IDAHO POLITICS: CONGRESS
Crapo’s Public Lands Bill Passes
President Obama will sign the bill, perhaps as early as next week.By Jill Kuraitis, 3-25-09
Idaho's senior senator Mike Crapo
Senator Mike Crapo, R-ID, has toiled hard for more than eight years to pass a lands bill that includes Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness protection. The bill finally passed the House today, 285-140. The Senate passed the package in January. Because of the bill’s passage with “unanimous consent” it will go straight to President Obama’s desk instead of a conference committee, where it could undergo tinkering by members. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, and according to Crapo’s office, that may be as soon as Monday or Tuesday, March 30 or 31.
“I thank everybody who has made this process work,” said Crapo. “Our key players have stuck with this for eight years, and that includes the Shoshone Paiute Tribes, the Owyhee County Commissioners, conservationists, ranchers and recreationalists, and the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management, as well as my colleagues in the House and Senate who have persisted to get this legislation passed.”
Congressman Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, released this statement: “I applaud Senator Crapo for having the patience and perseverance to develop the compromises he has made with numerous ranchers, county officials, sportsman groups and conservation groups to make the Owyhee Initiative possible. The years of effort put into creating this legislation are a testament to just how special these lands are.”
Earlier today during floor speeches covering procedural points, freshman Congressman Walt Minnick, D-ID, spoke of the bill’s scope. “It’s contained within one county in my District which is larger than 5 states and has only 12,000 hardscrabble residents--fewer people per square mile than any county in the continental United States.
“Last summer, I had the privilege of spending several days floating a rarely visited upper stretch of the river within the area this bill will protect. If passed, this bill will permanently protect as wilderness 517,000 stunning, unspoiled acres of my home states landscape and would provide wild and scenic status to nearly 315 miles of its free flowing rivers. It will also guarantee that the ranching families who have protected this land for generations will continue on, with their grazing rights protected from ranging ORV’s which will be restricted to designated roads and trails.” Minnick also paid tribute to Crapo.
Late last September Sen. Crapo sat down with NewWest.Net/Boise to talk about his passion for reforming how problems are solved.
“Our laws have, unfortunately, established a system where a distant decision-maker comes up with a ‘solution’, takes public comment, and then decides. People are not brought to the table to discuss the decisions, only to vote on them. The race to get the most people to the hearings, the most TV coverage, the most signatures on petitions is the outlandish way we ‘work together,’” Crapo said.
“Then instead of sitting down to work out issues, we have court battles. We’ve been pushed into conflict mode by our system. We have to move away from clash and battle and into collaboration.”
Crapo believes a collaborative process allows Westerners more power over their lands. “When I tried to do that back in the early 90s, I was attacked by both sides – the environmentalists and the private property communities. I learned you’ve got to bring people together and then they have to gain confidence in you. They have to know you’re not telling them to lay down their guns in an effort to take sides. That’s why it’s important to get a few small successes as soon as possible,” said Crapo.
The bill protects the cultural resources of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, the economic interest of ranchers for the long term, protects 517,000 acres as wilderness in the Owyhee Canyonlands and releases 199,000 acres of wilderness study areas to multiple use. The legislation also protects 316 miles of waterways under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Hunting, fishing and recreational vehicle access in the area will be maintained.
Check back with NewWest.Net/Boise this evening for a more extensive article from our Outdoor columnist, Wild Bill Schneider.
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"Frankly, it was such a rush." Max Baucus to CNN March 2009