DAIRY SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017
VOLUME 90, NUMBER 22
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
“The development
pressure around
here is huge.”
Farmer Neil Durrant
SAVING
THE FARMS
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Farmer Neil Durrant gets ready to cut hay in a fi eld near
Kuna, Idaho, on May 26. Durant has turned down offers
from developers for his farmland but a lot of other farm-
ers in southwestern Idaho haven’t. BELOW: Farmer
Glen Edwards feeds cows May 26 at his farm in Ada
County in southwestern Idaho.
By SEAN ELLIS
Efforts
grow to
preserve
ag land
in Idaho
and
across
the West
Capital Press
OISE — Ada County farmer Glen Ed-
wards is in the middle of the battle to stem
the loss of farmland in southwestern Idaho.
He understands and supports the need to
keep high-quality farmland in production.
But Edwards, who grows hay, wheat and barley
and raises beef cattle and dairy replacement heifers,
also said he supports a farmer’s right to do whatever
he chooses with his land, including selling it for de-
velopment.
“If a developer walked in here and offered me a
huge carrot that I couldn’t resist, I’d probably take it,”
he said. “This farm is my retirement. When I retire, I
have to have something to live on.”
This tension weighs heavily on the minds of many
farmers. They understand the need to preserve farm-
land, but they also believe their property rights must
be preserved. With farmland rapidly disappearing
in some parts of Idaho’s Treasure Valley, several
B
Turn to FARMS, Page 12
Farmers seek to
capitalize on eclipse
Capital Press
SWAN VALLEY, Idaho —
Peter Zitlau hopes a once-in-
a-lifetime celestial event will
help him generate an income
stream to offset a disappoint-
ing year for crop and cattle
revenue.
He’s one of several East-
ern Idaho farmers and ranch-
ers seeking to capitalize from
an infl ux of visitors expected
in the region for the Aug. 21
total solar eclipse.
Area municipal and coun-
ty planners are bracing for
tens of thousands of tourists
anticipated over a three-day
period to view the Snake
River Plain’s fi rst total solar
eclipse in more than 400 years.
Though hotels and established
campsites have long since
fi lled, farmers and ranchers
vow to provide options for the
crowd, converting their land
into temporary campgrounds.
Agricultural landowners are
quoting camping rates of $150
to $200 per night.
Turn to ECLIPSE, Page 12
Coeur
d’Alene
Farmers and ranchers in Eastern Idaho counties
within the path of the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse —
the first the Snake River Plain has experienced in
more than 400 years — plan to make extra money
by offering up their land for temporary camping.
For more information, go to:
www.co.fremont.id.us/eclipse2017/eclipse.html
www.rexburgeclipse.com/about-rexburg/
www.co.jefferson.id.us/eclipse.php
Lewiston
Jefferson, Madison,
Bonneville and
Fremont counties
Totality at 11:27 a.m.;
duration: 2 min., 13 sec.
PAT H O
F T O TA
LI
Totality at 11:30 a.m.;
duration: 2 min., 16 sec.
Source: greatamericaneclipse.com
Totality at 11:33 a.m.;
duration: 2 min., 19 sec.
TY
Pocatello
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Oregon’s wolf
management plan may
come to resemble Idaho’s
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission heard from dozens
of people with diametrically
opposed views when it took
its wolf plan review on the
road to hearings in Klamath
Falls and Portland this spring.
When the commission sits
down with ODFW staff June
8 in Salem, members will sift
those viewpoints with their
own to determine how the
state will manage a top pred-
ator that wasn’t here when the
plan was fi rst adopted a dozen
years ago. Adoption of a fi ve-
year plan is expected late this
year.
Potential changes are on
the distant horizon. Ultimate-
ly, the state will decide wheth-
er wolves are hunted like
cougars and bears, whether
USDA’s APHIS Wildlife Ser-
vices — loathed by conserva-
tion groups — will investigate
livestock attacks, whether to
give livestock producers more
leeway to kill wolves, wheth-
er to set population caps, and
more.
A model of where Ore-
gon’s wolf management may
be headed can be found in
Idaho, which was the source
of the fi rst wolves to enter
Oregon and has much more
experience balancing the
presence of an apex predator
with the interests and eco-
nomic well-being of hunters
and livestock producers.
Turn to WOLF, Page 12
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By JOHN O’CONNELL
Total eclipse in Idaho