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Idaho's Riparian Lands: Problems, Concerns, and Hope 1
Mike
w.
Anderson2
A coalition of professional societies and conservation groups
banded together to write and support Idaho Legislation that
would help protect, enhance, and manage riparian lands. House
Bill 105 proposes volunteer participation by landowners in a
riparian conservation program that provides a personal or
corporate income tax credit for costs incurred in rehabilitation efforts. The 1985 Idaho Legislature debated this Bill.
A Case Study
it enters the streams. The root systems of these
plants anchor the soil in place reducing streambank erosion, especially during high water
periods. This vegetation also reduces the velocity of the water along streams allowing more
to soak into the ground. This process raises the
water table, reduces hazardous flooding and
prolongs streamflow. Properly managed riparian
systems have adequate vegetation that provides
shading, which reduces summer temperatures, discourages algae growth, and insulates the area to
reduce heavy ice buildup in winter. Abundant
forage for properly managed grazing systems is
another characteristic of riparian lands •••• along
with valuable food, water and cover for fish and
wildlife. But these benefits are not currently
being realized to their fullest. Recent estimates
indicate that less than 30% of Idaho's privately
owned riparian lands are properly managed to
provide these benefits.
Many of Idaho's citizens are wondering:
What's a riparian? Well, the R.N. Irving Chapter
of SCSA, as well as others, wants everyone in Idaho
to know what a riparian is and asked me for technical assistance regarding the condition, problems,
and importance of riparian land in Idaho. As a
wildlife biologist for the SCS, I knew that riparian lands are extremely valuable habitats for
numerous species of wildlife and have a direct
influence on the quality of aquatic life.
Riparian by Webster's definition is "relating
to or living, or located on the bank of a natural
watercourse as a river ••• " When grasses, shrubs,
and trees grow in abundance along a stream on the
banks and adjacent land, this is riparian land.
This transition zone between water and adjacent
uplands is identified by the richest soil and an
excess of water. They support lush vegetation
areas, thus making them attractive and extremely
productive for a variety of uses. Trees, shrubs
and grasses attain their best growth here and wildlife and fish species abound because their basic
needs for food, cover and water are readily met.
Men also have been drawn to this area because of
its productivity, level terrain and ease of access.
With careful management, the area can provide
abundantly for man in perpetuity. Riparian areas
are acre for acre, the most important lands for
producing renewable resources to be found in
Idaho. Yet as important as they are, they add up
to less than 1% of Idaho's land area. Riparian
areas vary in topography, shape, size and form.
Some are broad ••• while others are very narrow and
consist only of linear strips of vegetation
between steep canyon walls.
The Soil Conservation Service estimates that
over 2,500 miles of streambank in the Snake River
Basin are moderately to severely eroded. This
river basin represents 87% of Idaho's land area.
This streambank erosion accounts for a deposit of
over 390,000 tons of sediment into the Snake River
drainage each year. Riparian lands in Idaho have
been severely impacted by man's activities in the
last 100 years, primarily due to the removal of
the streamside vegetation. You see, along with
the benefits already mentioned, riparian lands are
highly desirable locations for home construction.
Road corridors. Livestock watering and grazing.
Crop production. Mining activities. Forest harvesting and recreation sites ••••• As you can see,
there is a wide variety of conflicting uses on
these sensitive lands, that many times prevent us
from obtaining the benefits that riparian lands
have the potential to provide.
Riparian lands in Idaho that are properly
managed can produce many benefits for Idaho. Some
of them are subtle but others are more obvious.
The grasses and shrubs along stream channels
filter out sediment from adjacent uplands before
There are many factors that affect riparian
management. They include: the perception that
the stream has always been this way - in many
cases, the riparian vegetation was removed many
generations previous, so no one has really seen
it change; therefore, they think there really
hasn't been a problem. There is resistance by the
public to land use restrictions, and there is not
direct compensation for landowners to reduce commodity production in these areas. There is also a
1 Paper presented at the First North American
Riparian Conference, Riparian Ecosystems and Their
Management: Reconciling Conflicting Uses, April 1618, 1985, Tucson, Arizona.
2 Wildlife Biologist, Soil Conservation Service,
Boise, Idaho.
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lack of incentives to encourage restoration or
rehabilitation of the ripar1an area and streamside
vegetation.
left out. After lengthy discussion and questioning, the Resources nd Conservation Committee
decided to have the Bill redrafted to include the
income tax credit. They also decided to drop the
property tax exemption because of opposition from
the County Assessors and Realtors. The redrafted
riparian legislation was finally ready for reintroduction in March. But the deadline was past
for all committees to introduce it. The legislation was dead for the 1984 session.
Idaho's landowners and managers need to
realize how sensitive these lands are to abuse,
but also how quickly some respond to management
techniques or how easy these are to rejuvenate.
Several demonstration sites in Idaho and neighboring states have shown how proper management can
make considerable improvements in riparian lands.
One effort took place on Fifteen Mile Creek in
eastern Oregon. This stream was severely flooded
in 1974. After mechanical repairs were completed
in the stream channel ••••• willows were planted
along the banks and grazing restricted. By 1981,
the banks of the stream were totally revegetated
and shading the stream. Now that I have defined
riparian lands and described their importance, the
problems, and an example of rehabilitation, let's
see how the R.N. Irving Chapter of SCSA got
involved with their protection.
1985 brought renewed hope and excitement that
Riparian Lands Protection legislation would be
successful in this year's 60-day legislative
session. The legislation was introduced in the
House Resources and Conservatio~ Committee in
early January and withstood an effort to send it
to the Tax and Revenue Committee. The Riparian
Legislation (House Bill 105) with a State Income
Tax Credit for riparian rehabilitation came out of
Committee with a "Do Pass" recommendation by a
slim margin of 2 votes. Before House Bill 105
reached the floor of the House of Representatives,
the Governor spoke out against it. He stated that
he was for conservation and rehabilitation of
riparian lands, but he could not be for any new
tax credits regardless of how small the total
estimated economic impacts were. When House Bill
105 came up for discussion on the floor of the
House, a motion was made to send the Bill to the
Revenue and Taxation Committee for further
consideration. Without the Governor's support,
House Bill 105 lost this challenge by a slim
margin of 2 votes. House Bill 105 died in the
Revenue and Taxation Committee as the Committee
voted by another slim margin not to allow the Bill
to go back out to the floor for further debate.
In 1982, the Chapter's Fish and Wildlife
Resources Division put together a position statement on "Riparian Lands Protection and Rehabilitation." The statement described the problems and
suggested tax incentive legislation as a possible
solution. SCSA distributed the position statement
to many agencies and professional societies -- and
got surprisingly positive feedback and high
interest. Members of the Idaho Chapter of the
American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife
Society quickly joined forces with SCSA as a
coalition to work for Idaho legislation to protect
riparian lands.
The group presented a program to the Idaho
Legislature's Joint Resources and Environment
Committee in March 1983. The Legislators encouraged them to draft legislation with the suggested
tax incentive for their consideration. The group
sought other assistance from those whom they felt
could help, including the Idaho Association of
Soil Conserv~tion Districts, Idaho Conservation
League, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game. In
November 1983, IASCD unanimously passed a resolution during their annual meeting in support of
this legislation. Later in November, the coalition drafted legislation which would grant tax
credits to landowners who properly managed their
riparian lands. To qualify, the landowner would
develop and implement a resource plan with the
local SCD's. The Idaho Department of Fish and
Game and the Idaho Soil Conservation Commission
would develop the implementation program for the
local SCDs. The proposed tax incentives included
income tax credit for riparian lands rehabilitation and property tax exemption for managed
riparian lands.
Naturally we are very disappointed that the
riparian legislation did not become law in 1985.
We also realize that legislation like this takes
time to "grow" on the Legislators. We have
learned a lot about the workings of State Government and offer the following suggestions for
anyone taking on the challenge of working for
Riparian Improvement Legislation:
1. Know how your State Government and Legislature
work: schedules, deadlines for introduction of
legislation, length of legislative sessions, etc.
2.
Learn the process a bill takes to become law.
3. Seek the Governor's support for your legislation, ask for his advice and suggestions.
4. Multi-group efforts (coalitions) carry more
weight with legislators than individuals.
5. Find, cultivate, and educate willing members
of the Legislature so that they will speak favorably for your legislation.
In January, 1984, the coalition went back to
the Legislature with their program and newly
drafted legislation. Vard Chatburn, a former SCD
supervisor and the Chairman of the House Committee
on Resources and Conservation, agreed to sponsor
the legislation and introduced the Bill. Unfortunately, when the Bill was formally drafted, it
was written with only the property tax exemption.
The income tax credit for rehabilitation had been
6. We found that most Legislators get their feedback on potential legislation from lobbyists and
the news media. Get all the press coverage you
can.
7. Seek the advice of a good lobbyist, hire one
if you can; they are worth it!
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