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Sen. Jim Risch does an about-face on the wilderness bill

The freshman senator's change of heart pits him against a fellow Republican he's served with for more than two decades in the Statehouse and the U.S. Capitol.

BY ROCKY BARKER - rbarker@idahostatesman.com

Copyright: © 2010 Idaho Statesman

Published: 07/09/10


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The Boulder-White Cloud mountains, seen here from Castle Peak. At 350,000 acres, the Boulder-White Clouds are the largest tract of Idaho's roadless acres.

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Republican Sen. Jim Risch's opposition to a wilderness bill he co-sponsored is the main obstacle keeping it from passing, said Rep. Mike Simpson Thursday.

Risch said he opposes the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act as it's written and only agreed to co-sponsor it with Republican Sen. Mike Crapo as a favor to Simpson.

Simpson, speaking to the Statesman Thursday, said he didn't need that kind of a fa-vor.

"If somebody is going to support something and then oppose it, that doesn't help," Simpson said.

Before they became half of Idaho's congressional delegation, Simpson and Risch were among the top GOP leaders in the Idaho House and Senate.

Simpson's bill would protect 332,000 acres of the Boulder and White Cloud mountains as wilderness; give congressional assurance that a major trail through the area would stay open and close others; transfer lands and funds to local governments; and authorize a private foundation to buy out grazing permits that face federal closure. Simpson has worked with all of the affected parties for more than a decade to craft the bill.

Risch applauded the process when he supported an earlier version of the bill in 2006.

"I appreciate your efforts to craft a compromise through the assembly of a broad support base of diverse land users," Risch, then governor, wrote. "The effectiveness of this compromise is evidenced by the groups who have come together in support of this legislation such as the Custer and Blaine county commissioners, the Sawtooth Society, local elected official, conservation groups and many others."

But at a hearing in June, Risch said Simpson needed more collaboration after Idaho Gov. Butch Otter reiterated his opposition, as did the Idaho Recreation Council, which represents snowmobilers, motorcyclists and some mountain bike groups.

"I'm not going to vote for the bill in the form that it is in," Risch said. "It needs more work. When that work is done I will make a new judgment whether I would vote for the bill."

Risch said he doesn't like the changes made in the bill in negotiations involving Simpson, Crapo and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's Democratic leadership - though he stayed on as co-sponsor after those changes.

The negotiations led to the removal of language that would have required the Forest Service to replace any trails closed after the bill became law with new trails elsewhere.

"I want to see this bill pass," Risch said. "I want to see Mike Simpson succeed in getting this bill passed."

He said it was Simpson's responsibility to find a consensus with motorized users. Simpson said he has compromised as far as possible to protect their interests but they have said they will never support the bill.

"That's a premise I'm unwilling to accept," Risch said.

But two key voices for motorized users said Simpson was right - there is no room for compromise.

Bill Dart, who testified on behalf of the Off-Road Business Association at the June 16 hearing of a Senate subcommittee, said even if the bill were changed, he doubted any motorized groups would support it over the status quo. And Sandra Mitchell, executive director of the Idaho Recreation Council, said there is already enough wilderness in the state.

"I think the Idaho Recreation Council believes it's not good for the people, it's not good for the land, and there's no reason to do it," Mitchell said.

It was Mitchell's radio and newspaper media campaign against the bill and its co-sponsors that triggered Risch's concerns, Simpson said. He met with Crapo and Risch May 19 and told them "it's going to get hot in the kitchen," Simpson said.

"If you want to get out, now is the time to get out," Simpson said he told the senators. "They both said no."

Simpson responded to Otter's concerns in a letter last week, saying he would try to make it clear helicopters would be allowed for wildlife management and that the federal government would take seriously the fight against invasive weeds.

Simpson said he recognized that Otter would not support CIEDRA, as he didn't when he was in the U.S. House.

But Simpson hopes he can get the same response he got from Otter when he came within a day of getting the bill passed in 2006. Otter didn't vote for the bill, but he also did not ask Republican House leadership to kill the bill.

But ultimately, Otter is not in Congress, and only Risch or Crapo, who Simpson said has steadfastly supported the bill, can hold it up. Risch serves on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that has negotiated the bill in its current form.

Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League, participated in Risch's collaborative process to protect Forest Service roadless lands. He said Simpson's process has been every bit as collaborative as Risch's, with the same challenge of balancing local and national interests.

"I've watched Jim Risch lead," Johnson said. "I'm just confused by his failure to do so."

Rocky Barker: 377-6484

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