Archive for April, 2009
Idaho’s Forest Legacy
Idaho’s Forest Legacy Program keeps private working forests in production. The program, administered by the Idaho Department of Lands, offers a financial incentive to private forestland owners who voluntarily extinguish development rights on their property. The Idaho Department of Lands completed an Assessment of Need in 2002 that identified trends in private forestland ownership within the [...]
Travelers for Open Land – Montana
The Travel Montana Department, Montana land trusts, and travel businesses designed a program to finance voluntary conservation easements on private lands. Owners of travel lodging businesses host a donation box for cash contributions to a conservation fund. The fund, managed by the Montana Community Foundation, awards grants twice a year based on a review of [...]
Forest Legacy: St. Joe Basin/Mica Creek
The St.Joe Basin/Mica Creek Project conserved 54,613 acres adjacent to the St. Joe River and the state designated Scenic Byway of the St. Joe River Road. The easement protects a working forest landscape located west of Avery, Idaho. East of Avery, the river is designated as Wild and Scenic and ranks as a blue ribbon trout [...]
Forest Legacy: Singleton Kilgore
Singleton Family Property
The project protected 560 acres of family ownership from development pressures in the popular Clark County area. The parcel is located near Henry’s lake, Island Park and Yellowstone National Park. All three recreation areas create a market drawing card for cabin sites. The family actively manages the property to harvest timber and hay, as well [...]
Forest Legacy: Clifty Mountain Foothills
Clifty Mountain Foothills Nursery
The working forest in the Clifty Mountain Foothills combines an ornamental and seed tree nursery with traditional forest management on 1,650 acres. The third generation owners of the property are a major employer in Boundary County. The location has gained attention of developers, and subdivisions on nearby property are typically large lots, ranging [...]
Forest Legacy: Gold Creek Ranch
Public Benefit: Situated within the McArthur Lake Wildlife Corridor, the property is one of many conservation parcels contributing to habitat for threatened and endangered species. This region of the state is a wildlife linkage between three mountain ranges. In addition, the spring snowmelt feeds Grouse and Gold Creeks. Grouse Creek is tributary to the Pack [...]
Migration and the Rockies
Net Migration 2007 and 2008
The Rocky Mountain Region continues to grow. The Center for the Rocky Mountain West reviewed recently released county level census data. Idaho’s growth rate of 1.85% between July 2007 and July 2008 ranks number six nationally. The national growth rate was less than 1%. Migration contributed to the region’s growth. Over [...]
Ecosystem Markets: Making Them Work
[ June 18, 2009 to June 19, 2009. ]
Using markets to protect and restore ecosystems – and the many services they provide – is gradually becoming a reality. But what are the critical elements for success, what progress has been made, what still needs to be done, and what are the remaining challenges? Experts, innovators, and hands-on users of these evolving market models [...]
Coalition for Agriculture’s Future
The Coalition for Agriculture’s Future, a non-profit located in Canyon County, hosted a meeting in March with a presentation by Don Stuart, Pacific Northwest Program Director for the American Farmland Trust (AFT) . Mr Stuart provided an overview of the Trust’s work with landowners to retain working farms. AFT staff have conducted research and published reports that forecast potential conversion of [...]
Woody Biomass Workshop
[ April 16, 2009; 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. ] The West Central Highlands RC&D, in conjunction with the Woody Biomass Utilization Partnership and the Idaho State Fire Plan Working Group is putting on a one day Woody Biomass Workshop on Thursday, April 16 from 9AM-3:30PM at the American Legion Hall in Cascade.
It is anticipated that over $1 billion in funding will be available nationwide [...]
