Owyhee Country public lands bill passes key U.S. Senate committee

Yesterday I posted about the passage of the bill to protect the vast Wyoming Mountain range from oil and gas — a big matter for Wyoming.

The same committee also passed Idaho Senator Mike Crapo’s “Owyhee bill,” which failed at the last minute at the end of the last Congress.

This has been very controversial in Idaho with some conservation organizations and ag organizations saying it shows what can be accomplished to settle differences, protect the land and the traditions of the area if people are willing to settle down an talk and compromise over the long run.

Others are saying that yes it does show exactly what can be accomplished — not much protection and free money for well positioned ranchers who give up wasteland and “paper cows” for excessive payments.

This bill is likely to also pass the full U.S. Senate attached as a pdf file is the language of the bill as it passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The Owyhee Bill as Passed by Committee

I should mention that this is a huge chuck of country.

After two decades Washington state gets its first new wilderness area

First new wilderness in state in 2 decades is easily accessible. By Jennifer A. Dlouhy. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The new Wild Sky Wilderness Area is 106,000 acres. It failed in the last Congress when House Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo killed at. Due in part to strong action by conservationists across America, he is no longer a member of Congress.

This was part of an omnibus bill, not the best way of passing legislation, but that is another topic.

May 1. I got some email from a listserv I’m on. Regarding Wild Sky, it was written “Wild Sky has few trails, and the land is topographically pretty vertical — not conducive to biking. That’s why we had no significant motorcycle opposition. Washington’s other remaining Wilderness candidate areas will be different.”

May 9. Bush signs Wild Sky wilderness bill in Washington state. By Matthew Daly.  Associated Press Writer

Owyhee Canyonlands protections back before Congress

Owyhee Canyonlands protections back before Congress. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman

Roadless without a map. Hazy Horizon for West’s Roadless Lands

This article in New West is a good update on the status of the National Forest roadless area issue. Roadless without a map. Hazy Horizon for West’s Roadless Lands. By David Frey.

In fact there is a very good map of the roadless areas on-line. It is an interactive map to which you can contribute photos and comments. Roadlessland.org.

Guns in national parks issue is a wedge to block an omnibus land protection bill

As I speculated in a number of threads, the hot new issue over guns in the national parks is indeed a political invention for this presidential campaign with the primary intent to stop a large number, over 60, relatively low controversy land protection measures that had been rolled into an omnibus bill.

Those promoting “the Coburn Amendment” were so effective in raising this wedge issue that few of media either knew or bothered to explain that it is an unrelated amendment to a public lands bill to designate wilderness areas, and enlarge a number of minor national park service sites.

Once Senator Coburn (R-OK) unwrapped this smelly fish of an amendment, it immediately became a partisan issue with McCain signing on as a co-sponsor and Senator Reid pulling the bill from the floor. It had already passed the House. Reid feared it would put too many Democrats in jeopardy with the upcoming election.

On most major Senate bills, senators bargain beforehand how many amendments and what kind of amendments will be offered to a bill when the bill is brought to floor. Senators of both parties generally do this is in good faith because they know their transgression of process today will come back and haunt them on their own bill tomorrow. The bargain between Coburn and majority leader Reid was that Coburn would get to offer five amendments, but this kind of amendment was not expected because Coburn had not raised this issue (guns) at all in the months leading up the floor action. Instead he had opposed the bill for being “bloated” and “too expensive.”

So Coburn will earn himself some payback, but for now he has probably blocked measures like the Wild Sky Wilderness near Seattle for yet another Congress.

Meanwhile, sensing an issue they can use, Republican Secretary of Interior Kempthorne is ordering the Park Service to see if he can allow guns in some national parks by administrative actions of the Department of Interior.

Story in the Missoulian by Michael Jamison. Park’s Gun Rules May Change.

This kind of amendment is called a “poison pill,” and Coburn and the Republicans carried it off with success.

The Political Viability of NREPA

Michael Garrity gives a thoughtful account of The Political Viability of NREPA citing the Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Natural Resources committee’s support.

A lot of good things may be on the horizon for those willing to push.

Idaho environmental pioneer Ernie Day dies

This from Rocky Barker’s blog today, Idaho environmental pioneer Day dies..

I’m sad to learn of the passing of Ernie Day. Ernie taught me that premature compromise with the resource extraction industry never protected anything. I remember his anger when he found us sitting around in one of the early, and of course unproductive meetings with . . . I can’t remember if it was cattle, timber, or off road vehicle people.
Learning to photograph Idaho’s landscape in those cherished and all-too-rare sessions with him was really learning from a master.

When Ernie was in his prime (fortunately for Idaho, that was a long time), it took real bravery to speak out against mining, timber, and ranching. Most people who dared would quickly lose their job.

While saving the White Cloud Mountains from the open pit moly mine was a great group effort, Ernie was foremost among the leaders. One of his photos of Castle Peak, in particular, had influence for many years.

Alert on Idaho roadless areas. Meetings in I.F. and Pocatello Feb. 20 and 21

Alert on Idaho roadless areas-

On December 26, 2007, the Forest Service released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that seeks to weaken protections for much of Idaho’s 9.3 million acres of roadless lands. Nearly 6 million acres of those lands would be opened to potential logging and mineral development. An additional 600,000 acres in Southeast Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem would be virtually unprotected, opening these backcountry lands to phosphate mining.

The details of the roadless plan for Idaho are available on the National Forest Service’s website:

http://roadless.fs.fed.us/idaho.shtml

More information about roadless areas, and their importance to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, is available on the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s website.

http://greateryellowstone.org/roadless/

A more comprehensive web site for all the roadless areas (it’s an interactive site) is at http://roadlessland.org/index.php

Please attend and participate in the upcoming public hearings in your area. Times and locations of meetings in northern Idaho are below.

And finally, feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Kit McGurn

GYC Conservation Coordinator- Idaho

208 522-7927

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Forest Service Public Meetings to hear comments on proposed management of Idaho’s roadless lands:

February 20, 2008

Idaho Falls

Shilo Inn

Grand Teton Room

780 Lindsey Blvd

Idaho Falls, ID 83401

6:00 PM

February 21, 2008

Pocatello

Holiday Inn

1399 Bench Road

Pocatello, ID 83201

6:00 PM