Confronted with an issue that has pitted conservationists against conservationists, the Blaine County Commission on Thursday heard opposing views on whether it should support a compromise on wilderness protection for the Boulder and White Cloud mountains.
Rep. Mike Simpson's Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA) would designate approximately 300,000 acres as three separate wilderness areas transected by motorized corridors. The proposed bill will be considered by the House Resources Committee on Oct. 26. Though most of the land involved is in Custer County, Simpson has requested Blaine County's input before the hearing.
The commissioners and 47 citizens who attended Thursday's hearing at the Old Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey heard longtime local conservationists lament a situation that has split their movement. The approximately 17 private citizens who spoke mirrored that split, with about half supporting the bill.
Referring to those who seek wilderness protection for the full 500,000 acres of the Boulder-White Clouds as "our opponents," Idaho Conservation League Central Idaho Director Linn Kincannon told the commissioners that if they do not accept Simpson's compromise, they may not get a second chance.
"We have lobbied against things in the bill and they're not in the bill anymore," Kincannon said. "There are still things we don't like. But leadership is not about getting things we want all the time. Taking an extreme position will fail to protect the Boulder-White Clouds in the future."
Conservation-minded opponents of Simpson's bill support passage of a competing bill, called the Rockies Prosperity Act, which would designate more area as wilderness. However, Kincannon said that legislation has little chance of passage in the near future.
She pointed out that future attempts at wilderness preservation will have to confront a rapidly increasing constituency of motorized trail users.
She also said Simpson's bill will eliminate cattle grazing from large tracts of public land.
"That would be a wonderful thing for the wildlife and native plants in the area and for clean water," she said.
Lynne Stone, representing the Boulder-White Clouds Council, echoed Kincannon's comments and urged the commissioners to recognize that Custer County needs an economic boost. CIEDRA would provide about $18 million to buy out grazing allotments on public land, and turn over about 2,000 acres to the county for development.
That land donation, however, has provided ammunition for opponents of the bill. Janine Blaelock, director of the Western Lands Project in Seattle, said public land giveaways have become a trend in wilderness designations nationwide.
"Public lands are not an account for local politicians to dip into for their projects," she said. "This trend can stop here and now. You are faced with an issue of huge regional and national significance."
Bernie Zaleha, vice president of the Sierra Club, said his organization is one of 32 members of the Committee to Save the SNRA, which opposes Simpson's bill and supports creation of a larger wilderness.
"The time for striking the grand compromise is not now," he said.
Local resident Kaz Thea, also representing the committee, objected to the motorized corridors included in the bill. She contended that 45 percent of the proposed wilderness would be within one mile of a motorized trail.
"There will be no heart to this wilderness as there is in the Sawtooth," she said.
Thea also pointed out that under the bill, 132,000 acres of Wilderness Study Areas on national forest and Bureau of Land Management land would be opened to non-wilderness uses.
Lindsay Slater, Simpson's chief of staff, said reaching a final decision on those areas is part of the bill's purpose.
"It's either wilderness or it's not," he said. "We need to figure it out now."
Slater urged the commissioners to support a compromise effort that doesn't leave anyone with exactly what they want, but is probably the best anyone is going to get.
"Mike and I feel this is the last best chance to protect the Boulder-White Clouds as wilderness and at the same time do something for the communities," he said.
Lynne Stone, of the Boulder-White Clouds Council, urged the Blaine County Commission to recognize that Custer County needs an economic boost. CIEDRA would provide about $18 million to buy out grazing allotments on public land, and turn over about 2,000 acres to the county for development. Photo by David N. Seelig
