June 5, 2008 For Immediate Release
Susan Irby (202) 224-8078
Will Hart (208) 342-7985
CRAIG SAYS DON’T DESTROY IDAHO RECREATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Idaho Senator Larry Craig today addressed
the issue of off-highway vehicle management on public lands during a
hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The hearing
addressed the issue of adding more restrictions to public land access in
the near future.
“In terms of access, we need to strike a balance so we don’t
have to look at our public lands from afar as if they are in a museum,”
said Craig, the Committee’s acting Ranking Member. “We need access in a
responsible way. We need signage, education and enforcement.
“We once had a timber industry in Idaho, and it was destroyed
by bad policy in Washington. We once had a mining industry in Idaho until
it was burdened by bad policy in Washington. I have a thriving recreation
industry in Idaho. Don’t destroy it with bad policy in Washington.”
[NOTE: To link directly to this release, please use the following address:
http://craig.senate.gov/releases/pr060508a.cfm. A printer ready version
(PDF) is also available.]
For more about the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing, please link to BLUERIBBON COALITION
Simpson removes SNRA development land from White Clouds bill
Rep. Mike Simpson has removed a provision from his Boulder-White Clouds wilderness bill that would have given Custer County 94 acres of public land near Stanley it could sell for development.
The transfer of land in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area was one of the most criticized provisions of the complicated bill that would preserve 319,000 acres as wilderness and help promote economic development in central Idaho. Now the only SNRA land that would be transferred is a small parcel to the city of Stanley for low-income housing.
Simpson also eliminated references to the Boulder White Clouds Management Area, a designation that many critics said threatened current federal land protections. Now the lands will either be wilderness or managed as the Challis National Forest, the Sawtooth National Forest, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, or the Challis District of the Bureau of Land Management.
Simpson announced his changes Sunday at the Idaho Conservation League’s annual Wild Idaho conference at Redfish Lake Lodge near Stanley. The changes were made to try to meet the concerns raised by House Democrats, who so far have not been willing to move the bill to a hearing.
You might remember the bill passed the House in 2006 when Republicans were in control.
Idaho Statesman-Opinion by Rocky Barker-Monday, May 19, 2008
CIEDRA Continues to stir controversy in Custer County according to May 29 Challis Messenger news story. Commissioners welcome the promised money, not the wilderness. Full story HERE
Carl Bloomquist CIEDRA Letter to the Editor June 5 Challis Messenger HERE
Sandra Mitchell-CIEDRA Letter to the Editor June 5 Challis Messenger HERE
(Text of letters also appear below for your convenience.)
Be wary of CIEDRA changes
Dear Editor,
Well, it's started. I'm talking about Congressman Mike Simpson already going back on his word regarding his CIEDRA scheme. Originally, roughly half a million acres surrounding the proposed wilderness areas were to have been designated the Boulder-White Clouds Manage-ment Area.
The purpose of this area was to provide for the continued management of those lands as a multiple-use area and existing mechanized recreation and other multiple use activities would have been preserved.
That provision has now been deleted from the bill, paving the way for those 500,000+ acres to also be designated wilderness, possibly even in this piece of legislation. Additionally, some of the transfers of federal land to local governments, which were supposed to expand Custer County's tax base and improve the local economy, have also been removed from the bill and replaced with the empty promise of money from federal grazing leases.
Why has all this happened? Because the environmentalists and the Democrats in Congress were opposed to the land conveyances, as well as the idea of designating land for multiple-use (that everyone can use and enjoy) next to wilderness areas. So, to appease these people, Simpson has submitted to their demands.
He needs this feather in his hat to further his political career; he will do whatever it takes to get it passed. So much for Simpson's talk about CIEDRA being a delicate compromise and that he would ensure that the deal everyone agreed on would be kept intact.
Carl Bloomquist
Nampa
Dear Editor,
Guest Commentary - There are alternatives to CIEDRA proposal
What we know about CIEDRA is only what we read in newspapers such as yours.
Congressman Simpson's website, as of the writing of this letter on June 1, has not been updated. There's no mention of changes to the bill or references to portions that have allegedly been removed.
On May 18, according to the Idaho Statesman, Congressman Mike Simpson told attendees at the Idaho Conservation League's "Wild Idaho" conference that he was dropping the transfer of 94 acres of federal land to Custer County from his Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Bill (CIEDRA).
Gone also, Simpson said, is the 503,737 acre "Boulder White Clouds Management Area" which included protection of motorized recreation access. When Congress finishes with CIEDRA it may or may not resemble the current bill and may or may not include key economic development and recreation features.
Regardless of how many provisions are cut, there will be more designated wilderness in Custer County. Have you asked yourselves why the economic development of Custer County had to be tied to designation of three wildernesses?
Wildernesses have not aided other Idaho counties to avoid the same economic problems that Custer County has suffered. Ask the folks of Idaho County, with its four major wildernesses, how much they have been helped.
The cash payoff provisions may remain in the bill, but as Mr. Adams points out in his article, money authorized in CIEDRA will still have to be appropriated, and just how likely is that to happen in view of our financially strained national economy?
In place of the dropped land transfers, Congressman Simpson proposes to give Custer County 25 percent of all money collected in Idaho from federal minerals leases until $3 million is transferred. How fair is that arrangement? We would agree that giving counties 25 percent of the mineral lease receipts is a good idea, but it should go to the counties where it is collected, not singled out for Custer County in payment for accepting wildernesses it doesn't need or want.
Commissioner Hintze challenged IRC and other opponents to CIEDRA to come up with a development alternative for Custer County. That should be pretty easy, and doesn't need to include more wildernesses and short-term bandages.
Why not capitalize on the magnificent resources you have at your doorstep by accommodating and promoting recreation and tourism? You have one of the greatest places to ride snowmobiles in the nation. Motorized recreation, winter and summer, brings lots of dollars to the local economy. Instead of cutting access, improve it with more and better trails for a variety of recreation activities.
Why can't Congressman Simpson, working with Idaho's other Congressional representatives, put together an economic stimulus package for all of Idaho's counties that have a disproportionate share of federal lands that no longer pay their way?
This could include key federal land transfers to increase the tax base and a bigger share of fees collected from activities on federal land, including mineral leases.
The federal government's payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) is far too low to compensate local governments for their actual impact. Bring the PILT payments up in balance with the effects of federal lands on everything from infrastructure to law enforcement.
The recreation community truly understands the plight of Custer County. The extraction industries that supported so many of the communities are gone. But what is left is some of the finest public lands in the world. Selling off access to those lands may provide some short term benefits, but when the money is spent, we will be right back where we were but with less land to attract recreationists.
Wilderness should not be the price of an economic recovery package for any county, especially one as rich in resources and proud, self-reliant people as Custer County.
Sandra F. Mitchell, Representative of the Idaho Recreation Council
Press Release Feb 1, 2008
