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Float us Down with WOTUS

Boise--At a packed Legislative Leadership Conference luncheon, The Idaho Farm Bureau is encouraging its leaders to join the AFBF #FloatUs social media campaign. That effort supports rewriting the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
"We gave members a rubber duck and are urging them to snap a photo of their duck in supposedly navigable waters on their farm," said Jake Putnam, Farm Bureau's Social Media Manager.  We're anxiously waiting to see what our farmers and ranchers come up with. That creativity is an effective lobby tool, and it may be funny but also packs a political punch." 

The campaign kicked off earlier this year and gives Idaho Farm Bureau members a way to share their feelings about WOTUS on their social media.

For years Idaho's Farmers and Ranchers have sought a new definition of the 2015 Waters of the United States rule that will protect water quality and provide regulatory certainty in a common sense, transparent and collaborative way.

What Can our Members Do?

Share your message on social media!
1. Get a rubber duck. (provide to our members or link to order)
2. Share photos and videos on your social media platforms of your duck on non-navigable areas of your land.
3. Use the hashtags #FloatUs and #CleanWaterClearRules with each post.
4. Tag @FlaFarmBureau on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with your photos and videos.

Sample Posts:
5. Tell Washington #WOTUS shouldn’t regulate lands that are sometimes wet. American farmers and ranchers deserve a common-sense rule. #FloatUs #CleanWaterClearRules
6. #WOTUS isn’t what it’s quacked up to be. Farmers and ranchers need a clear and reasonable definition of “Waters of the U.S.” #FloatUs #CleanWaterClearRules
7. Regulating farmlands that are sometimes wet is fowl play. It’s time to rescind the 2015 #WOTUS rule. #FloatUs #CleanWaterClearRules
8. Even ducks know ditches and low lands aren’t #WOTUS. #CleanWaterClearRules
9. The 2015 #WOTUS rule didn’t fly with the federal courts. It’s time for a common-sense rule within the limits set by Congress. #FloatUs #CleanWaterClearRules

Pass your message and a rubber duck to your neighbor when you’re done to keep our message viral.

Idaho Farm Bureau looks forward to working with AFBF, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the future to write a new rule that protects our nation’s waters without penalizing farmers and ranchers.

#FloatUs #CleanWaterClearRules #Grassroots #Agvocate