Simpson's Renewed Boulder-White Clouds Push

In my Boise ICL office, I have a copy of every version ofRep. Mike Simpson's Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA). They start with the very first introduction of thebill in 2004 to the version now before Congress. There are little notes acrossthe top from the Congressman."The beginning," he wrote on the first one. "Thisis the one," he wrote on the current version. On the year that it was introduced onthe same day by all four members of the delegation-including our two currentsenators-he wrote, "All in!"We certainly never expected this stack of bills to be sodeep, to cover so many years, and to still be mired in one of the most dysfunctionaleras of the U.S. Congress.No one has more respect than I do for the work of Rep. Simpson to protect the Boulder-White Clouds. I have been there for every step the whole time. I have seen a tremendous amount of work at great politicalrisk, and I have also seen his personal depth of commitment to this specialplace grow profoundly.Mike Simpson is a legislator. He serves in Congress to dothings, a rare trait these days. The fact that Simpson has stated his intent tomove forward again with his Boulder-White Cloud bill should be no surprise.Confidence in the legislative process is in his DNA. I'd have been far moresurprised if he stepped away.While he is a legislator, as the director of theIdaho Conservation League, I am a conservation advocate. Different jobs.Different tools.While the Idaho Conservation League applauds Simpson'sstated intent to move his bill forward in the new Congress, ICL's experiencegained over this long and winding trail suggests that the hill is too steep. Wesimply do not believe Congress can get it done, and we certainly don't havesignals from Idaho senators that they intend to help.Meanwhile, we have very strong signals from the Obama administration that a national monument process could result in many of thesame protections and actually get the job done.We have several reasons for not changing course:

• Firstand most important, the only clear and the most viable path to secure permanentprotection of this area is through a monument designation.

• Second, while honoringSimpson's deep commitment to this place, we do not believe that the bill will passCongress.

• Third, a strong coalition supports a national monumentdesignation, which is the only reason that there is any prospect of congressional action.
• Fourth,as former governor and Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus said this pastweek, if the delegation wants to pass a bill, that's fine, but the President should create the monument first to ensure that something gets done. Many of ourgreatest conservation treasures were created exactly this way.

Finally, observers have cautioned us that delegation supportof Simpson's effort could be a delaying tactic to let the clock run out on the administration. I'm generally not that cynical, but after all we've seen takeplace over the years, it's best to stay focused on what can do to protect the Boulder-White Clouds.It's time to get the job done, simple as that, and themonument would do it.