Editorial: If Congress Can Agree on Anything, It Ought to be CIEDRA
The Boulder White Clouds bill shows that finding common ground is worthy of our support.
Is compromise dead on Capitol Hill? We’ll find out, starting Wednesday afternoon. That’s when the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will take up Senate Bill 3294, better known as the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act.
It would preserve 332,775 acres as wilderness in Custer and Blaine counties. Off-road enthusiasts would retain access to a key recreation area, the Germania Creek trail. Restrictions on thousands of additional acres would be relaxed.
The economic development aspect of the bill comes into play with more than $2 million in grants earmarked for Custer County. The county can tax only 3 percent of its land; the rest is owned and managed by the federal government.
The legislation’s champion, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has been working on this bill for 10 years. The concessions he brokered are remarkable CIEDRA is to statecraft what Rolex is to watches: an exquisite — and painfully delicate — compromise.
