Wilderness Commentary

Two Idaho wilderness bills were part of the Omnibus Lands Bill derailed recently in the U.S. Senate when Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma threatened to filibuster.

The Owyhee Canyonlands bill would have protected 500,000 acres of wilderness in southwestern Idaho while the Boulder White Clouds bill would have protected 319,000 acres in Central Idaho. The canyonlands bill was Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo's baby and the White Clouds bill was Congressman Mike Simpson's. Both are Republicans.

Almost unnoticed in the election results was some very good news for the environment - and for land preservation in particular. Despite the financial crisis, voters made it clear that they want to increase spending on preserving open land, even at the cost of higher taxes.

Across the nation, voters approved $7.3 billion in new spending for parks and open-space preservation. Sixty-two of the 87 referendums to acquire or otherwise protect open space were approved. And the support came in rural, Republican areas, as well as in those that lean toward the Democrats.

"We the people of Montana, grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of the rolling plains ..."

Those words begin the Montana Constitution, adopted by Montanans in 1972. We chose these lofty phrases to capture the essence of this spectacular place we call home.

Rolling plains like those of the Missouri River country and along the Rocky Mountain Front. Grand mountains from the Snowcrest Range to the Whitefish Range. Havens of quiet beauty, from the lush Yaak to the arid Pryor Mountains.

I read with interest two articles in Wednesday's issue of the Las Vegas Sun. One was about the Gold Butte wilderness bill that Congresswoman Shelley Berkley introduced and the other was about the illegal grazing of cattle on BLM land in the Gold Butte area.

Because of my concern for the environment, I joined the Nevada Wilderness Project. I've hiked in the Gold Butte area myself as well.

I have seen great beauty at Gold Butte - rock formations, plants and petroglyphs.

With Congress scheduled to return for a lame-duck session beginning this week, the top priority will clearly be the economy. A new stimulus package will be on the agenda, along with extending unemployment benefits. A bailout bill for the Big Three auto makers may also come up, although congressional leaders said late last week they didn't appear to have enough votes to get such a bill passed.

Also, a handful of lawmakers, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar among them, are still hoping Congress will find time to vote on an omnibus public-lands package.

I would like to respond to Edith Heyward's letter, "Solace comes in knowing it is there," of Nov. 6, and add my "yes, way to go" support. The Wyoming congressional delegation has the opportunity to break the deadlock on Wyoming wilderness by introducing a bill to add the Rock Creek area of the Bighorn National Forest (BFN) to our wilderness system.

 I saw loggers, snowmobilers, outfitters, wilderness lovers and timber business representatives gather to support a unique legislative proposal. The Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project brought together these groups to hammer out a land plan that could work for everyone.

I shouldn't be surprised. It was very apparent that they had come together for a common purpose: to save Montana's forests, or at least one small portion.

An Oregon wilderness bill is stopped dead in Congress yet again.

This is getting old, watching them lug an Oregon wilderness bill up to the Hill for the umpteenth time, only to discover yet again that it's a false summit, that Congress can't get it done, that a cranky Oklahoma senator objects, that it's dead. This is a helluva way to save a natural treasure.

The arguments regarding protected status for Gold Butte can go on forever and ever. As a lifelong Nevadan, a lover of back country and the off-road life, I cannot see why some people are upset.

I love to ride my ATV, but I never believed that gave me the right to ride it anywhere I pleased, regardless of signs or fragility of the terrain.

As a younger person I hiked the Grand Canyon. Next to Nevada sites, it is my favorite place to be.

Upon entering the Gold Butte region south of Mesquite, visitors encounter vast open spaces, mountains, towering and colorful rock formations, and, if they are hardy and lucky enough, remnants of old mining camps, big horn sheep, desert tortoises, golden eagles, quail, 1,000-year-old petroglyphs - and the sights get better around every bend.