Bonner County commissioners split over endorsing private conservation easements
Commissioners debated whether the county should lend its name to privately negotiated Forest Legacy easements, with concerns about taxpayer funds benefiting private owners and counterarguments that the projects align with the county comprehensive plan and timber-economy interests.
The full story
Members of the Bonner County Board of Commissioners expressed a range of views after the Idaho Department of Lands presented two Forest Legacy proposals and asked for county support. One commissioner said, "I don't see the benefit to the taxpayers," and several commissioners raised concerns that publicly funded easements could constrain future county growth or reduce the tax base.
Sign up to keep reading.
Your free newsletter brings you what your city council, county, and school board discussed and decided.