Labrador raises doubts about support for Simpson’s Boulder-White Clouds bill
1st District Congressman Raul Labrador raised doubts Tuesday about the support for a wilderness bill 2nd District Congressman Mike Simpson has pushed for 15 years, reports Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman. The bill would designate 275,665 acres in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains and the Jerry Peak area of central Idaho as wilderness.
Labrador, questioning a Forest Service official Tuesday who was addressing the House Resources Committee’s public lands subcommittee, said motorized recreation users support the bill because they fear the alternative — a national monument designation by President Barack Obama. “The truth is, the public will is against this bill,” Labrador said.
Simpson, testifying before Labrador arrived at the hearing, offered a long list of groups supporting his bill including the Sawtooth Society, the Custer County Commission, East Fork Ranchers, the Idaho Farm Bureau, the Idaho Cattle Association, Idaho Outfitters and Guides, the Idaho Conservation League and the Wilderness Society. Republican Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo both support Simpson’s bill. Barker’s full report is online here.
