho Department of Lands Director Dustin Miller said Idaho’s population — which hit 2 million people last year — is growing. That means the department is seeing more human caused fires than before, and there are more fires in the wild and urban interface, he said.

Miller said the department is working to establish enhanced fire detection camera tools, satellite protection services and enhancing the state’s aviation management program.  

Richard Stover, the administrator of the Idaho’s Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources, said his office is also investing in protecting utility infrastructure through its Idaho Energy Resiliency Grant Program. 

This year, the grant has funded 23 projects across Idaho, costing $22 million, to help mostly small rural municipal cooperative utilities protect their power lines and transmission poles from wildfire, he said. 

As for out of state partnerships, Idaho Office of Emergency Management Director Brad Richy said he is proud of Idaho’s ability to help other states during natural disasters. 

“The greatest thing about Idaho is the neighbors helping neighbors,” Richy said, noting that the office has sent 104 Idaho firefighters to suppress the fires in California.

Idaho Department of Insurance director proposes bill to ease wildfire risk, insurance rates

On Wednesday, Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron introduced a bill to help homeowners mitigate wildfire risk and stabilize the insurance market in Idaho. 

This year, nearly one million acres burned from wildfires in Idaho. Additionally, 140 structures were burned by fire — 41 of which were residences — Cameron told the House Business Committee on Wednesday.

‘No agency can do this alone’: Idaho officials address goals to mitigate wildfires

At the press conference, Cameron said his office regularly receives calls from individuals whose homeowners insurance is going up or their insurance is dropping their coverage.

There are 91 insurance companies in Idaho that sell homeowners insurance. In 2023, 22 of those companies asked to discontinue or not renew their policies in Idaho, Cameron said.

“Now we’re getting calls given the California fires about how to harden their homes, how to prevent the loss of property,” he said. 

The purpose of House Bill 17, called the “Idaho Wildfire Risk Mitigation and Stabilization Pool Act,” is to assist homeowners against wildfire, keep insurance rates down and attract insurance companies to Idaho. 

The bill would create a financial pool from existing resources to provide grants to homeowners to create fire mitigation upgrades on their property. These upgrades may include roof replacements, mesh screen installations and shrubbery reduction, Cameron told the committee on Wednesday. It would have no impact on the general fund. Additionally, the bill would create a 12-member board consisting of state officials, insurance, forest products, and fire industry experts who would develop strategies to stabilize the insurance market.

Cameron said some southern states have implemented a similar pool of funds for hurricanes, which effectively led to a drop in insurance rates in those states.

Hidden away in the Idaho resort area of Sun Valley, amid the affluent Hulen Meadows neighborhood just outside Ketchum, another eye-catching home from the luxury portfolio of Herich & Associates has just popped up for sale. The asking price is a speck under $15.5 million, with the listing held by Delaney Fox of Keller Williams Sun Valley Southern Idaho.

Completed in 2008 by the local design-build firm in collaboration with architect Michael Blash, widely known for his contemporary take on the Craftsman style, the striking wood, glass, and stone structure offers five bedrooms and seven baths in roughly 8,000 square feet on three levels. Rustic and modern interiors feature hardwood floors, Venetian plaster walls, walnut paneling and cabinetry, and soaring exposed-beam cedar ceilings throughout, plus vast walls of glass framing picturesque mountain vistas.

One of Idaho’s Most Expensive Homes Heads to the Auction Block

Introducing the house is a glassy front door that slides open to reveal a stone-clad entry foyer boasting a floating glass and steel spiral staircase. From there, an open-concept great room contains a fireside living room and an adjacent dining area with retractable glass doors spilling out to a covered terrace ideal for alfresco entertaining with a built-in barbecue. An eat-in kitchen around the corner is outfitted with top-tier Cove, Dacor, KitchenAid and Sub-Zero appliances, as well as a large center island and a walk-in pantry secluded behind sliding barn doors.

This $22.5 Million Horse Farm in Idaho Spans 450 Acres With a Mile of River Frontage

Elsewhere is a family room warmed by a fireplace and a posh upstairs primary suite flaunting a deluxe bath spotlighted by a glass soaking tub with an integrated recliner, while other notable features include a lofted office space with wraparound windows, a media room, and a wine cellar. The amenities continue outdoors, where a sundeck-encased pool and a fire pit rest amid an acre of garden-laced grounds sporting more than 500 flowering peonies.

Rounding it all out: a heated cobblestone driveway that passes through a porte-cochère before emptying out at a spacious motor court flanked by an attached five-car garage equipped with surround sound and an elevator traveling to the house. No word on whether the vintage red and white pickup truck parked in the driveway is included in the sale!

Click here for more photos of the modern Sun Valley residence.

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow introduced a new personal bill Thursday in the Idaho Senate that seeks to add workforce and housing protections for LGBTQ+ Idahoans.

Wintrow’s new bill, Senate Bill 1004, would amend the Idaho Human Rights Act by adding the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

The bill’s introduction was intended to send a message and get the proposal in front of the public. Because the bill was introduced by Wintrow as a personal bill – as opposed to following the traditional path of being introduced by a legislative committee – the bill has no chance of advancing.

“For the past 10 years, we have tried to introduce this bill in committee, and every year, the Republican leadership refuses to have a hearing to add the words ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity‘ to the State of Idaho’s Human Rights Act,” Wintrow, D-Boise, said in a written statement.

RELATED | ‘Add the Words’ bill to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination in Idaho returns (2022)

Republicans control a 90-15 supermajority in the Idaho Legislature and have blocked similar bills seeking to amend the Idaho Human Rights Act to add the words for 20 years.

“We come back every year, trying to formally introduce the bill to add the words because of our love and respect for our LGBTQ+ constituents and all LGBTQ+ Idahoans,” Wintrow added. “I have deep appreciation for these Idahoans, many of whom have lived here all their lives, whose families and jobs are here, and who continue to stay here despite how hard the Legislature tries to make their lives. They love Idaho enough to stay and fight to live free from government interference in their personal lives. It breaks my heart that we are still fighting for basic dignity under the law in 2025.”

Republicans call on U.S. Supreme Court to define marriage between one man, one woman

Meanwhile, Republicans in power are pushing in the opposite direction as Wintrow.

During the first day of committee meetings in the 2025 legislative session, the House State Affairs Committee introduced House Joint Memorial 1, which calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to “restore” the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman and allow states to enforce laws pertaining to marriage.

RELATED | Idaho House begins session with legislation on same-sex marriage, Boise State volleyball

The memorial does not carry the force and effect of law, but it does send a message and makes the Idaho Legislature‘s intentions clear.

In the absence of state protection for LGBTQ+ Idahoans, local cities and towns have passed anti discrimination ordinances, beginning with Sandpoint in 2011.

According to the Idaho Democratic Party, 13 Idaho cities and towns have passed nondiscrimination ordinances since 2011, including Sandpoint, Boise, Idaho Falls, Moscow, Lewiston, Meridian, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, Driggs, Victor, Pocatello and Coeur d’Alene.

However, Nikson Mathews, chair of the queer caucus of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former Democratic legislative candidate, said action by local communities is not enough. Mathews called on the state to take action.

“Idaho’s queer community deserves to be safe and to be seen, no matter where in the state they live,” Mathews said in a written statement.

Rally and protest planned for Jan. 28 at Idaho State Capitol

The organization Add the Words, Idaho is planning a rally and protest to mark the 10th anniversary of the only hearing the Idaho Legislature has held regarding the proposal to add LGBTQ+ protections to the Idaho Human Rights Act, Mathews said.

“Rally and Radiance” events are taking place at noon Jan. 28 at Idaho State Capitol in Boise and 6 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Linden Building, 1402 W. Grove St., in Boise.

Mathews encouraged Idahoans to attend either rally and voice their support for enacting protections for the LGBTQ+ community.

“We want people to come here to this rally and make it very clear that this is not what we want in this state, and we need people to show up so that our community sees this support,” Mathews said in an interview Thursday.

“It is so important for folks to be vocal in this moment,” Mathews added. “We are facing an incoming president who has made very clear what his plans are on Day 1 in response to the LGBTQ community. We have a Legislature who’s actively working to take away our rights and attack our humanity. We need every Idahoan who stands with us to be vocal that this is not what we want.”

RELATED | Gov. Little makes a stop in eastern Idaho to highlight 2025 priorities