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Idaho and Northern Rockies Wild Country
A fair portion of Idaho's Boulder Mountains will be designated as the Ernest Hemingway Wilderness by
CIEDRA.
Copyright © Ralph Maughan. Photo taken August 12, 2006.
Note: CIEDRA failed to pass and died when Congress adjourned on 12-8-2006
President Clinton did something no other President
attempted -- he tried to protect all the remaining
undesignated wild roadless tracts on our national forests
from building of permanent roads. This affected most of
the fifty states, but the biggest battle has always been in
Idaho and Montana, where political resistance has prevented
the protection of many of these de facto wild lands as congressionally
designated Wilderness areas.
President Bush has turned the Forest Service
completely around on this issue. For this President who loves
to speak of "his values," protection of our national outdoor
heritage is not on his list.
This site is devoted the Idaho roadless undeveloped areas,
with some news and links to roadless and wilderness issues
in other Western states.
A wonderful resource on the roadless area
controversy. The
American Heritage Forests Campaign.
For the latest wild country news, go to my blog.
8-22-2006. Mt. Hood plan needs both houses of Congress. Oregon's delegation needs to get wilderness protections through this session of Congress. The Oregonian. This bill passed the House along with CIEDRA. Will it clear Congress before it adjourns sine die?
8-13-2006.
The Owyhee Initiative. CIEDRA is not your standard Wilderness bill because it includes concessions to many groups and side-payments to others. On its heels in Idaho, now comes the Owyhee Initiative, dealing with a huge expanse of land in the SW corner of Idaho. If you include portions of it lapping into Nevada and Oregon, it it the largest area in the lower 48 states without a paved road. There is much potential Wilderness, many deep canyons, a lot of livestock grazing, and ATVs ruining it for both ranchers and conservationists. Various ag, conservation, and political interests, including the Sierra Club and the Idaho Conservation League, have negotiated over the years and come up with a plan that has just been introduced by Idaho US Senator Mike Crapo. It is already dividing conservation interests as CIEDRA did.
8-8-2006. Unexpected environmentalists. Outfitters step forward to protect Wyoming Range from drilling. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Holes News and Guide. Yet another story on the beautiful Wyoming Range, much of its roadless and under the gun from the natural gas drillers. The oil and gad boys got to trash the Green River Basin to its east, but environmentalists and more traditional Wyoming folks are drawing the line at the Wyoming Range.
8-6-2006.
Passage of CIEDRA in the House made Otter show his true self? By Dan
Popkey. Idaho Statesman. Popkey is one of the most influential
political commentators in Idaho. It turns out that the favored
gubernatorial candidate, Butch Otter, is not just against Wilderness,
but strongly so. He is likely a public land grabber too, a GOP species that
has been hiding lately, but was very prominent in the West in the late
1970s-"sagebrush rebels."
Note that the GOP candidate for the House seat Otter is giving up, is Bill Sali. Of Sali, conservative Republican Idaho House Speaker Bruce Newcomb said: "That idiot is just an absolute idiot."
If elected, Sali will be outrageously anti-Wilderness and public lands. Story on Sali. "Congressional candidate rubs leaders of [Idaho] GOP the wrong way." Dan Popkey. The Idaho Statesman
8-3-2006. Butch Otter withholds support for wilderness bill. Congressman says more consensus is needed. By Greg Stahl. Idaho Mountain Express Assistant Editor. For non-Idahohans here are the facts. All state office-holders and members of Congress are Republicans. Second district congressman Mike Simpson has made CIEDRA (wilderness designation in the Boulder and White Cloud Mountains his baby). After years of developing the bill and tweaking it, the bill
recently passed the US House. It passed easily. The challenge was getting it through Pombo's House Resource Committee.
The bill has split wilderness advocates, with some liking it and some strongly opposed for being too little with a lot of bad side payments to rural counties and off-road vehicle users.
Polls show the bill is popular with the average Idahoan.
The major opponents are not disappointed wilderness supporters, but the off-road vehicle lobby (despite many concessions to them by Simpson).
I found out long ago you cannot negotiate with them, especially the Blue Ribbon Coalition. If they negotiate, they do so in bad faith.
Idaho's other congressman is "Butch" Otter. He didn't show up to vote on CIEDRA in the House. He is also running for governor. Otter is more typical of your average Rocky Mountain Republican officer-holder of a decade ago (very anti-conservation) than is Simpson who sometimes shows a streak of moderation.
Otter's Democratic opponent this fall is Jerry Brady, the underdog. Brady has always been a conservationist.
The real folks that matter in the issue at the present are Idaho's two Senators, Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, whose voting record is usually like twins, but Crapo says he supports CIEDRA and Craig is mum.
I have always told Idaho conservationists to watch out for Craig (a snake in the grass).
I support CIEDRA as it passed, but with little enthusiasm.
8-2-2006. Bush Administration to Ramp Up Aerial Gunning [in Wilderness areas]. Fly Rod and Reel Magazine. Lots of folks are now catching onto the outrageous plan to allow predator control in Wilderness areas to almost the same degree (or maybe even more) than outside designated Wilderness.
Your comments on the predator proposal are due by August 7. For more information on this frightening proposal, see the Center for Biological Diversity's page.
8-2-2006. The conservative case for wilderness. Rutland Herald. By David Jenkins. I think it's significant that conservative and conservation have root "conserv."
The main opponent to Wilderness in America today is the off-road vehicle lobby.
Somehow I don't view the spectacle of fat men and women on all terrain vehicles, wasting petroleum purchased mostly from America's enemies, and destroying what's left of orginal America as conservatives. Yet the off-road vehicle lobby insists they are conservatives, and that those who wish to conserve some wild country are some kind of anti-family, ultra-liberals.
Well political labels are slippery (and so meant to be).
7-30-2006. Blasting of logjam in Frank Church Wilderness renews debate over wilderness. When, if ever, are humans justified in intervening in the processes of nature? By Rocky Barker.
A violent thunderstorm last Sunday caused a big log jam on the remote Middle
Fork of the Salmon River in the Frank Church Wilderness. This stranded
hundreds of people who were floating the Middle Fork. Hiking out of this
Wilderness canyon is many miles and many thousands of feet. Many would not
have made it, so the log jam was dynamited. Did this action violate the Wilderness Act? The answer is clearly "no." The Act explicitly provides for the use of motorized equipment "in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area. . ." Therefore the article is based on a false premise.
7-28-2006. Idaho wilderness bill clears US House. CIEDRA is the first Idaho wilderness legislation with legs since 1980. By Greg Stahl. Idaho Express Assistant Editor. The bill passed under the procedure called "suspension of the rules," which in the House requires a 2/3 vote and no amendments are allowed. It was politically tied to California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act, and Wilderness designation in Oregon which also passed. The real hurdle was the House Resources Committee where arch anti-conservationist Richard Pombo chairs.
Here is the story on all three bills. 7-25-2006. House approves wilderness for California, Oregon, Idaho. By Matthew Daly. Associated Press writer.
7-12-2006. Schwarzenegger seeks to maintain roadless areas in CA national forests. By Don Thompson. Associated Press. So far the Bush Administration has honored all the gubernatorial requests on the disposition of the national forest roadless areas (which lost their total protection President Clinton gave them when Bush took office.). We greatly fear for Idaho's roadless areas (the state with the most).
7-11-2006. Roadless debate a great divide. A state panel hears strong views on whether to protect lands prized for their native beauty and their promise. Compromise won't be easy. By Steve Lipsher. Denver Post Staff Writer.
7-1-2006. Groups protest predator control plan for designated Wilderness areas. By Judith Kohler. Associated Press. It is critical to note that this is predator control in congressionally dedicated Wilderness, not public lands in general we are talking about. While there is a small amount of livestock grazing in designated wilderness areas (it was grandfathered), in the past these trivial depredations have been handled on a case-by-case and non-motorized fashion. There is no economic need for this. It is a gratuitous assault on the concept of Wilderness.
Update: It is more and more clear that this proposal stems from the fact that Idaho Fish and Game was not allowed to use aircraft to radio-collar wolves in the Frank Church Wilderness last winter. In other words, the integrity of the entire Wilderness System is being threatened to make it easier for one agency in Idaho. Why is it so important that they radio collar a lot of wolves in the Frank Church Wilderness?
6-26-2006. California Wilderness bill's fate hinges on access Del Norte County. It initially was opposed, but changes put outcome in doubt. By David Whitney. Sacramento Bee Washington Bureau
6-14-2006. Rep. Simpson lays out the details of the land gifts he would give to smooth the way from CIEDRA to pass. Idaho Mountain Express. By Greg Stahl.
6-12-2006. New Mexico's Gov. Richardson petitions Bush Administration to protect all of the state's roadless areas. New Mexico Business Weekly. By Megan Kamerick. I should note that Governor Richardson is being suggested as a good candidate for President in 2008. I personally like the idea of a conservation minded Westerner instead of the two Texas oilmen of Bush/Cheney regime.
5-30-2006. Mike Simpson [Idaho congressman] says he will pass wilderness bill or 'die trying'. Times-News. This is about his bill (CIEDRA) to designate wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud Mountains of central Idaho, plus many more items designed to settle local controversies or buy off wilderness supporters and wilderness opponents.
5-22-2006. Wildlife, natural structures make 'The Bob' special. By Great Falls Tribune Staff. A feature on the Bob Marshall Wilderness of Montana, which lies south of Glacier National Park.
5-20-2006. A Chronicle of Oxymoronic Reality Development Paves the Way for Wilderness in central Idaho. by Eric Segalstad. Special to Headwaters News. This is an important story, but as far as CIEDRA (the hybrid wilderness bill goes), Rep. Richard Pombo, the sleazy, one-man, earth wrecking crew who is chairman of the House Resources Committee, has "rolled" Idaho's Reprsentative Mike Simpson in committee, taking out the vital grazing buyout authorization, which was the main attraction for many conservationists who were not keen on the Wilderness compromisive language. Simpson is said to have close ties to the new House majority leader John Boehner, and maybe Pombo can be beaten on the floor. Even so the the U.S. Senate then lies ahead.
5-16-2006. Possibility of wilderness designation on the Beaverhead/Deerlodge National Forest in SW Montana stirs up debate between wilderness supporters.
- Timber, conservation groups reach deal on Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest plan. By Perry Backus of the Missoulian. "The accord - which they negotiated over the past four months - would create a stable supply of timber for local mills, set aside additional acreage for recommended wilderness and help fund projects that would benefit wildlife and fisheries on the 3.3-million-acre Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest."
- Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Deal Would Create More Ice Cream Wilderness. By George Wuerthner. New West. Wuetherner points out the 570,000 acres of new designated wilderness would come at the price of tripling the timber harvest on the non-wilderness part of the forest.
5-9-2006. Burns' wilderness bill stirs up debate By Perry Backus. The Missoulian. The ethically-challenged Montana U.S. senator wants to use heavy equipment in a large portion of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to repair old irrigation dams that were built by hand. This is a lot like last winter's flap over using helicopters to radio collar wolves in Idaho's Frank Church Wilderness. Let them do it the old-fashington way, just like they are now doing in the Frank Church.
- 5-12-2006. Senator Burn's bill allowing motorized maintenance of old dams in Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness excessive. By John S. Adams. Missoula Independent.
- 5-15-2006. Selway-Bitterroot dams issue calls for creativity, not power. Opinion of the Missoulian. My take is the Senator Burn's is likely to be defeated because of his corrupt ties to lobbyist-felon Jack Abramoff. Therefore, in an effort to try and eke out another term, he is going to try of divide Westerners on the traditional hot button issues of wilderness, wildlife, guns, etc.
5-9-2006. Trout Unlimited urges protection of Wyoming roadless areas. By Whitney Royster. Casper Star Tribune. "Trout Unlimited representatives Monday said Wyoming is one of the "greatest places in the world to hunt and fish," and the economic impact of that recreation is often diluted in the face of explosive energy development on public lands.
5-4-2006. Churches pushing for wilderness. Great Falls Tribune. "Joining traditional wilderness advocacy groups are hunters and anglers who understand the importance of wild places to the true hunting experience and a number of old-line churches whose congregations see that they have a mission to protect God's creation."
4-11-2006. Forest Service to dismantle small dams on High Uintas Wilderness Lakes built by the Pioneers. By Joe Baird. Salt Lake Tribune. This will be a improvement to the largest Wilderness area in Utah and will also remove a safety (dam failure) hazard.
3-31-2006.
Utah wilderness bill faces foes. By Paul Foy. Associated
Press. Utah's congressional delegation has come up with
a plan for wilderness and public lands in SW Utah—Zion National
Park, lots of BLM land and the booming St. George area. On
the surface it looks pretty good, but if you have visited
the area and seen all the growth in recent years, you quickly
realize the centerstone of the legislation is giving St. Geoge
enough federal land to allow it to triple in size. I spent
Spring Break there. While the proposed wilderness areas are
wonderful places, most of the BLM land is like a big vacant
lot, full of trash and off road vehicle gashes. The only thing
stopping St. George from endless sprawl is the existing federal
land. Houses end at the boundary of federal land, degraded
though it may be. How Utah's Senator Bennett thinks giving
St. George land to grow (see story) will stop sprawl is hard
for me to see. Supposedly they are restricting use and devlepment
currently to protect the desert tortoise, but I saw no evidence
of that excpet in scenic, tightly regulated Snow Canyon State
Park.
Example. Woodbury Desert Area where vehicles are supposedly
limited to protect desert
tortoises from being crushed. In reality, this BLM area is
derelict with roads and ATV trails everywhere.
The SW Utah Wilderness Plan would do nothing for areas like
this.
Photo copyright Ralph Maughan, March 2006.
3-30-3006.
Bush Administration Rebuked for New Activities in Pristine
Roadless Areas. Governors and conservationists call for halt
of agency actions. Heritage Forest Campaign News.
3-27-2005.
Great Burn Study Group: In the Air, On the Ground. By
Brooke Hewes. New West. They keep
an aerial lookout on the Idaho/Montana border for those who
would trammel the proposed Great Burn Wilderness.
3-25-2006.
Map
of the newly designated Cedar Mountain Wilderness in east
central Utah. pdf file. It
looks like one of those fairly rare Great Basin wilderness
areas. The Utah delegation doesn't like wilderness much, but
found it as a good way to stop the construction of a route
for the plan to store high level radioactive waste on the
nearby Goshute (Skull Valley) Indian Reservation.
Photo
Gallery of Utah's Cedar Mountains Wilderness. Southern
Utah Wilderness Alliance.
3-24-2006.
Congressman Simpson's White Clouds bill designates more wilderness.
Compromise legislation includes motorized recreation park
near Boise. By Rocky Barker. The Idaho Statesman.
3-22-2006.
Proposal would add 40 percent to wilderness Mount Hood - A
U.S. House bill also would give protection to 23 miles of
rivers. By Andy Dworkin. The Oregonian.
3-21-2006.
Last sheep grazing allotment in Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness
area sold. By Scott McMillion. Bozeman Chronicle Staff
Writer. In fact this does more than enhance wolf and grizzly
habitat. It benefits all wild animals and makes the area more
wild and yet more pleasant to visit.
3-9-2006.
Montana scientists, governor seem on track on tell Bush to
keep roads out of roadless parts of national forests.
AP .Billings Gazette.
3-5-2006.
Demonstration aims to show importance of roadless areas to
Montana's governor. By Gwen Florio. Great Falls Tribune
Capitol Bureau.
2-27-2006.
A Plague on All Your Forests. Ted Williams. Country roads
may ‘take you home,’ but logging roads ruin rivers. By
Ted Williams. Fly Rod and Reel Magazine. April 2006.
This a great article on the
demise of the roadless rule and sad example from Idaho as
to what it means for fisheries. It also is plea for sportsman
to vote their interests by not falling for empty rhetoric
of the Bush Administration.
2-16-2006.
Industry lobbying group is hired by Idaho to count and summarize
the public responses on the governor's roadless areas hearings.
By Steve Benson. Idaho Mountain Express.
Pretty much shows who is control
of the roadless area's fate. Although I have have an entire
web page devoted to Idaho's roadless areas, I didn't waste
my time commenting on the governor's proposal because I figured
something like this would be the case.
2-16-2006.
A pro-snowmobiling group is trying
to reopen an old mining road that bisects the center of the
Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness Area. Bozeman Chronicle.
By Scott McMillion. Reopening this abandoned
road through to Slough Creek in Yellowstone Park would have
a terrible effect on wilderness and wildllife, allowing unmonitorable
poachers in the heart of the country just NE of Yellowstone
Park. This is one of the most remote and wildlife rich places
in the Greater Yellowstone. Of course, roads are totally against
the Wilderness Act.
2-11-2006.
Washington joins Oregon, California and New Mexico in challenging
Bush's roadless area rule. By Peggy Andersen, Associated
Press.
2-8-2006.
Our View [Idaho Statesman]:
Too many Idahoans left out of roadless process.
2-3-2006.
"
The Wyoming Range: Wyoming’s Hidden Gem. A portrait of Wyoming’s
namesake mountains.
A report on this threatened
backcountry by the Wilderness Society (pdf file).
1-26-2006. View of the Idaho
Statesman.
Idaho wilderness bill [CIEDRA] strikes the right balance.
Idaho has more acres of unprotected
wild land than any other state except Alaska
1. . . . and while most of
it isn't legally protected; 4-million acres of protected Wilderness
in Idaho was protected by Congress prior to 1981, when the
last Idaho wilderness area was established -- The Frank Church/River
of No Return Wilderness.
2. But much
of the 9.5 million acres of unprotected roadless country is
truly wild country comparable to the designated wilderness.
3. During
the 1980s and early 1990s, the remaining wild land was increasingly
logged by the Forest Service, egged on by local politicians
for development, almost always at loss of money to the American
taxpayer. President Clinton took away their tools of waste
and destruction, but President Bush has embarked on a new
destructive, money-wasting course of action.
4. Find
out about specific Idaho roadless areas
here. Note that the linked web page is not an exhaustive description of every Idaho national forest or BLM roadless area.
5. While
Montana doesn't have quite the wild country at stake as Idaho,
Montana roadless areas need your help too as do those in Wyoming,
Utah, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon.
6. The Bush Administration is doing all he
can to make sure none of the remaining natural splendor of
pristine American is protected from logging, grazing and drilling. Whatever else you may think of him, good or bad, Bush is the
worst enemy of wild country of any President in American history.
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