Poll: Idaho voters like using tax credits to preserve ranch land

• Only 31 percent agreed that the Legislature had no business using tax dollars to pay farmers and ranchers to keep land intact.

The protection bill was introduced in the 2007 Legislature, but languished and died in the House Tax and Revenue Committee.

In a bid to win support in 2008, the coalition organized bus tours across the state last summer and invited lawmakers to meet with farmers and ranchers interested in preserving their land, but dissuaded by the drop in property values for land tied up in a conservation easement. The easements are legally binding on land, even when it is sold to another party.

The bill is modeled after measures already in place in other states, such as Colorado, which has experienced increased growth in the use of conservation easements, said Laird Noh, a sheep rancher from Kimberly, former Republican state senator and Nature Conservancy board member.

"Our hope is that this will encourage a certain set of landowners ... those near retirement who want to keep the land intact," Noh said. "This provides an incentive if a developer comes along and offers a big price tag."

Despite the positive poll results, coalition members acknowledge it will be a struggle to win legislative support, especially since lawmakers would have to find a way to offset a potential loss of $3 million in state income taxes.

"It's a challenging environment for us ... and it's a complicated proposal," said Suzanne Budge, who will lobby the measure. "But the details are less important than the outcome."