2006 - Rep. Mike Simpson's CIEDRA bill H.R.
3603 passed the U.S. House in July, then had a Senate subcommittee hearing
in September. In the Senate's frantic lame duck session at year's end,
CIEDRA did not manage to get a vote from the entire Senate so the bill did
not pass this session. View the Roll Call
Ad
(PDF Format)
on the bill.
Learn
More about the ad.
October 2, 2005 - A majority of Idahoans
support wilderness! Take a
look at the results of a poll by the Idaho Conservation League. (PDF
Format).
July 28, 2005 - Rep. Mike Simpson introduced
a revised, improved version (this is Number 5 since June 2004) of his
Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA). Included
are three new Wilderness areas of over 300,000 acres.
Those three new Wilderness areas would be:
Jerry Peak Wilderness - 131,700 acres
Hemmingway-Boulders Wilderness - 96,700 acres
White Cloud Wilderness - 73,100 acres
The Jerry Peak and Hemmingway-Boulders Wilderness are contiguous, separated only by a
line on the map. Together they would total total over 228,400 acres. This
is larger than the nearby revered Sawtooth Wilderness, which is 217,664
acres. Rep. Simpson has wanted to name a Wilderness for Idaho’s most
famous author. However, the Boulder Mountains will always be that to us
and many others.
IMPROVEMENTS IN CIEDRA - There are some significant improvements
over the 2004 CIEDRA version. One, the 960-acre Cape Horn land giveaway to
Custer County has been dropped. Second, the proposal to give numerous
100-acre parcels of public land to Custer County and the State of Idaho
has also been removed from the bill.
LOOK AT
INFORMATION, ARTICLES,
NEWS & PRESS RELEASES ON CIEDRA.
Also, some more acres have been added to the Jerry Peak Wilderness and to
the Hemmingway-Boulders Wilderness.
GOOD NEWS - CIEDRA 2005 would keep Phyllis Lake a quiet area in the summer
months, and would construct a handicap access trail for users like Erik
Schultz, seen in photo above. (A 2004 version of CIEDRA would have built a
new motorized trail to Phyllis Lake and beyond. That proposal has been
dropped.) There will also be a handicap access trail up Murdock Creek,
near Ketchum.
The Jerry Peak Wilderness, about 160,000 acres, would be a true, genuine
Wilderness, free of motorized intrusion, and one that would add significant
high elevation (8,000 feet and above) sagebrush steppe habitat to the
National Wilderness Preservation System. It's a landscape of high
plateaus, deep, rugged canyons, and wild landmarks like Sheep Mountain,
Bowery Peak, Hunter Creek, East Pass, Herd Peak and Jerry Peak. There are
incredible opportunities to view wildlife, including some of the largest
bull elk in America. There are few trails and almost no trailheads.
CIEDRA also provides ranchers within the Boulder-White Clouds area, the
opportunity to be compensated for $300.00 per AUM (Animal Unit Month), for
voluntarily relinquishing their grazing permit(s). The details of this
part of CIEDRA are still being worked out. The National Cattleman’s
Association and others, are opposed to removing cattle from public land
and retiring grazing permits, although ranchers themselves agree to it.
BAD NEWS - Not surprising, and as a compromise with motorized users and
Custer County, CIEDRA leaves some trails and areas out of Wilderness.
However, existing travel plans for the Sawtooth Forest, Challis Forest and
BLM will remain in effect. No new trails or areas will be open to
motorized use. The largest omissions in CIEDRA’s Wilderness areas are the
North Fork of the Big Wood, Champion Lakes, Railroad Ridge-Potaman Peak
and Corral-Horse Basin.
Another controversial part of CIEDRA transfers public lands to Custer
County, Blaine County and Custer County cities. We have tried to stop the
162 acres SNRA land transfer that would be given to Custer County and/or
the City of Stanley, but Rep. Simpson has not budged. Custer County is
asking for nearly 6,000 acres of public land, to be used for various
purposes. It's unlikely the county will get this wish list, perhaps half.
Custer County Commissioners have successfully used the argument with Rep.
Simpson that 95% of Custer County is federal (94%) and state (1%), thus
reducing the tax base. Therefore, the county would benefit by receiving
federal lands for various purposes.
CIEDRA's wilderness areas would not have federal reserved water rights,
but this is not unexpected. CIEDRA contains “Headwaters Language” that has
been used in Forest Service wilderness bills for many years. Whether
CIEDRA passes Congress or not, there will be no change to water rights or
issues on public lands in the Boulder-White Clouds.
INFORMATION,
ARTICLES, NEWS
& PRESS RELEASES ON CIEDRA:
INFORMATION
March 10, 2005
- View Aerial PDF Map of Valley
Creek Land Conveyances. CIEDRA would give Custer
County and the City of Stanley a total of 162 acres on and near Valley
Creek, located on Sawtooth National Recreation Area land. These are the
most controversial of CIEDRA's land conveyances.
