Laird Noh

November 30, Laird Noh retired from the Idaho Senate after 24 years, 22 of those years as chair of the Resources and Environment Committee.  The Resources and Environment Committee is responsible for oversight of Idaho’s natural resources, including water, fish and game, state lands, surface and ground water quality, state parks and oversight of operations at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Laird and his wife, Kathleen, have also been active in the Republican Party.  Laird was Twin Falls County GOP Chairman before he was elected to the Senate.  Kathleen has been a Precinct Committee person for many years.  She also chaired of the Twin Falls County Republican Women’s organization, was a delegate to the GOP National Convention when Idaho US Senator Jim McClure was nominated for Vice President, and chaired the visit of President Ronald Reagan when he spoke in Twin Falls in behalf of Steve Symms’ election to the US Senate.  Laird was faculty advisor for the Boise Junior College Young Republicans when he taught economics there in 1964-65.

In 24 years and many election contests, Senator Noh accepted no campaign contributions from political action committees, and accepted no contributions at all unless he had a contested race. His financial support came from local businesses within his district or from individuals.

For four generations, the Nohs have been active in sheep, and sometimes cattle, ranching in Idaho.  Prior to election to the Idaho Senate in 1980, Laird was active in the leadership of the livestock industry at the local, state and national level. Today he also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Rocky Mountain Sheep Marketing Association and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Idaho Nature Conservancy.  He holds a bachelors degree in business and animal husbandry from the University of Idaho and a Masters of Business Administration with emphasis in finance from the University of Chicago.