The State of Idaho was
recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Forest
Service to promote private land forest
conservation in the Idaho panhandle, an area
known for its high conservation value. The
grant will allow the State of Idaho, working in
partnership with The Nature Conservancy, to
purchase conservation easements from two Idaho
Boundary County families: the Hubbards and the
Wages.
Conservation easements on
these properties will restrict development on
approximately 1,700 acres, supporting working
forests and protecting important fish and
wildlife habitat, including habitat for five
threatened and endangered species. These
families will also be assured that the property
they have owned and managed for more than 50
years will remain intact, leaving a legacy of
conservation for their heirs.
For over half a century,
four generations of the Wages family and three
generations of the Hubbard family have lived on
and actively managed these properties for timber
production, grazing, farming, wildlife habitat,
and recreation. The Hubbards’ property
encompasses productive forested bluffs and
agricultural lands that stretch west from the
forested bench to the banks of the Kootenai
River. The Wages’ property surrounds
Bonner Lake, a very unique peatland community
that supports six rare plant populations.
Sustainable timber management and agriculture on
these properties support jobs and revenue in
industries that have been vital to northern
Idaho’s economy for over a century.
“This land was my dad’s
life,” reflects Wes Hubbard. “He had three
things in his life and that was family, church,
and land. He had no other hobbies.
It would be a great legacy to my dad to see this
property always remain the way it is now.”
The USDA
Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, a
competitive federal grant program, promotes
both conservation and working forests across the
nation. In Idaho, the program is
administered by the Idaho Department of Lands.
To date, Idaho’s program has successfully
invested nearly $20 million into the State’s
economy and conserved 62,000 acres of private
forestland.
“I was ecstatic to hear
that this project received funding,” says Karen
Sjoquist, Forest Legacy Program Coordinator for
the Idaho Department of Lands. “I’m
looking forward to working in partnership with
these families and The Nature Conservancy to
achieve our mutual goals: to protect valuable
resources that forests provide to families, the
environment and the economy.”
More information about the
Forest Legacy Program can be found at:
http://www.idl.idaho.gov/forest_legacy/legacy-1.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp.shtml
The USDA is an equal
opportunity provider and employer.
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