Idaho adds another easement to protect working timberlands

By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other statewide elected officials have approved a northern Idaho conservation easement as part of a program that has protected from development about 156 square miles of private timberland. The Republican governor and other Land Board members on Tuesday unanimously approved the deal giving Idaho the easement title to 166 acres in northern Idaho under the federal Forest Legacy Program. A $275,000 payment to a small non-industrial private landowner comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular federal program that supports conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the country. About 140 square miles of the Idaho easements are open to the public.