Farmers and ranchers can supplement their incomes by
putting tourists to work as “hands’ and allowing camping and
hiking. That’s a way to make land pay and stave off selling out to
developers, according to a new report about protecting wildlife
habitat around Yellowstone National Park. The Greater Yellowstone
Coalition, the Environmental Defense Fund and the World Wildlife
Fund teamed up to write the 51-page Incentives for Conserving Open
Lands in Greater Yellowstone. Its goal, says Dennis Glick,
stewardship program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition,
is to “make citizens in the Rocky Mountain region aware that there
are many approaches to preserving open lands.” Other suggestions
include getting tax breaks for landowners who voluntarily sell
their land to a conservation group, encouraging local governments
to purchase development rights, and revitalizing the federal Land
and Water Conservation Fund to help purchase easements. For a copy
of the report, contact the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, P.O. Box
1872, Bozeman, MT 59771 (406/586-1593)
gyc@gyc.desktop.org.
* Tim
Westby
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Making the land pay.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
