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GROUPS WORK TO PASS FARM AND FOREST PROTECTION ACT

Posted on: June 06, 2007

Working Group Fights for Vista Values
By Jake Putnam, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation Writer

BOISE—From the Tetons to Priest Lake, to the Owyhees, Idaho landscapes are breathtaking but threatened. An unlikely group of Idahoans have joined forces to preserve the scenic beauty of Idaho and they want legislation passed that will set aside the state’s valuable vistas for generations to come.

“If you look at the Tetons and see the rolling foothills in front of them,” said farmer Emma Atchley of Ashton. “Those lands are farm and forest lands. If you cover them with houses we will never have that wide open view again. It’s gone forever; these are the lands we want to preserve.”

The Ranch, Farm and Forest Working group is made up of farmers and ranchers, conservation groups and sportsmen. Joining forces back in 2005 with the goal of preserving Idaho, the group got to work and did their research. They found the same old story in Bonner, Boundary, and Bonneville counties; that Idaho is slowly losing its rural character with developers buying up parcels at an alarming rate. The group proposed a tax credit to landowners that set aside valuable lands.

“In other words they would agree with the state not to develop their land,” said Will Whelan of the Nature Conservancy. “Landowners would get an income tax credit half of the value of their donation to keep the land open and that would provide wildlife and water quality benefits and in exchange they would get the income tax credit, worth half the value of the donation on the development rights on the land.”

Rancher Jim Little of Emmett has seen his county go from rural to urban almost overnight. “As I have watched the Helter, Skelter direction we’re going in my area, I think what’s this going to look like in 50 years and I don’t think any of us are going to like it, a lot of people are going to be disappointed with it.”

Last session the House Revenue and Taxation Committee printed House Bill 262 but that’s as far as it got. Lawmakers thought the bill complicated and a tight budget turned lawmakers away. This year the working group vows to get the legislation passed because time and land is slipping away.

Rancher Margaret Soulen-Hinson raises cattle and sheep outside of Weiser she says the Ranch, Farm and Forest Protection Act could save Idaho’s greatest assets and values.

“You think about what people in Idaho value, they value the wildlife,” said Soulen. They value the large open landscapes, they value the ability to be outdoors and have room to recreate on.”

The group says Idaho is losing wildlife habitat and that affects not only hunting but the Endangered Species Act, tax incentives for open space would ease Idaho’s growing pains and its ESA problems.

“A lot of the game that we find so valuable relies on private lands to grow them, to provide them the habitat, the winter range that they need,” said Nate Helm Executive Director, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife Idaho.

The group says the impact on the state budget is minimal, just $3 million year and the group says it works like this:

- The Ranch, Farm and Forest Protection Act would provide a tax credit to owners of agricultural and forest land who voluntarily agree not to develop lands important to fish and wildlife. – Eligible lands must continually be used for agriculture and forestry. – An advisory committee will review each proposed use of the tax credit to ensure it meets the needs of wildlife and to safeguard against misuse of the credit. – The advisory committee will include three government offices — the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Office of Species Conservation and Department of Lands — and representatives from the agriculture and recreation communities. – The committee will select only the highest priority projects because the maximum amount of tax credits offered by the state is $3 million per year. – Prioritization will be given to the highest value of land critical for wildlife, such as migration corridors or spawning areas. – A landowner who meets the criteria set by the advisory committee will receive a transferable income tax credit equal to only 50 percent of the appraised value — not the full value — of a voluntary conservation donation. The maximum credit is $500,000.

Courtney Washburn of the Idaho Conservation League says incentives will help keep working lands working and good stewards will be rewarded. “So its time for policy makers to set fourth and start protecting some of those natural resources which largely are in private lands in Idaho.”

The bill’s supporters have until January to make their pitch to lawmakers. They’re inviting lawmakers’ summer field trips and outings to show off where the tax breaks would be used. Landscapes with snowcapped peaks, elk grazing in a meadow, and seeing the state’s wide open spaces should inspire lawmakers to act in 2008.


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About Dave Langston

Outdoor writer Dave Langston resides in Chubbuck. He grew up in the Midwest and south fishing and hunting across the country.

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