FRIDAY OCTOBER 30 2015 $1 VOLUME 151, No. 97WWW.IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM/

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NEWS ALL DAY.YOUR WAY

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GUEST OPINION

Holli Woodings: Localelections shape lives

OPINIONS, 2C

BUSINESS

How to use Roth IRAs tomake your money work

EXPLORE, 5C

MARIJUANA

Nonprofits welcomingpot business donations

NEWS, 7A

POPULATION

China drops longstandingone-child-only policy

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Local news4-6ANation 6-10A

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SPORTS

Varsity Extra:Football playoffsfeature 19 teamsfrom Valley 1B, 4B

NEWS

Paul Ryan isnow the Houseleader, but willit matter? 8A

Showers

54°/47° See 11A

Things to Do:With Halloween on Saturday, it’s gonna be a wild weekend.

Find out where the parties are happening — whether you’re an adult or a

kid.

Michael Deeds: Google Trends says it knows what the popular costume

searches are in Idaho. If things look a little sexy in Boise, they’re also a bit

bananas in Twin Falls.

Music: Three Boise bands have recorded new albums. If you like things

jazzy, then you’re in luck.

SCENE MAGAZINE

Scare up weekend fun

Moving the kickoff from the

30 to the 35 has produced

fewer kickoff returns, one

of the plays that was more

likely to cause injuries. Not

even 40 percent of Boise

State’s kickoffs have fea-

tured returns. SPORTS, 1B

BRONCO BEAT

KICKOFF CHANGESWORK FOR NCAA

There’s no political or eco-

nomic pressure to breach

the four Snake River dams

today. But with salmon dy-

ing in hot rivers in the sum-

mer and the warm-water

“blob” in the Pacific Ocean

looming, that crisis could

come sooner than people

think. DEPTH, 1C

ROCKY BARKER

CRISIS NEEDED TOREVISIT DEBATE ONDAM BREACHING

GOP presidential candidate

Carly Fiorina’s time leading

Hewlett-Packard has been

treated in myriad ways this

year. If nothing else, she

was a paradox. DEPTH, 1C

POLITICS AND BUSINESS

FIORINA’S HP TIMEIN SPOTLIGHT

Five years after natural gas was discovered in Payette County, the industry is reaching commercial production

levels. But few are happy with the way development has proceeded: Residents such as Luke and Brynna Smith,

above, of Fruitland, worry that the rules don’t protect people. A gas-drilling company is frustrated with the state

process created to encourage and regulate the industry in Idaho. And lawmakers who represent the area are un-

happy with the overall lack of transparency. Statesman reporter Rocky Barker drills down to explain how we got

here and what the possible solutions are. DEPTH, 1C

DEPTH: IDAHO DRILLING

Awaiting revisions tonatural gas industry

KYLE GREEN kgreen@idahostatesman.com

Fall and winter are perfect times to hit the

trails and then the hot springs around Idaho.

Find out where you can plan your escape. Plus,

peek inside a Boise Rim home that was trans-

formed by an elegant remodel.

COMING SATURDAY FOR SUBSCRIBERS:

72-PAGE TREASURE MAGAZINE

PLAN AN OUTDOOR ADVENTUREAt 2 a.m. Sunday, those

clocks go back an hour.

It’s a glorious thing.

ACould permanent DST

curb crime? NEWS, 9A

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME

ALMOST TIMETO ‘FALL BACK’

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Depth

FRUITLAND – When an AltaMesa Idaho agent came seekingto lease the mineral rights onLuke and Brynna Smith’s landearlier this year, they askedwhere in the neighborhood the

company would drill the naturalgas well.“You might as well sign,”

Brynna Smith recalls being told,“ because it’s going to be be-hind your house.”The young couple had just

bought their home in a quiet

neighborhood on the edge of afarm field, where Brynna couldhome-school their four chil-dren. When they asked formore information, the companyand even the state told themthey couldn’t talk because theparties were involved in a legal

proceeding that would deter-mine mineral rights owners aretreated fairly and natural gas isconserved.Five years after natural gas

was discovered in PayetteCounty, few are happy with theway development has proceed-ed even though productionbegan in August at a pace thatwill soon bring tax and royaltydollars to the state.The Smiths and their neigh-

bors are wary of the regulationsput in place to protect them asmineral right owners and resi-dents of a future gas field.The company is frustrated

with the processes it helped thestate develop to encourage andregulate gas and oil develop-ment in Idaho.Lawmakers who represent

the area are unhappy with thesecrecy of the company as itmoves into a region that hasnever before had oil and gasdevelopment.But some of this is changing.

Alta Mesa Idaho has scheduleda meeting in Fruitland for Tues-day to meet with residents thereand answer their questions. Thethree lawmakers and the States-man were allowed to see the

KYLE GREEN kgreen@idahostatesman.com

Luke and Brynna Smith look over some of the paperwork related to a gas well planned next to their home.

IDAHO’S OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Residents seek answers asgas drillers fine-tune process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Is natural gas under your land athreat or a prize?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alta Mesa wants certainty instate regulations; at this point,hardly anyone is happy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BY ROCKY BARKER

rbarker@idahostatesman.com

SEE DRILLING, 3C

‘‘THE DECISIONSWE MAKE HERE

ARE GOING

TO BE SEEN

THROUGHOUT

THE AREA. THIS

STANDS TO BE A

TRANSFORMATIVE

PROCESS FOR

THIS DISTRICT.

Idaho Sen. Abby Lee,Fruitland

At Hewlett-Packard,Carly Fiorina avoided theemployee cafeteria, eatinglunch in her glass officedespite pleas from aides

to mingle with rank-and-file workers. But in whatturned out to be her lastweek as chief executive,she attended the funeralof an HP employee’s wife,lingering at a receptionafterward to console his

son.She swore allegiance to

the values of the compa-ny’s humble, Ford Tau-rus-driving founders,reciting their words atmeetings. But she trav-eled in a chauffeured car— and when introducingherself in the employeenewsletter, she highlight-ed her 52-foot yacht.She showered workers

with affirmation, onceinviting an executive tomeet the board of direc-

tors and placing a fakecrown on his head. But sheoversaw the layoffs of30,000 employees inwaves of downsizing thatseemed gratuitously imper-sonal at times; some werefired over the phone.As she seeks the Repub-

lican presidential nomi-nation, Fiorina’s tenure aschief executive of HP islargely treated as the storyof a misguided corporate

Fiorina: A study in contradiction as HP boss.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

She showered some workers with affirmation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

But 30,000 lost jobs on her watch.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fiorina was a keen student of power.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BY MICHAEL BARBARO

New York Times News Service

SEE CARLY FIORINA, 4C

ROBIN WEINER MCT

Compaq Chairman and CEO Michael Capellas and thenHP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina during anannouncement in 2001 of the merger of their companiesto create a $87 billion global technology leader.

fish-passage devices, the feder-al agencies would be stuck withbillions in stranded costs thatwould be expensive to recoup ifthe dams were breached.The reason there is no great

political groundswell? Sportanglers and tribal fishermen arestill catching fish in great num-bers. More than 1 million fallchinook are expected to returnto the Columbia Basin this year— 58,200 of them back to Idahoafter passing over Lower Gran-ite Dam.The main reason for that is

recent favorable Pacific Oceanconditions, providing Idaho’ssalmon ample feed and fewerpredators. Until that changes, Ican’t see many salmon lovers,anglers, Indians, sporting busi-nesses or others storming thegates of the Northwest states orWashington, D.C., for action.But here’s my warning, dam-

lovers and salmon-kissers:

Don’t get comfortable. Dis-turbing developments couldturn things around quickly.First, the Columbia and

Snake rivers both got so hot soearly this summer that Idaho’ssteelhead run all butdisappeared, despite the morethan 250,000 juveniles thathave gone out since 2012. Just46 returned to the SawtoothBasin; another 52 were caughtat Lower Granite and trucked toIdaho.It won’t take many back-to-

back hot summers like that tothreaten the progress the SnakeRiver sockeye program has seensince the bleak days whenLonesome Larry was the singlesockeye to return to RedfishLake. National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administrationclimate scientist Liza Crozier inSeattle has been watching the

The science and eco-nomics supportingbreaching the fourlower Snake River

dams has only gotten stronger.But anyone who says the poli-tics has changed are wishingand hoping, not accuratelyreading the tea leaves.A recent story by Nicholas

Geranios of The AssociatedPress said that “the idea hasgained new momentum,” after200 boats did a floating proteston the Snake River on Oct. 3.“The groundswell that is

occurring right now to remove

the four dams is like nothingI’ve seen since 1998,” said SamMace, director of Save OurWild Salmon.I’m sorry, but I’m not con-

vinced. The evidence thatbreaching dams would helpsalmon is more persuasive nowthan it was in 1998, when thebiologists and the Idaho De-partment of Fish and Gameconcluded that eliminating theobstacles would be the best wayto recover Idaho’s salmon andsteelhead runs.And the economic case for

breaching grows every year, asbarge shipping on the SnakeRiver drops and improvingenergy efficiency keeps theNorthwest’s power supply at a16 percent surplus. But thedams still produce low-carbonpower and, after all the gold-plating the federal governmenthas done over the past 20 yearsto upgrade turbines and add

LETTERS FROM THE WESTBY ROCKY BARKER

Dam breaching mayyet get back on table

SEE ROCKY, 4C

Retirees: Fall is a good timeto make tax adjustments 5C

PLUS uCOMICS, HOROSCOPES & MORE

ExploreIN THISSECTION

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30 2015 3CDepthIDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

Little Willow GatheringFacility — where gas andother products are initiallyprocessed and piped to-gether — that is the centerof Alta Mesa’s Idaho oper-ations.Idaho Department of

Lands Director TomSchultz has acknowledgedthat the process needs tobecome better and he’sgoing to other states tolearn how they run theirprograms to find the rightbalance between effi-ciency and democracy.“I do sympathize that

(the integration process)is a lot longer than otherstates,” Schultz said.

BREEDING DISTRUSTThe Smiths and other

Fruitland residents weresent a packet of docu-ments earlier this yeartelling them the Idaho Oiland Gas Commission wasgoing to “integrate” the640-acre section wheretheir home and half-acrewere located. This pro-cess, also called mandato-ry pooling, was approvedby the Idaho Legislaturethis year to protect miner-al-right holders and en-sure gas is not wasted.If 55 percent of miner-

al-interest owners in a640-acre area designatedby the state as a “unit” or“pool” agree to lease theirrights, a driller can askthe state to force the oth-er 45 percent to be in-cluded in the unit. Own-ers are then presented alist of options for compen-sation, among them leas-ing their right to the drill-er or investing in the drill-ing for a larger share ofthe profits.Much of the documents

the Smiths got had beenredacted — key detailsabout the company’splans and proprietaryinformation blacked out— providing the Smithswith none of the informa-tion about the integrationprocess or the effects ofdrilling, which are theirprimary concern.“Most of us immediate-

ly surrounding this fielddon’t want it here,” LukeSmith said.The people pushing the

no-drilling response arepart of a group led byfarmer-organizer AlmaHasse. They’ve formedCitizens Alliance for In-tegrity and Accountabilityto take on the gas devel-opers and hired a lawyerthey shared with theSmiths.Haase, a self-described

“fractivist,” refused toleave a Payette Countyplanning and zoning com-mittee a year ago and wasarrested for disorderlyconduct; she was releasedafter eight days andcharges later dismissed.She has since filed a legalclaim for monetary dam-ages against the county.Today, the Smiths know

they can’t stop the drill-ing. They have becomesophisticated about thestate’s regulatory programand what state officialsadmit is a predisposition

toward drilling.“They said repeatedly

it’s for the greater good,”said Luke Smith, a para-medic. “What’s a greatergood than the health ofmy family?”

SECRECY BRINGSLAWMAKERSTOGETHERThe health, welfare and

prosperity of their constit-uents is what made bothFruitland Republican Sen.Abby Lee and MidvaleRepublican Judy Boylesupport natural gas devel-opment. But the secrecyand the way residentswere treated by companyrepresentatives was send-ing people to Hasse forinformation.“I told (the company), ‘I

see you can raise ourdistrict’s standard of liv-ing,’ ” Boyle said. “‘I wantyou to succeed.’ ”She and Lee have not

been close since Lee de-feated Boyle’s closefriend, Sen. MontePearce. But they joinedtogether, along with NewPlymouth RepublicanRep. Ryan Kerby, whenBoyle said lobbyists forAlta Mesa treating Lee asan enemy because of theconcerns she raised aboutsecrecy and other issues.“I want to make sure

this kind of developmentbenefits the state 20 yearsfrom now and not just twoyears from now,” Leesaid.Company officials told

Lee she could not visit theLittle Willow facility,because of safety andproprietary processes. Leecalled Alta Mesa Presi-dent and CEO Hal Chap-pelle and a week later,she, Boyle and Kerby gota tour.“After that, my confi-

dence level grew,” Leesaid.Boyle had introduced

the company at a localpublic meeting in Septem-ber that had not beenadvertised and was poorlyattended. She told Chap-pelle they needed anothermeeting — with betternotice — to offer the pub-lic a chance to get theirquestions answered.Most of the fear and

opposition will be clearedup, Boyle said, by elim-inating that secrecy.“It’s like they’ve landed

on a strange planet withstrange people they don’tunderstand,” Boyle said.“We don’t understandthem. They’re aliens.”

CLEARING THE AIRJohn Peiserich, Alta

Mesa Idaho’s chief coun-sel, has been representingthe gas industry in Idahoeven before Alta Mesabought out Bridge Re-sources’ interest — in-cluding the Willow field —in 2012. Idaho’s “play,” asan oil and gas explorationeffort is called, is de-scribed in the industry asa “wildcat” because of allthe financial risk it en-tails.The wildcatters who

take these risks inherently

keep their informationclose to the vest so theydon’t attract competitors.But it is rare they have tostart from scratch andhelp develop the reg-ulatory framework for anentire state.Idaho’s new rules

haven’t worked out theway Peiserich hoped. Thecompany filed to integratethe two sections in Fruit-land in May. Now it’s theend of October and thestate still hasn’t complet-ed the process, eventhough the regulations saythe Oil and Gas Commis-sion “shall” integrate. Thecompany can’t start drill-

ing until it has the variousrights straightened out.By making the process a

legal proceeding as itsrules say, the companywas forced to presentfamilies like the Smithswith all of the information— with company detailsredacted so competitorscouldn’t get them — atonce, company spokes-men said.A hearing is now set for

Nov. 19, but Peiserichsaid it won’t happen. AltaMesa plans to withdrawits application because thestate has changed therules in the middle of theprocess, opening the en-tire integration decisionup for legal challenge.He wants the process

changed to make it quick-er, simpler and clearer forall parties.“It’s too complicated,”

Peiserich said. The“messed-up” system alsois likely to keep compet-itors from entering thestate.Above the Little Willow

gathering station, con-

struction workers arebuilding pads for newwells that Alta Mesahopes to have drilled bythe end of the year. Olderwells sending natural gasinto its pipeline surroundthe station, which is filledwith state-of-the-art tech-nology.The company’s de-

hydration facility (remov-ing water from the gas) onthe other end of the pipe-line is filling tanker trucksowned by a Fruitlandbusiness with condensate,a liquid hydrocarbonbyproduct priced likegasoline and transportedto a railhead in Ontario,Ore., for shipment to SaltLake.Some of the gas goes

into the Northwest Pipe-line and the rest goes intoIdaho Power’s LangleyGulch gas power plantnearby. Alta Mesa’s pipe-line supplies enough for40 percent of the plant’spower, Peiserich said.“My goal is to produce

more gas than they cantake,” he said.Alta Mesa has invested

$140 million in Idaho sofar. The Little Willow siteand Payette County as awhole is the center of AltaMesa’s operations, in partbecause that’s where theyhave the most informa-tion, Peiserich said.The company has so-

phisticated geophysicalmodels of the under-ground resources theyseek, mainly reservoirs inthe sandstone geologythat once was an oceanfloor.Each time Alta Mesa

drills and with each wellin production they getmore and more informa-tion that allows them tounlock the mysteries of ageology Peiserich saidcan’t be found anywhereelse in the world, exceptperhaps China.The company holds

mineral rights elsewhere,including in Ada Countynear Eagle. The companybid on all the rights putout for bid by the state inthe area, but PayetteCounty is going to betheir focus for years tocome.“We’re going to do

everything we can tomaximize value,” Peiser-ich said.That also means the

company won’t look athorizontal fracturing, orfracking. One reason isthat the geology isn’tshale and isn’t needed toget at the oil, but cost alsois a factor.“Because of the way the

reservoirs sit here,” hesaid, “it would be a wasteof resources.”

STANDING UPFOR THEMSELVESA white stake stands in

the field about 1,000 feetfrom the Smiths’ home. Aworker told Luke that’swhere the drill rig will be,tilting toward their home.The target is 5,000 feetdown — right below theirhome.The company has

85 percent of the mineralrights in the sectionleased, Peiserich said. It ispaying people a $100-an-acre bonus with a mini-mum payment of $50 forsmaller parcels, alongwith a 12.5 percent royaltyif commercial quantitiesof gas are found.The Smiths’ main con-

cern now is whether theroad next to their homewill be used for the 65trucks that will come tothe drill site over the fourweeks of drilling. Theyalso worry about the long-term presence of drillersand drill rigs and aregoing to stay involved toprotect their own.But they also may make

some money.“We’ve been told we’re

sitting on a gold mine,”Brynna Smith said.

Rocky Barker:208-377-6484,@RockyBarker

ROCKY BARKER rbarker@idahostatesman.com

Alta Mesa’s Little Willow gathering facility north of New Plymouth.

KYLE GREEN kgreen@idahostatesman.com

State Sen. Abby Lee talks with John Peiserich, vice president and general counsel for Alta Mesa Idaho, which hasbeen disappointed by the drilling process here. Peiserich called it “too complicated.”

KYLE GREEN kgreen@idahostatesman.com

At Alta Mesa’s dehydration plant, the goal is to produce more gas than Idaho Power can take.

.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Meeting

Alta Mesa Idaho is hostingan informational meetingon its natural gasdevelopment plans at theFruitland Middle SchoolCommons Area from6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FROM PAGE 1C

DRILLING

WHEN THEFEDERALGOVERNMENTLEASES MINERALRIGHTS TO ITSLANDS IN IDAHO,AS IT DID FORTHE FIRST TIMEIN A DECADE INMAY, IDAHO GETSHALF OF THEPROCEEDS. THATTOTALED$3.8 MILLION INMAY.

$200,000 TO$400,000How much money Idahoestimates it will get inseverance taxes from AltaMesa this fiscal yearthrough July.