Canyon County, ID Animal Ordinances: Bird Protection (2026)

Section 04-01-11(2), adopted by Ordinance 16-020 in December 2016, sits inside Article 1's list of Prohibited Acts for the Canyon County park system, established under Idaho Code sections 31-714, 31-828 and 63-908. The section labels 'county waterways/parks and recreation areas' as sanctuaries for wildlife of every sort and bars all molesting, injuring or killing of wild birds or animals there, subject only to exceptions the waterways committee or county commissioners allow, or that the Idaho Fish and Game Commission or federal wildlife service separately authorize.

The waterways committee is a three-member advisory body the county commissioners appoint under Section 04-01-03 to make recommendations on park matters without compensation. Enforcement runs through Section 04-01-05(2): the director of the Canyon County Department of Parks, Cultural and Natural Resources can designate park managers or department employees to be deputized as deputy sheriffs specifically to protect waterways and recreation areas against damage and to enforce state and county law inside park boundaries. Because the article only reaches property the county park system owns and operates, this wildlife protection covers county parks and waterways in unincorporated Canyon County; it does not extend to parks run by Caldwell, Nampa or the county's other incorporated cities, each of which handles wildlife rules in its own parks separately, if at all.