Idaho Forest Owners Association
Formed in 1983 by an alliance of forest landowners such as yourself, Idaho Forest Owners Association (IFOA) is dedicated to the management, use and protection of private forest resources in Idaho. Some of our objectives include encouraging the multiple-use concept of forest management, educating the public on the value of forest resources and the need to manage them, and preserving the right to practice forestry on private lands.
A Board of Directors of 11 landowners guides the organization, and our annual meeting is now held in conjunction with the Non Industrial Private Forest (NIPF) landowners workshop held in Moscow, Idaho each March. In addition, we sponsor a field tour in the fall in conjunction with Idaho Tree Farm members, and we try to visit a different part of the state each year. Recent tours have included Orofino, McCall, Horseshoe Bend, and Tensed where we have seen first-hand management techniques practiced by landowners such as yourself. These tours are a great pool of information sharing and one of the best methods of evaluating what works and what doesn’t work out in the woods.
Legislation at the state level has been an important function of IFOA throughout the years. Although we are not lobbyists by any stretch of the imagination (!), we have successfully lobbied for legislative changes such as: the right to practice forestry on private lands, increasing the acreage limit from 2000 to 5000 acres for those landowners wishing to be in the Bare Land & Yield property tax category, and lowering the taxes in the Productivity property tax category (to take effect in 1999). Our on-going project has been to add a non-industrial private forest landowner to the State Scaling Board, and although our efforts have been defeated the past two years, we are hopeful that the bill will pass in the 1999 Legislature.
We would welcome any ideas or suggestions that you may have to improve IFOA, and if you are not a member already, we would love to send you a membership form! Dues are $25 per year, for which you receive 4 issues of Northwest Woodlands, 4 issues of the IFOA newsletter, and information and education worth millions! We are only a phone call away, at (208) 762-9303 or you can reach us at PO Box 1257, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83816.