Idaho Rep. Larry LaRocco, D, abandoned his attempt to
push an Idaho wilderness bill through Congress this year. LaRocco
struggled for 18 months to formulate a bill, but shelved it this
July. “Once you get into the summer months and closer to November
… the people who like to kill things become active,” said LaRocco
in The Idaho Statesman. The bill called for adding 1.36 million
acres of wilderness, most of it in LaRocco’s congressional
district, to the 4 million acres already in the state.
Conservationists supported 6.5 million acres. John McCarthy,
conservation director for the Idaho Conservation League, says the
group thought LaRocco showed leadership on the issue, but bowed to
pressure from the timber industry. The statewide group reserved
harsher criticism for Sen. Larry Craig, R, who, it says, has
blocked any new wilderness designation for the state. In
advertisements that ran in major Idaho newspapers, the group
compared Craig’s refusal to introduce or negotiate a wilderness
bill to an ostrich sticking its head in the sand. If Craig doesn’t
change, the ad says, there is “zippo” future for Idaho wilderness.
For more information about the wilderness issue and the Idaho
Conservation League’s ad campaign call 1/800-Green
ID.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Idaho wilderness bill fails.
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