Idaho Gang of Eight: Addressing Geoengineering in Idaho

January 30, 2026

Addressing Geoengineering in Idaho

By: Idaho Gang of Eight

Representatives Clint Hostetler and Lucas Cayler have drafted three pieces of legislation addressing geoengineering activities in Idaho. The goal is a complete statewide ban on cloud seeding and weather modification, with additional legislative options prepared if a complete ban is not immediately achievable.

Legislative leadership ultimately controls which bills receive hearings, and comprehensive reforms are not always permitted to advance on the first attempt. For that reason, three complementary bills were drafted. Together, they provide multiple paths forward—through state law, legislative oversight, and federal advocacy—to ensure Idaho can act to protect public health, agriculture, property rights, and its airspace.

The sponsors are currently in discussions with leadership to secure a print hearing. The bills are outlined below. We will continue to provide updates as the process moves forward.

A Full Ban on Cloud Seeding in Idaho

This bill repeals Idaho’s existing cloud seeding and weather modification statutes and replaces them with a clear statewide prohibition.

It bans all cloud seeding, weather modification, and related geoengineering activities in Idaho, makes violations a felony punishable by prison time and substantial fines, and removes cloud seeding authority from state agencies and water districts. The bill also ends public funding, coordination, or authorization of weather modification and restores complete legislative control over Idaho’s airspace and weather-related activities.

This is the strongest and most comprehensive of the three proposals.

Reforming Idaho’s Cloud Seeding Law

This bill substantially revises Idaho’s cloud seeding law by ending the presumption that cloud seeding is effective or beneficial and instead treating it as unproven and potentially unsafe.

It requires independent, third-party scientific review and an environmental impact assessment before any cloud seeding project may proceed, prohibits state funding without legislative approval, and makes unauthorized cloud seeding a felony offense. The bill reasserts legislative oversight and blocks future cloud seeding unless clear evidence supports its safety and effectiveness.

A Joint Memorial to Stop Unauthorized Geoengineering

This joint memorial urges Idaho and Congress to prohibit unauthorized geoengineering activities over Idaho, including weather modification and solar radiation management.

It calls for banning the intentional release of chemical or particulate substances into the atmosphere without state approval, asserts Idaho’s authority to protect public health, agriculture, and state airspace, and demands transparency. The memorial also formally rejects undisclosed federal or foreign geoengineering programs conducted over Idaho.

What’s Next

We will continue to share updates as these efforts progress.

Many have requested the recording of the geoengineering event held on January 14, 2026. You can watch the whole event here.