Wildlife
The bugling elk that so typifies Idaho’s backcountry spends the winter on Idaho ranchlands.
While much of Idaho consists of public lands, private lands are essential for Idaho’s wildlife. The Idaho Ranch, Farm and Forest Protection Act rewards land stewardship by private landowners, and recognizes the important role these lands play in conserving wildlife.
Around the state, big game animals rely on private ranchlands, farmlands and forestlands for winter range, fawning habitat and migration paths. Without these lands, big game populations would plummet.
Market incentives help protect the wildlife habitat found on working lands.
Idaho’s working lands provide some of the best habitat for endangered species in the state. Species like the sage grouse, declining across the West, also find a refuge on Idaho’s working ranches. They utilize ranches for nesting, feeding and their annual spring strutting. Landowners who practice good stewardship that protects Idaho’s wildlife should be rewarded with non-regulatory incentives.
Big game animals may spend a lot of their year on public lands, but they need private ranchlands and farmlands for winter range. H467 provides an incentive for private landowners to keep their working lands working, and in return these lands provide the public with the clean water, wildlife habitat and rural character that make Idaho a special place. Mule deer and elk migrate every year to these lands.
When these lands are developed, the animals are stressed by more traffic, more dogs and less habitat. Often, their populations crash. Private ranchlands and farmlands are vital to maintaining our state’s big game herds.
Many wildlife species also cross through ranchlands on their annual migrations. Yellowstone’s famous large mammals move from the park to national forests each year. Ranches in eastern Idaho provide migration paths, and places to have fawns, for pronghorn, moose, elk, mule deer and other wildlife.
Salmon and steelhead often spawn in Idaho on small streams, many of them located on private farms, ranches and timberlands. Many of the best remaining spawning habitat is located on private lands. Cutthroat trout, bull trout and other species similarly use stream habitat found on private lands
photography: bob griffith / kirk keogh / alan eckert / michael wilhelm
The Working Lands Coalition investigates financial incentives for private landowners to keep their working lands working, and in return these lands provide the public with the clean water, wildlife habitat and rural character that make Idaho a special place.
