Public lands make us who we are

Idaho Democrats are fighting to keep them that way

By Lauren Necochea
Reader Contributor

Public lands define Idaho. Whether you’re ranching in Owyhee, hunting near Salmon or hiking with your kids in the Sawtooths, your rights are equal to anyone else’s. These lands belong to all of us. Not billionaires, corporations or political insiders.

Idaho Democrats have always understood this. So do Idaho voters. A Conservation Voters for Idaho poll found that 96% of voters believe public lands should stay in public hands. Another 87% reject schemes like Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee’s plan to sell off millions of acres to fund billionaire tax cuts.

But the threats keep coming. Wealthy out-of-staters are turning Idaho into a private playground. Republican politicians are quietly helping them do it.

Just look at Teton Valley. A fifth-generation ranching family was forced off 160 acres of state land they had leased and cared for since 1992, because billionaire Thomas Tull wanted it. A major donor to Gov. Brad Little, Tull has already bought more than 8,000 acres in the area. The Republican-controlled State Land Board, chaired by Little, voted unanimously to auction off the parcel, known as Driggs 160. Dan Powers, the only Democrat on the Teton County Commission, is formally challenging the sale.

Republican politicians make performative gestures. Some came out against Sen. Lee’s plan, but only after public outrage forced him to withdraw it. Yet they go right along when their party leaders do the same thing in Idaho, greenlighting land grabs for their billionaire allies.

When the cameras are off, these same Republicans back an agenda aimed at dismantling public land protections. The Idaho GOP platform calls for a state takeover of federally protected lands. Once in state hands, massive sell-offs like Driggs 160 would become commonplace.

Democrats are different. We’ve been defending public lands for generations. Forty-five years ago this month, Idaho Democratic Sen. Frank Church protected the River of No Return Wilderness — the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower 48. As Interior secretary, former-Gov. Cecil Andrus (also a Democrat) showed that conservation and economic growth can go hand in hand.

This year, House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel introduced legislation to protect access to state lands. Her bill would have given the state more time to replace lands sold off to private interests by reinvesting sale proceeds into new state lands, keeping tens of millions of dollars working for Idaho instead of being lost to Wall Street. 

Meanwhile, Idaho Senate Democrats stood united against a Republican-led resolution to seize the Camas National Wildlife Refuge. 

In Congress, Democrats are pushing back against a Republican budget that guts funding for national parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Idahoans deserve leaders who protect public lands when it matters. Leaders who act out of principle, not convenience. That’s the kind of leadership Idaho Democrats bring to the table.

Lauren Necochea is chair of the Idaho Democratic Party and a former District 19 legislator. Necochea spent a decade leading nonprofit programs dedicated to research and advocacy in tax policy, health care and children’s issues.