Idaho and Montana members will lead Power and Conservation Council in 2008

January 16, 2008

Bill Booth, an Idaho member of the Council, has been elected chair of the four-state energy and fish and wildlife planning agency for 2008. Council members elected officers this week at a meeting in Vancouver, Washington. Bruce Measure, a Council member from Montana, was elected vice chair.

Booth, of Coeur d'Alene, was appointed to the Council in January 2007 by Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter. In nominating Booth, Washington member Larry Cassidy, himself a former Council chair, said the position is extremely important and that Booth’s qualifications “give us the opportunity to put a very well-rounded person into the leadership of our Council.” Cassidy described Booth as a “natural outdoorsman who has great respect for the environment, as well as deep business experience at the senior level in the natural resources industry.”

A resident of Idaho for 45 years, Booth is a former U.S. Air Force officer and senior minerals industry executive in environmental and public affairs. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Idaho and earned an MBA from the University of North Dakota while serving in the Air Force. He is an avid fly fisherman and a member of Trout Unlimited.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer appointed Bruce Measure to the Council in January 2005. Measure has been a practicing attorney in Kalispell, Montana since 1988. Prior to 1988 he was employed in the forest industry and served as Vice President of the East Side Forest Practices Committee in 1984 and 1985.

Measure served in the Montana House of Representatives from 1991 to 1993 and served on the Natural Resources, Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Judiciary committees. Before joining the Council, Measure was President of the Board of Trustees of the Flathead Electric Cooperative.

The Council is an agency of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington and is directed by the Northwest Power Act of 1980 to prepare a program to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife of the Columbia River Basin affected by hydropower dams while also assuring the region an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply.

Contacts:

• , Chair, 208-660-4127
• , Information Officer, 503-222-5161