“A Very Special Day for a Lot of People”: Voices for the Boulder‑White Clouds Wilderness

Editor’s Note: This blog was authored by Lilia Page. Lilia joins ICL for the summer of 2025 to help with the administration of the ICL Wilderness Stewards Program and will be contributing a series of blogs reflecting on the program, on Wilderness, and central Idaho’s amazing public lands.

Earlier this month, the Gem State reached a big milestone to celebrate—the 10-year anniversary of the passage of the Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness Act. To learn more about how this special place earned this unique designation, I went to Rick Johnson, ICL’s executive director from 1995-2019—who was there in the Oval Office when this wild place officially became Wilderness. I did not expect to be nearly moved to tears by his story. We started at the beginning, with his introduction to conservation work in his early twenties. Johnson lived in the Wood River Valley, and took a deep interest in the designation of wilderness areas and the legislative framework of the Wilderness Act. He explained that many places in Idaho qualify for such protection, but no one had ever taken on the enormous task. He was determined to help preserve these wild spaces.Johnson jumped right into a decades-long process which would eventually lead to the designation of the Cecil D. Andrus Boulder-White Clouds Wilderness area. In the early 1980s, wilderness conversations in Idaho were gaining momentum. Members of Congress began visiting Idaho to experience the wilderness firsthand. Johnson recalled Rep. John Seiberling’s visit to the Pioneers, specifically Pioneer Cabin, in the summer of 1984. Seiberling was a congressman from Ohio and chair of the Public Lands and National Parks Subcommittee, which considered wilderness designations. As dark clouds and thunder rolled in over the Pioneers, Johnson described the moment that Seiberling stepped out of the helicopter and looked around. Seiberling began to recite a Shakespearean sonnet, perfectly capturing his thoughts on the dramatic scene of the mountains. Johnson emphasized the importance of that profound experience for Seiberling and the motivation he felt moving forward. Seiberling felt a sense of urgency to protect these special places, a common sentiment for many lovers of the wild at that time—and a common sentiment for many of us now. He spoke passionately about people’s responsibility to fight for wilderness:“It’s not up to the Forest Service, agencies, or the federal government. It’s up to the American people to bring proposals to Congress to designate the area, to be environmentally friendly. It’s not easy to do.”Johnson and his peers faced significant opposition throughout the 1980s. The proposed Boulder-White Clouds wilderness designation was a way to restart the wilderness conversation. However, many people believed that this idea was too idealistic amid growing political polarization. Johnson remained determined. As Idaho’s largest unprotected area, the Boulder-White Clouds were free of timber conflicts with no active mining activity at the time, and strong potential for widespread support of designating wilderness existed. Johnson and ICL staff were able to motivate members, build connections, and raise funds.In 1994, Johnson began to work on drafting wilderness legislation for the Boulder-White Clouds. The basic tenet of wilderness designation, he explained, is straightforward yet challenging: you need a majority vote. That requires broad local support. Johnson believes in the necessity of nurturing relationships based on shared values, not conflict. “We had to do something good, talk to local chambers of commerce and rotary clubs, and to find a congressional champion in conservative Idaho. Not from outside but from within, and make friends based on something good," said Johnson.Then came the necessity to find a congressional champion. In 1999, Rep. Mike Simpson was elected to Congress. After attending Wild Idaho!, ICL’s annual conference in Stanley, Simpson took an interest in the effort. At first he joked, “my idea of a wilderness experience is when my golf ball gets caught in the woods next to the course.” That quickly changed. After visiting the White Clouds with Forest Service staff, Simpson saw it for himself, and fell in love. He then backed that up with action. He began to pay attention to maps, watershed boundaries, and the nuanced needs of ranchers, recreationists, and conservationists alike. Lindsay Slater, Rep. Simpson’s Chief of Staff, worked closely with Johnson and others at ICL to design a bill that satisfied each constituency. Compromises were made, bridges were built, and finally after years of work, Rep. Simpson introduced the White Clouds Wilderness bill. The bill faced opposition from all sides. Over the next 15 years, the bill was reintroduced ten times. ICL continued to grow and rally support. When congressional action stalled, the focus turned toward pursuing a national monument designation under the Obama administration. Cecil D. Andrus advocated for this idea, inspired by Alaska’s 1980 monument precedent. Johnson explained that the idea behind pursuing a national monument would push Congress to reconsider the Boulder-White Clouds a wilderness area as an alternative. While National Monuments can provide significant protections, wilderness is the gold standard for conservation.  In 2015, the bill passed Congress in an unanimous vote and reached the White House. President Obama signed the bill in the Oval Office, with Rep. Mike Simpson, Craig Gehrke of The Wilderness Society, Rick Johnson, and others standing proudly behind him. Thirty years of work culminated in that moment. As President Obama stood up to shake Johnson’s hand, he said, “This must be a very special day for you.” Johnson extended his hand and glanced past the president as Simpson was holding back tears. Johnson replied, “Mr. President, it’s a very special day for a lot of people.” In listening to Johnson recount this story, I felt the emotion of that moment even ten years later.Johnson summarized the fight to protect the Boulder White Clouds at the end of our conversation:“That’s what makes wilderness important. It is what makes America great. It’s passed by the American people. You have to create a majority vote, you have to find a place that’s worthy. You have to find a place that stirs people’s souls, that is still relatively pristine, untrammeled, and unimpacted by man. It is not a perfect law. It is not reflective of Indigenous people or other things as it should be. But it is the best we’ve got. Not only that the nation has, but what the world has. And in this time especially, we need to hold on to the pieces of wild America that we have left because that is what will produce future leaders. One with the iron will, the optimism, and the spirit that makes our country great.”