Bill > H0377

This bill adds a new chapter to Idaho code to provide for the creation of agricultural protection areas. The key provisions are: 1. It establishes a process for landowners with over 5 acres of agricultural land to apply to their county or municipality to have their land designated as an agricultural protection area, with the goal of protecting and preserving farmland. 2. It creates an Agriculture Protection Area Board composed of members from the county's soil and water conservation district to evaluate applications and make recommendations to the governing body. 3. It outlines the public notice and hearing requirements for the creation or modification of agricultural protection areas. 4. It limits the ability of local governments to enact regulations that would restrict farm structures or practices within the agricultural protection areas, as long as they follow generally recognized farming practices. 5. It creates an "Agricultural Lands Protection Fund" within the Idaho Department of Agriculture to provide financial incentives to landowners to keep their land in agricultural production. The bill aims to promote the economic and cultural benefits that working agricultural lands provide to Idahoans by creating a framework to proactively plan for and protect these lands from conversion to other uses.