Plans by the University of Idaho and the state to build a dairy research center in Magic Valley advanced this week, when the Idaho State Board of Education allocated up to $750,000 to design the facility.

Engineers, architects and lawyers will now be hired to begin planning the Idaho Center for Livestock and Environmental Studies, to be built in Magic Valley at the heart of the state's $2 billion dairy industry.

Officials say the center will provide a world-class setting for beef and dairy research and examine the environmental effects of confined animal feeding operations. The site is intended to pay for itself by operating as a CAFO.

At the request of Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, the site will also include an animal diagnostic laboratory - which will require the Caine Veterinary Teaching Center in Caldwell to relocate to the yet-to-be determined site - and raise the cost of the project from $25 million to $35 million, according to a report released Monday to the ISBE.

"This is a project that is worth doing," John Hammel, dean of U of I College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, said in a statement.

Plans for the project continue to move through a bureaucratic maze involving the Legislature, governor's office, ISDA, ISBE, U of I, the dairy industry and county commissions.

Five counties - Twin Falls, Cassia, Minidoka, Lincoln and Jerome - have expressed interest in hosting the facility. In Jerome County, however, a moratorium on new livestock operations could exclude that county from the running if a site is selected and construction must begin before the ban expires later this spring.

Gooding County, which is not interested in the center, recently passed stricter laws regulating the industry amid residents' concerns that dairies pose environmental hazards. Jerome County is in the process of drafting similar laws.

"Solving some of the environmental concerns associated with the rapidly growing livestock industry is not only critical to the long-term viability of the industry but also to the long-term sustainability of the environment and of the communities and citizens that are intermingled with them," the university wrote in the report.

The dairy industry has pledged $5 million to fund the facility. The Legislature has promised $10 million, and the remaining will come from U of I, which plans to sell the Caine Center property and endowment lands, said Rich Garber director of government and external relations for the university's ag department.

Several potential sites are being examined by the university, and a final decision could be made early this year.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.