General
Keeping the Website Afloat: A Transition Plan
The Working Lands Coalition Website Workgroup recommends a transition plan that will broaden support for the Internet based resource about Idaho’s private working lands. The planning document outlines the strategy to fund the operation of www.IdahoWorkingLands.com. Please review the plan, and use the comment form below to respond in one of [...]
Homes on the Edge – A Burning Question
Wildland fire suppression costs consume $3 billion dollars from the federal budget. A primary factor that contributes to the increased costs is the protection of private property in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Headwaters Economics, a non-profit organization, reviewed the factors contributing to higher costs, and concluded that existing policy does not address the expansion [...]
Having Lots to Learn
Prior to the real estate bubble, landowners and developers subdivided private working lands. The speculative housing market drove real estate prices to values many multiples greater than values for forest, farm and ranch production. The bubble residue left a pattern on the landscape of premature subdivisions – a configuration of building sites with no one [...]
Housing Unit Growth by County: 2000-2008
Change in Housing Units
Residential housing increased within Idaho during the eight year period 2000-2008. The period covered the residential real estate boom and the beginning of the housing bubble; the total housing count increased by 110,000 units. The Bureau of Census reports the distribution of the new homes across the state, at the [...]
The Cost of Wildlife Recovery
What is the value of wildlife habitat? Economists have struggled to estimate the dollar value of wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services. The recent Fish and Wildlife Service report on threatened and endangered species expenditures for 2007 offers a cost based perspective. When the quality of habitat diminishes, what does it cost the public to [...]
Idaho’s Liquid Asset
2005 Irrigation Withdrawals by County
The USGS reports water use for each of the fifty states every five years. The Summary of Water Use in the United States in 2005 documented the importance of Idaho’s water resources to the working ranches and farms in the state. Withdrawals of surface and groundwater for irrigation comprise 85% of [...]
Ravalli County’s Code of the West
Ravalli County published Our Code of the West, a guide for new residents in the Bitterroot Valley. The guide includes a helpful section that describes conservation easements, the function of land trusts, and the Open Lands Program funded by Ravalli County voters. The $10 million bond issue funds conservation easement acquisitions. The Code describes the Sawtooth [...]
Make Way for Boomers
Baby boomers comprise 23% of the U.S. population. The group includes those between the age of 43 and 63 years. Where will this segment of the population choose to live as they approach retirement? The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) forecasts that many will follow the migration pattern of the 1990s, and move to predominately rural [...]
Idaho Rural Land Values 2009
Idaho farm land values for 2009 did not follow the recent trend of the real estate boom. The National Agricultural Statistics Service annually publishes average values by state. Ratios of market to annual cash rent indicate relative market demand for farm and ranchland. The August 2009 Idaho data suggest that market values have declined as a result [...]
Bikers – Respect Ewe Turns
Photo: City of Boise
This is my favorite time of year in Boise. The flowers are blooming, trees are leafing out, and the trails are drying up enough to ride. So I was in a fine mood on this evening in May, pedaling out the Watchman Trail, one of Ridge to Rivers’ latest additions to our [...]
