Rancher who lost elk making bid for Senate
By GWEN ALBERS
Managing editor
The Eastern Idaho elk rancher, who made national headlines last summer after then-Gov. Jim Risch made an emergency executive order to shoot his escaped elk, stopped in Bonners Ferry Saturday.
Rex Rammell is now running against Risch for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's seat.
Rammell talked to local supporters at Panhandle Restaurant and stopped by The Herald.
When asked about his bid for the Senate, Rammell said this isn't a vendetta against Risch.
Without any elk left, Rammell said he has sold his ranch and needs a new job. The 46-year-old hopes that job will be in Washington, D.C.
"When I lost my elk ranch, it made me look for another career," Rammell said.
Last August, a bear-dug hole allowed his 100 farm-raised elk to flee the private hunting reserve. Twenty of the elk were found dead a month later — shot on sight under the emergency order from Risch. About 40 were recaptured and another 40 were left roaming the fields and forest slopes outside Yellowstone National Park — home to the nation's largest herd of wild elk.
Risch, who is currently Idaho's lieutenant governor, ordered the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to kill the elk to prevent the possible spread of disease and weak genes to the state's wild elk population.
Rammell was arrested and acquitted for fighting with state wildlife officials and hunters after the order. He sold his ranch and filed a $1.3 million lawsuit against the state for the way it handled the case.
Rammell in July announced his intentions to run for the Senate.
The candidate told The Herald he favors removing wolves from Idaho and supports a healthy forest.
"We're unable to use our forests because of lawsuits and I want to go to D.C. so we can get back into the forest," Rammell said.
He also favors the right to protect oneself and opposes all restrictive gun control laws.
"As crime and violence continue to escalate in America, the day may soon come when possession of guns will be the only thing that provides for our security," Rammell said.
He also supports multiple land use of public lands, including recreation, grazing, logging and mining.
"If we can't own them, we at least ought to be able to use them," Rammell said. "Our public lands are a vast supply of natural resources and can be used effectively to stimulate our economy while managing them in an environmentally friendly manner."
A native Idahoan, Rammell
and his wife, Lynda, have four children. Mandy, their oldest, represented Idaho in 2003 and 2007 as Miss Idaho Teen USA and Miss Idaho USA. Their son, Jake, is serving a two-year mission for the Latter Day Saints Church in Calgary, Canada. Alexis is a junior and Jessica is a freshman in Rexburg, where the family lives.
Lynda Rammell has been a fifth-grade teacher and in 2004 was honored as Teacher of The Year.