Conservation: As American as Mom and Apple Pie

By Bas Hargrove, senior policy representative, The Nature Conservancy in Idaho

After election day, the main storyline was the Republican wave that washed over the country. But there was another wave, a conservation wave, that touched shore that Tuesday as well.

Voters in 20 states approved 26 state and local ballot measures that will dedicate more than $28 billion – with a “B” – to natural areas, land and water protection, parks, and trails in the coming years. This is an investment far exceeding any amount approved by voters in previous election cycles.  From Maine to Montana, from Ohio to Oregon, from sea to shining sea, Americans voted to invest public funding to conserve their land, water and wildlife.

The bald eagle, national bird of the United States, in Idaho. Photo ©Ken Miracle/TNC

For example, in Florida 75 percent of voters said yes to a Constitutional Amendment to acquire and restore conservation and recreation lands, crushing the 60 percent needed to pass. Voters rallied around conservation even though they split on the candidates. (Republican Governor Rick Scott eked out a narrow victory over Democrat Charlie Crist with just 48 percent of the vote.)

Like mom and apple pie, conservation of our natural heritage cuts across partisan lines and is as American as Old Glory. Idaho – “the reddest of the red states,” as Governor Otter declared in his victory speech on election night – is geographically and politically distant from purple-hued Florida. But conservation can be conservative. Just like Floridians, Idahoans care about conserving their land, water, and wildlife.

The Nature Conservancy knows this from our work with landowners in places like Bonner’s Ferry, Island Park, Carey, Salmon, Boise, Swan Valley, Leadore, Hagerman, and Marsing. Landowners see first hand how clean water, abundant wildlife, and healthy lands sustain our people, our economy, and way of life. And they’ve put their money where their mouths are to protect Idaho’s natural heritage.

These landowners know a good investment. Clean water and healthy lands drive Idaho’s economy, from our $7.6 billion agriculture industry and the nearly 40,000 jobs it sustains, to our $6.3 billion outdoor recreation economy and its 77,000 jobs.

Camping at the Little Wood River in Idaho. Photo ©Hamilton Wallace/TNC

But as a state, Idaho hasn’t yet become a full partner in its own conservation. To be sure, certain sectors have ponied up. Hunters and anglers support wildlife through license fees. Voters in Boise City and Blaine County have anted up to pay for natural area conservation. Boaters pay user fees to protect water resources. And other interests have also contributed to our current patchwork of conservation funding. But we don’t have a statewide conservation fund like neighboring Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

We inherited an amazing natural legacy in Idaho, and it’s our job to make sure we leave it better than we found it. This will only happen if we care enough to invest in ourselves and our land, water, and way of life. It’s a matter of pride, self-determination, and even liberty itself.

For we are at our most free when we’re outside, whether at work or at play. We’re free to challenge ourselves, putting up a fence or chasing down an elk. We’re free to exercise our bodies and our minds. We’re free to partake in that most American of activities: the pursuit of happiness.

So next time you see your Mom, compliment her apple pie, and take her outside to enjoy your other Mother, Nature. After all, what could be more American?

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014

Update: On August 1st we learned that a key Senate subcommittee included legislative language to enact the Wildland Disaster Funding Act, as well as language to access the disaster cap on an emergency basis to address suppression in FY15. This means that the key provisions of the WDFA could be included in the Senate version of the spending package that funds the main wildfire fighting agencies, USFS and BLM. In the meantime, the Associated Press reported on August 5th that the Forest Service will have to put about $400 to $500 million in projects on hold due to the escalating costs of this summer's fire season.

Editor's note: We would like to thank Senator Crapo, Senator Risch, Congressman Simpson, and Congressman Labrador for their support of the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014 (H.R. 3992, S. 1875).

by Bas Hargrove, senior policy representative

Two weeks ago, the wildfire smoke rolled into Boise for the first time this year in what seems to have become an annual rite of summer. Even though AirNow.gov said our air quality was fine for healthy people to be active outdoors, I could feel the smoke in my eyes and throat on my bike to work.

So it seems timely to talk about the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act of 2014. It’s a bill in Congress right now that is a big priority for The Nature Conservancy nationally and here in Idaho. Not only do all four members of our delegation support the legislation, but Senator Crapo and Representative Simpson are lead sponsors. It’s a bill that will change the way the federal government pays for, and prepares for, the annual wildfire season. Even better, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that the bill will not increase spending.

Simply put, the legislation would fund emergency wildfires like other national emergencies, ensuring that forest and conservation programs are not raided when firefighting funds are depleted.

How does the federal government pay for addressing disasters like hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes? There’s an agency called the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with access to a disaster relief fund set aside just for catastrophes. We don’t know when or where these floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes will hit, but there’s a law in place that allows FEMA to tap special funds to help deal with these disasters.

What about paying for catastrophic wildfires? Congress gives the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) an annual firefighting budget based on the 10-year average of suppression costs. Sounds reasonable right? Well, what happens when we have a “big” fire year and the costs start piling on?  Do you smell smoke? That’s the scent of the Forest Service and BLM burning through their non-firefighting budgets, meant to pay for things like preventing future catastrophic fires.

When they go over the suppression budget, USFS and BLM have to start “borrowing” money from that year’s non-firefighting accounts for things like preventing hazardous fuel buildup around houses in the wildland urban interface. Because the intensity and cost of wildfires has risen dramatically, this borrowing has happened 8 of the last 10 years. Robbing these accounts year after year means that important forest management projects don’t get done, leaving unhealthy forests that are more susceptible to expensive catastrophic wildfires.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act would treat catastrophic wildfires like other natural disasters and make catastrophic wildfire suppression eligible for similar disaster funding. Under the bill, routine wildland firefighting costs, which make up about 70% of the cost of wildfire suppression, would continue to be funded through the normal appropriations process. The true emergency fire events, which represent about 1% of wildland fires but make up 30% of costs, would be treated like similar natural disasters and funded through disaster programs.

This is a good bill that the Conservancy will continue to work on, and that hopefully Congress will see fit to pass. In the meantime, we can only hope that this year’s firefighting costs don’t spread out of control and burn through the rest of the budget for taking care of our public lands.

A Rare Sighting of the Politcal Kind

By Will Whelan, director of government relations

This blog often reports on sightings of rare wildlife at our preserves.

Last week brought a rare sighting of a different kind: all four members of Idaho’s congressional delegation in the same room with Tom Tidwell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.  One veteran of Capitol Hill commented that he’d never actually seen Senator Crapo, Senator Risch, Congressman Simpson, and Congressman Labrador in one place before.

Senator Crapo, Senator Risch, Congressman Simpson, Congressman Labrador, and Tom Tidwell. Photo ©Will Whelan/TNC.

Idaho’s congressional leaders and the Forest Service chief did not come together for a major political event or convention.  Instead, they came together to collectively voice their support for collaborative forest restoration at the annual conference of a small but ambitious organization called the Idaho Forest Restoration Partnership.  IFRP’s conference brings together the members of groups that are working on forest restoration across Idaho.  Participants ranged from conservation groups such as The Nature Conservancy, the Idaho Conservation League and Trout Unlimited to timber companies such as Boise Cascade and Idaho Forest Group to rural county commissioners. Just about every interest group that cares about national forests had a representative in the room.  The Conservancy is a founding member of the Partnership and helped organize the conference.

The collaborative groups that met last week in Boise support the use of active forest management, such as thinning and prescribed fire, in the roaded portion of Idaho’s national forests to further ecological, economic and social goals. Many of the projects that these groups helped develop also include measures to improve water quality, decommission old roads, and enhance wildlife habitat.

Last week’s event is a clear sign that collaborative groups are coming of age and earning the kind of support that can help accelerate their work.

You can read Idaho Statesman’s article about last week’s event at: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/02/20/3039515/forest-collaboration-draws-attention.html