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Tax credit would protect Idaho’s working lands 3/12/2007 Given a choice, farmer Mark Lundquist would rather be out on his “patch of dirt,” as he calls it, along the South Fork of the Snake River. He loves looking out at the deer and elk that roam his land overlooking one of the finest trout rivers in the world. But on March 1, he traveled to Boise to talk about the need for more conservation easements, voluntary legal agreements that allow traditional uses of the land to continue while protecting the land from development. Lundquist, who sold an easement to the Teton Regional Land Trust to protect his land, can’t talk about his farm without getting emotional. “I’ve been on this land for 53 years and just can’t leave it,” he says. “With the easement, you can drive past my land and look down upon this beautiful valley, and know that that’s the view you’ll see for generations to come.” Lundquist made the trip not just to discuss his own easement; he’s concerned about the future of a state built on agriculture. “How long are we going to be able to buy loaves of bread when all the dirt has been turned to houses?” he asked. Other speakers asked similar questions, and another question that kept appearing again and again: What do you want Idaho to look like twenty years from now? That’s a question people around the state have been asking a lot lately, as Idaho faces dramatic population increases – with an estimated 450,000 new people moving to the state by 2035. Many diverse viewpoints – farmers, ranchers, forest owners, sportsmen, conservationists – have discovered that they share common ground when answering the question. They all want clean water, abundant wildlife, working farms and ranches, and a chance for their kids and grandkids to experience the Idaho they love. That’s why a coalition that includes agricultural organizations, landowners, sportsmen and conservationists came together in 2005 to discuss changing rural landscapes. The group decided that incentives were needed to keep working lands working. Working lands – farms, ranches and private forests – play a vital role in Idaho’s outdoor heritage. Although the state has huge swaths of public lands, private lands play a disproportionately large role for wildlife and outdoor recreation. Many big game species – including deer, elk, moose and pronghorn – rely on private agricultural lands for their wintering grounds. The deer that hunters pursue in the mountains in the fall spend their winter months on ranchlands. When wintering grounds are developed, big game herds plummet, a fact that has been proven countless times in the West. More restrictive tag availability usually follows. Private lands also hold important streams, vital for migrating fish including chinook salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout. Private timberlands have long been popular spots for outdoor recreation including hunting, hiking, biking and berry picking. The coalition proposes a state income tax credit of up to 50% of the value of voluntary donations of conservation easements. To qualify, these voluntary donations would have to further state wildlife objectives or include important fish and wildlife habitat. Called the Idaho Ranch, Farm and Forest Protection Act, the tax credit will be proposed during next year’s legislative session. The tax credit would be transferable, so that recipients of the credit who do not have high tax liability, as is the case for many rural landowners who are land rich and cash poor, would be able to sell the credit to other taxpayers who could use it to offset their taxes. “We think this is a free-market solution to help keep Idaho’s working lands working,” says Bas Hargrove, senior policy representative for The Nature Conservancy of Idaho, one of the coalition’s members. The coalition held a legislative workshop on the Idaho Ranch, Farm and Forest Protection Act on March 1 to familiarize lawmakers and others with the importance of the tax credit. Landowners and organizational representatives spoke on the importance of conserving working lands now. “There’s a reason people are moving to Idaho. It’s our way of life, it’s the outdoor recreation available and the open spaces,” says Dale Dixon of the Idaho Rural Partnership. “But if you pave it all over, you’ve lost the way of life that was drawing people here. We need to strike a balance.” Dixon mentioned that developers in some areas are making offers to farmers as they make their daily trip to the post office. Dr. Herald Noakes lives in Long Valley near McCall, and has a conservation easement protecting his forest lands around Little Payette Lake. While the easement will allow him to continue to harvest timber, and provide local jobs, he also believes all outdoor enthusiasts realize the benefit of conservation easements, which is why they should be supporting this tax credit. “If you’re fishing on Little Payette Lake, you enjoy the beautiful scenery and look out on that undeveloped shoreline due to conservation easements,” he says. “It’s hard to put a value on that.” The Idaho Ranch Farm and Forest Protection Act has been endorsed by the following organizations: Idaho Cattle Association, Idaho Farm Bureau, Idaho Conservation League, Idaho Forest Owners Association, Idaho Grain Producers Association, Idaho Sportsmen’s Caucus Advisory Council, Idaho Wool Growers Association, Land Trusts in Idaho, Potlatch Corporation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy. |
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