Senate Passes Resolution Addressing Idaho Working Lands

Resolution provides opportunity to address loss forest, farm, ranch lands

Boise, Idaho — March 10, 2009 — The Idaho State Senate today passed a resolution today to examine the loss of working forests, ranches and farms, and to recommend solutions to address this challenge.

The resolution passed the Idaho House on March 2.

The resolution calls for the Natural Resources Interim Committee to look at all dimensions of the loss of rural working lands. It is an opportunity for interested groups and the public to come forward with their ideas. It will allow deliberate evaluation of the issues, what resources are currently available and where the unmet needs may lie.

The Idaho Working Lands Coalition—a coalition of agricultural, outdoor recreation and conservation organizations—believes that the conversion of forests, ranches, and farms threatens Idaho’s economy, wildlife habitat and quality of life. The coalition has proposed landowner incentives to protect working lands. However, given the fiscal challenges faced by the state, the coalition believed this is not the year to bring forth a proposal for landowner incentives.

The resolution creates an opportunity to better understand both the problem and the options for addressing it.

“If we don’t address the issues surrounding Idaho’s working lands, we stand to lose our heritage and things we’ve spent generations building,” says Representative Rich Wills of Twin Falls. “This resolution keeps the issue alive and will hopefully lead to solutions at another time.”

A poll conducted last year found that, by wide margins, Idahoans were concerned about the loss of farms, ranches and wildlife habitat to development.

For more information, visit the Idaho Working Lands Coalition's interactive web site.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.