The level headed legislator talks private property rights, the future of family farm and public service - Senator Mark Harris
Listen On Apple Podcasts
Click Play Below
Listen On Spotify
Click Play Below
In the vast expanse of Eight Mile, where the average is four people per square mile, you can find Senator Mark Harris. A rancher himself, he understands the rhythm of the land, where hard work is not just a phrase but a way of life.
In the spirit of sweat and dedication, Senator Harris is steadfast in serving Idaho. He recognizes that agriculture, the lifeblood of Idaho’s economy, thrives on secure private property rights, and Idaho's Constitution guarantees the right to possess and protect property.
Harris is resolute in preserving this foundation for generations of Idahoans to come.
We hope you enjoy this NEW episode of the Main Street Idaho podcast with Senator Harris and Brennan Summers, the Executive Director of the Main Street Idaho podcast.
Mark doesn't just stand for Idaho; he walks the fields, herding the ideals that make us proud. In his words and actions, Senator Harris is a steward of our way of life, tending to the seeds of Idaho's future.
Follow Along With The Transcript
Brennan Summers (00:00):
Welcome to Main Street Podcast, an opportunity to talk to Idaho's elected leaders about the issues that matter to you. It is the Idaho Main Street podcast. This is Brennan Summers here. I keep getting in trouble for not saying my name, but nobody caress who I am. It's always the guest we're here for, so we are lucky enough to be here with the good Senator at a district 35. Senator Mark Harris. Mark, how are you? I'm
Senator Mark Harris (00:29):
Good. I like to be here. Thank you. The
Brennan Summers (00:30):
Most important question we have to ask is, did you get the cows fed before you came in today?
Senator Mark Harris (00:35):
Didn't have to feed him. Not yet.
Brennan Summers (00:36):
You haven't fed 'em yet. You feed 'em later in the day.
Senator Mark Harris (00:38):
Well, the snow level hasn't come down quite to hit us yet, so they're
Brennan Summers (00:42):
All out.
Senator Mark Harris (00:42):
Just we're watching
Brennan Summers (00:43):
It. You're not throwing any hay down for 'em. They're
Senator Mark Harris (00:45):
Good. Not yet. Hay's too expensive. Well, not this year, but it's a cost that we don't want to blow right away.
Brennan Summers (00:52):
Sure, sure. You got to save that. Bruce, you have some pretty harsh winters where you're at.
Senator Mark Harris (00:55):
We do, yeah.
Brennan Summers (00:56):
Yeah. I'm excited. We're going to talk a little bit about where you're from and what you're doing, but we have a few things in common. We both went to Utah State and got political science. Oh, awesome. Yeah. Go Aggies. Are you a true Aggie?
Senator Mark Harris (01:06):
I
Brennan Summers (01:06):
Am not. You're not a true Aggie. I'm not,
Senator Mark Harris (01:08):
Are you?
Brennan Summers (01:09):
That's a very personal question. I do the questions
Senator Mark Harris (01:11):
Here, mark.
Brennan Summers (01:12):
Okay. You and Cheryl need to get down to Logan to become true Aggies. I
Senator Mark Harris (01:14):
Know. I keep telling her that she finds some excuse not to
Brennan Summers (01:18):
Go. We've got a lot of people right now that are Googling. Utah State owes us for that one, but when I was little, my dad was on the city council in Yukon, which is in New District, and so I would go to city council meetings with him and I mean, I'd go to these Lincoln days and it opened me up to this whole different world. You had a similar experience that got you involved in public service and getting involved in your community. Maybe talk a little bit about what your grandparents and your parents did to help you get to be a senator now.
Senator Mark Harris (01:47):
Sure. So my great-grandpa was actually a representative, and when Idaho is just a newly formed state, and I kind of always knew that, but really didn't pay much attention to it. My dad is actually the one that got me involved in politics as I was a little kid, as he would spray weeds with his pickup and I would have to start the pickup going, driving it when I was real little, and so he could start the sprayer and get it going. Then he would run and jump in the cab and we'd take off. He would always listen to the radio and Paul Harvey and the news. The news was big to him, and I could always remember him griping about Jimmy Carter. He did not like Jimmy Carter. Then when Ronald Reagan became the president, that was the happiest day of his life really. That's when I started paying attention to what was going on, mostly on the national level, because that was what was sexy at the time. But yeah, that's kind of what got me going. Both him and mom were involved in the Bear Lake County Republican Party, and so I started going to Republican conventions at real early age.
Brennan Summers (03:06):
And you caught the bug.
Senator Mark Harris (03:06):
I caught the bug.
Brennan Summers (03:07):
Well, I'm sure dad didn't love filling up that truck during the Jimmy Carta era.
Senator Mark Harris (03:12):
He didn't. Right? He didn't.
Brennan Summers (03:13):
Oh, that's such a fun antidote. Now, what was great-grandfather's name?
Senator Mark Harris (03:18):
My great-grandfather's name was William McGee.
Brennan Summers (03:20):
William McGee, okay. William McGee Harris. So you've got a rich history of Berto. Do you know what kind of legislator he was? If he was a bomb thrower or if he was,
Senator Mark Harris (03:29):
He was known as the hardheaded gentleman from Bonneville County. Oh,
Brennan Summers (03:32):
Really? A title that you've managed to shake off? Yeah. Yeah. That's all right. Now you're not from Bonneville County. You're out near Soda Springs and you describe it as, it's an area called Eight Mile that's between Soda and Georgetown, which is funny. Most people hear Eight Mile, and I don't know if you're familiar with the Detroit, but eight miles a portion where the rapper Emine M grew up. Oh, no, I'm not. And it is notorious for the, I won't go into the details, but for crime and things like that, got to be very different than the eight mile you live
Senator Mark Harris (04:05):
In. Oh, yes. There's no crime in Eight Mile where I'm
Brennan Summers (04:08):
From. Yeah, what's it like out there?
Senator Mark Harris (04:11):
It's a good place to raise kids. That's where I grew up and was raised. The winters are harsh, as you've mentioned. The springs are beautiful but short and the summers are hot. Not as hot as other places, but the falls are beautiful,
Brennan Summers (04:32):
And so you're right there and Soda Springs, that's the closest city where you can stuff.
Senator Mark Harris (04:37):
Yeah, we're eight miles south of Soda Springs, coincidentally,
Brennan Summers (04:40):
That's the name. There we go. We're figuring this out. I'm a slow learner, but I'll get there. Now you've got an interesting district though, because there you are embedded in the heart of Eight Mile right there by soda, but your district runs all the way up to Teton along the Wyoming border comes down, you go through Driggs all the way through Swan Valley, Palisade, even over to Yukon, my old stomping grounds, and then it cuts all the way down straight to Bear Lake, bear Lake, Utah border,
Senator Mark Harris (05:09):
And then goes to McCammon and Ham.
Brennan Summers (05:11):
Yeah, that's got to be one of the most wild districts drawn
Senator Mark Harris (05:16):
Up. We kind of kid that was the district that was made up after all the other districts were formed. They just kind of hodgepodge that one together. But yeah, it, it's an interesting district, but it's full of good people.
Brennan Summers (05:32):
Different
Senator Mark Harris (05:32):
People, different people, but good people.
Brennan Summers (05:34):
So you've said before that as an elected leader, you're going to represent everybody whether they voted for you or not, whether they agree with you or
Senator Mark Harris (05:43):
Not. That's my job.
Brennan Summers (05:44):
That's your job, man. There's different people that exist in Yukon and different people that exist in Driggs and all over the place. How would you go and vote or how when you go and sit on your committees and write legislation, do you keep all those different views in mind?
Senator Mark Harris (06:03):
It's difficult. As you can imagine, the constituency in Driggs is quite a bit different than the constituency in Bear Lake County. I receive quite a few emails from Teton County. They're very politically inclined, very politically motivated. But as I sit down and get ready to vote on a certain bill, I have to rely on my principles, common sense, what I think will help the majority of the district, and then I vote that way and if that's what happens. Sure.
Brennan Summers (06:45):
Let's talk principles. You've been described as a levelheaded legislator, and I practiced all morning to make sure I got that right. Levelheaded legislator. How is it you've managed to also, you've been endorsed by some very conservative organizations for your way to stand up for Right to Life or your falling to the Constitution and that organization surrounding those type of endorsements. How do you keep this levelheaded mentality as a pragmatist and stay very conservative without losing your head over there?
Senator Mark Harris (07:24):
I dunno. It is something that it doesn't keep me up at night. I do what I think is best and let the consequences follow. Basically. Usually if someone disagrees with me or with the way I voted, I'll try to call 'em and walk 'em through why I voted the way I did, and usually that will suffice. If it doesn't, they'll say, well, we agree to disagree and we'll try the next time. But I do try sincerely try to follow what I think is right, what the Constitution, what I think the Constitution allows us to do and what will help my constituents, and that's the best I can do.
Brennan Summers (08:20):
And we try to humanize the politician on this podcast. We try to take away the power distance of the title. And one thing you've done that I think it's important for listeners to understand, it's your phone number's out there and you've encouraged people to call. We were talking before about how you'll receive a lot of calls on certain issues, and when they call, oftentimes if you're out and about your secretary in sir quotations or so they think you have a receptionist. It's actually shero your wife. It's wife for your employees that are taking the call. Right?
Senator Mark Harris (08:51):
Right.
Brennan Summers (08:52):
I mean, that's going to blow some people's mind that they could literally call up the home phone of their senator and get the wife or get the senator and leave a message about how they feel. That doesn't seem crazy to you.
Senator Mark Harris (09:05):
No, it doesn't. That seems Idaho to me. Idaho is a part-time has a part-time legislature. We all have our real jobs when we go home, and I think that is crucial to what Idaho is, is that we need to keep that part-time legislature mentality. We need to keep that connection with people at home. And I think that's important to be able to have my constituents call my house and say, Hey, I've got a problem, and be able to talk to 'em.
Brennan Summers (09:35):
That's fantastic.
Senator Mark Harris (09:37):
It's a necessity.
Brennan Summers (09:39):
Yeah. So you're still a firm believer. Part of your principles are your constituents and your voters need to be able to reach you even if they don't agree with you,
Senator Mark Harris (09:47):
Even if they don't agree.
Brennan Summers (09:48):
You've had some crazy calls in the past. I
Senator Mark Harris (09:50):
Have, and especially on the wolf issue that we had some wolf legislation a couple of years ago that went through, we had quite a few calls late at night, odd hours of the day from some very disgruntled people all across the country in the world in fact. And we finally had to tell the kids, don't answer the phone unless you recognized the number
Brennan Summers (10:17):
And he 2 0 8 on it.
Senator Mark Harris (10:18):
And we had to kind of calm down on that, but
Brennan Summers (10:22):
Let's talk about that wolf issue. Okay. So congratulations. You were quoted in the New York Times. That's the positive side of it. The negative side of it is they were pretty critical of you regarding this wolf issue. What was all the fuss about Senator?
Senator Mark Harris (10:37):
The fuss was an offhand comment that was made in committee about how the sponsors of the bill wanted to kill 90% of the wolves in Idaho. That was the furthest thing from the truth, because I mean, if we do that, the wolf will be listed again and we start the process all over again. I mean, we don't want to do that. But the fact remains, by the numbers of the fishing game gave us, the wolf population was growing and it was like 1,550 wolves, if I remember correctly. And our target was way below that. Even with the hunting season that we had, that the fish and game had implemented, the population was still growing. And so basically the legislation that we had was to allow year-round trapping on private land would allow other people beside it, well, contractors besides government guys to go out and kill the wolves. Anyway, those things were the triggers of the comment of you want to kill 90% of the world's in Idaho, and this was the furthest thing from the truth, but that's what riled everybody
Brennan Summers (11:51):
Up. But you led the, that was trying to control this population that was exploding, correct?
Senator Mark Harris (11:56):
Right. My name was on the bill.
Brennan Summers (11:57):
Yeah. There's some people that are new to our state might be listening who wolves are cute creatures to 'em. They see 'em from a distance, they read 'em about 'em in schools. What is it that they need to understand about this species when it comes to the Idaho way of life?
Senator Mark Harris (12:13):
It goes beyond just the wolf itself. The wolves have been killing cattle and livestock, sheep, horses, domestic dogs, several things around the state. And the livestock producers mostly are beside themselves. Their cattle come in way underweight. They come in open, not pregnant, which is a killer in the livestock industry. It's bad. So there's that aspect of it. But also on the wildlife side of it, we're finding the wolves are driving the elk herds down into the lower country, and when the elk come down, they destroy crops in the lower country, hay crops, corn crops, whatever the elk should be in the mountains. And so there's a compounded problem there with elk depredation where there shouldn't be, plus the added livestock depredation when the wolves will kill 'em.
Brennan Summers (13:14):
And you can speak to this issue because not only do you have a cattle operation that you run with your brothers down there, if we're talking about like a thousand head, I mean it's a significant operation, but all your friends and neighbors, that's their way of life as well.
Senator Mark Harris (13:28):
That's their way of life. They're growing
Brennan Summers (13:29):
Hay, they're raising cows. Your experience in ag is unique, right? So you started on the Farm Bureau and the Idaho cattle cattlemen. You served there and you brought your experience from the field into the policy realm. And then as you've been in the Senate, you've been able to lead out on a lot of these ag issues. Why is it so important that we have elected leaders in Idaho that not only understand agriculture, but their livelihood is agriculture?
Senator Mark Harris (14:03):
That's a good question. Agriculture is a critical part of the I economy. I think it's like 13% of the GDP, but it's just more than that. Agriculture, it's a way of life. It's a legacy for a lot of these families. And in my view, I need to do everything I can to protect that legacy in that way of life for future generations. And what we're seeing now during this time is a large population growth in the state of Idaho. We're seeing it in our infrastructure, our resources, and our ag land. And it's come to the point where a beginning farmer, a kid that wants to start a farm, cannot afford to buy land to start a farm. They have inherit that or have some kind of agreement with their parents to buy it. And so what we're seeing is the loss of the family farm, and that's a threat. Yeah,
Brennan Summers (15:20):
Funny. I had a college roommate down in Utah State who grew up in Bear Lake, went to Bear Lake High School, and he's in that situation right now. He's got a young family and he wants more than anything to raise cows, to grow crops and to get in that lifestyle. And culturally, it's more than just the finances that comes in Idaho from our big farms. It's the culture part of it that we've got to protect. So what are some of the issues, you listed some about the growth and the infrastructure and the challenge to keep the family farm. What are some of these big issues that agriculture's facing in Idaho right now that you've got help with in the Senate?
Senator Mark Harris (15:56):
Well, the big issues I think are a lot of the problems come from the federal, on the federal level. For example, waters of the United States, the wilds, and that was implemented or introduced in the Obama administration and kind of went away during the Trump years. And then it come back with the Biden administration, the several states, attorney generals have filed suit. And as far as I know, that's still pending. But the Sacket situation in northern Idaho with their win in the Supreme Court has kind of forced the EPA to go back and re-look at that, which is good. The other thing that's floating around out there hovering is what they call the 30 30 project, which has been introduced by the Biden administration. Again, it's a global initiative basically to put in reserve 30% of the land and 30% of the water by the year 2030. And that is also a threat to agriculture because as I said before, population's growing. We've got to eat and somebody's got to grow the food and we have to have places to do that. And so there's
Brennan Summers (17:15):
That issue. Yeah, regulation by the federal government's kind strangling you. And there's a lot of people in DC who they'll put out policy. It sounds like a good idea, but it's very different when it comes down to the guy whose boots are in the dirt.
Senator Mark Harris (17:25):
Yeah. When it hits the ground, it's a problem
Brennan Summers (17:27):
Now. So there are some things thrown down from the federal government that make it a real challenge. And there are some things that just kind of happen. So recently we saw an invasive mussel species pop up in some Idaho waters, the governor and the Idaho Department of Ag. They wasted no time to do the full core press, try to get rid of this thing again. What's the big concern about this invasive species and why should we all care about a mus that I can't even pronounce.
Senator Mark Harris (17:53):
The qua mussel. Yeah,
Brennan Summers (17:54):
Qua.
Senator Mark Harris (17:54):
There go. It come from Ukraine, I believe, and has infested the Great Lakes. In fact, the only states in the country that hasn't been touched by it are Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana maybe. So we've been trying our best to keep the quagga mussel out. And years ago, the Department of Ag implemented check stations and everybody's probably seen them on the border, boat check stations. The process kind of got stale. And so we revamped it in 2017, I believe, and added some more funds to the stations to add 'em so they could run longer hours. We've been crossing our fingers hoping we didn't ever get 'em. And lo and behold, we did in the Steak River. And Twin, as you mentioned, just popped
Brennan Summers (18:50):
Up, what, a couple months ago maybe it
Senator Mark Harris (18:52):
Popped up. And we don't know where they came from. And that's concerning. I
Brennan Summers (18:55):
Blame the Californians. It's the easiest thing to do, right?
Senator Mark Harris (18:58):
It's the easiest. But it could have come in and an inflatable raft, a rubber duck. I don't know. It could have come in anything. And the problem with those, they multiply so fast and they're so thick that they could potentially cause hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to IDs, infrastructure, the power generation, irrigation systems. We've seen pictures of them. Clogging center pivots so bad that the center pivots get heavy and collapse. They just constrict the water flow. They grow on rocks, on the beaches and make it so people don't want to go there. It's a bad creature.
Brennan Summers (19:47):
That's the bad news. What's the good news?
Senator Mark Harris (19:49):
The good news is, as you said, the governor and the Department of Ag, department of Transportation, fish and game, several state agencies, some federal agencies, it was a phenomenal response when it was discovered that we had it in Twin Falls and the river. The response was terrific, and I think it's something that we'll look back on and try to emulate if we ever get it again. But I have nothing but praise for the Department of Ag and how they reacted to this issue. And basically what they did is they put a copper compound in the river, chelated, I believe, chelated copper that will stick to stuff. And it was in the water for 90 some odd hours and killed the muscle that they did find. They did find one killed the villagers, the little mussels, and killed a few fish, which was a concern. But a lot of the fish that died were trash, fish, carp, and a few sturgeon. But we were basically a fish game said, we can replace those, it'll take a while, but we can replace 'em. But the muscle that they were watching that they did find was dead, which is a good sign. So we're crossing our fingers now because they'll go dormant during the winter basically. But we'll continue to monitor that. ISDA will and fishing game, and we'll see what happens next spring. So we're keeping our fingers crossed to make sure that we've got 'em cleaned out.
Brennan Summers (21:36):
So hats off to the governor, hats off to the agencies, but also hats off to those in the legislature who funded the organizations, the agencies, because if they were gutted and were operating on shoestring budgets, they probably wouldn't have been able to respond the way they did.
Senator Mark Harris (21:48):
And like I said, in 2017 or 2000, when I came into legislature, I think the budget for the invasive species program was 1,000,002 or something like that. It was getting its money from boat tags, boat registration. We upped it considerably in 2017. And with the help of several legislators, Sean Keel from North that Idaho was the chairman of J fac at the time. She was instrumental in that effort and the Governor Otter. And anyway, I think it's time for a refresh and I expect some legislation to come this session to further that fight against the qa. It's
Brennan Summers (22:34):
Got to be one of the most abnormal issues that matter so much. It's one of these things that why should we care? I think you explained it very well. This is an issue we really all should care
Senator Mark Harris (22:45):
About. We should, yeah.
Brennan Summers (22:46):
Another issue that we all should care about that not enough people talk about but plastered all over, whether it's your campaign websites, whether it's your speeches you give in Boise, you care a lot about personal property rights, and that's not typically a campaign talking point for a lot of people in Idaho. But that's kind of been something when we talk about you voted with your principals, it's almost really important to you. Help us understand what is it about personal property rights that it's so important to you?
Senator Mark Harris (23:14):
Private property rights and personal property rights are key to what makes this nation what it's, it's key to what makes Idaho, Idaho. And it's just, it goes back to the rugged individualism type and type mentality of this is mine, I can do with what I want, and I don't want anybody to come tell me what to do with it. It's private property is, like I said, a key to what makes the United States what it is for your
Brennan Summers (23:49):
Country and connect so closely with a lot of the other issues you work on with your deep understanding and fight for protecting agriculture and the things they're on. And we're going to have to have you back, just talk about ag issues. I know there's a long list of things we didn't cover from everything with the workforce shortage to protecting ag land and water's an issue for everyone. So we will get our time to get into that, but we make sure we ask. Everyone that comes on the podcast, they get a couple of questions. I don't know if they like 'em, but people listening tend to love 'em. So the first question, it's a book, a book you've read in your lifetime that anyone listening, you can say, look, before you die, if you never read anything else again, if you don't even know how to read and you just want to learn how to read, do it for this book and this book alone.
Senator Mark Harris (24:29):
That is a tough question. I am an avid Tom Clancy fan.
Brennan Summers (24:35):
Okay. Hey, that's good. We'll take that recommendation. Anything Tom Clancy you're saying?
Senator Mark Harris (24:39):
Anything? Tom Clancy. I read a lot of Tom Clancy books in college and after, and the words that he uses that he used, he's deceased now. But my vocabulary went crazy and I'd have to look up some of the words to see what he meant. But yeah, I'm an avid Tom Clancy fan.
Brennan Summers (25:03):
I love it. Now, do you have a place, now your seatmate representative Wheeler really struggled with this question because your district is so big. I'm going to hold you to it. Can you pick a place or maybe two, the best places to eat in your district if anyone's driving through that massive district of yours, where should they stop and eat?
Senator Mark Harris (25:22):
Home
Brennan Summers (25:23):
Cheryl's cooking. Yep.
Senator Mark Harris (25:24):
That's
Brennan Summers (25:25):
A great answer. What does your wife make that when we stop by? We should get
Senator Mark Harris (25:28):
Roast beef mashed potatoes.
Brennan Summers (25:30):
Man. Spoken like a true Idaho country boy. There we go. Senator, we started today talking about your grandparents, your parents, your great grandfather, representative McGee, the hardheaded guy from Bonneville County, and talked about how you got introduced into politics. We've covered a lot of issues today from invasive muscles, personal and private property rights to issues ags facing. We've talked a lot about your love of agriculture and how you're fighting to make sure Farms can stay in the community. I think everybody in their mind is now wanting to drive out and spend some time in eight mile and see what God's greeting the earth looks like out there. As we're wrapping up here, you've got four boys. These boys have watched you from a young age serve in the Senate. They've watched you feed cows in the winter. They've helped answer the phone When angry people about wolves call. What is it that you're hoping that legacy you're going to leave as Senator Harris for your boys?
Senator Mark Harris (26:24):
I hope that they see the value of public service. If not, if they can't serve in the public disservice in their church service, in their community service anywhere. We have some phenomenal people in this district. Cheryl and I, for example, to a Presbyterian bazaar last week and just great people. It was just fun to be there and intermingle with them and participate in their fundraiser. And that's what I like to do is do those kinds of things and see my people. That's why I do it, and I hope that they learn the value of that and following those footsteps
Brennan Summers (27:12):
Well to the level-headed legislator from District 35. We appreciate your service. We appreciate your time. We're going to have you back so we can get through all the other things we cover. Sounds good. Thanks so much. We'll let you get home to Cheryl and the cows. Okay, sounds good. Thanks so much.
