Leaving with the silverware

by Lenore Hardy Barrett
Rep. District 35-B

The second is to discredit the work ethic by applying political means to obtain those ends, which invariably leads to an exaggerated social conscience that sustains itself by statutory gerrymandering. When the rule of law ceases to protect the individual and his property, the stage is set for wilderness, wolves, wildfires and water woes, none of which are stand alone issues. Together, this group-symbiosis stifles production and weakens rural economies. More wilderness will not cure this deficit but federal and state politicians are programmed to believe that environmental apocalypse is more important than the right to work.

Heavyweights former Gov. Cecil Andrus and former Sen. James McClure, in their joint column in the June 3 Messenger, support the latest effort to fashion a balanced, comprehensive wilderness bill for the Boulder-White Clouds. At first blush, this may seem desirable; however, it will never be balanced because environmentalists come to the table, then leave with the silverware.

The latest “give-and-take” dangles enough carrots to choke a horse, with promises to strengthen the local economy in Custer County, preserve great recreational opportunities, protect a treasured area of Idaho and bring an end to environmental lawsuits. This requires “consensus, compromise” and “constructive participation” of interested parties.

However, frivolous environmental lawsuits have a track record of success with an increasingly activist judiciary, so why would environmentalists accept anything less than they can get in court?

Better options: In the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, support the president’s Healthy Forest Initiative with increased grazing and timber harvest, and exempt the world’s largest molybdenum deposit. The feds can give, swap or sell a chunk to Custer County without expanding wilderness. Exempt Mackay from sage grouse endangered species “listing” so they can have a landfill. Provide the space and funding for an alternative energy source such as wind farms—or how about a Boulder White-Clouds State Park with local control? Then, we can talk.

When we moved to Custer County, agriculture, mining and timber industries were small, but healthy. No one was rich, but the spunky among us could claim their right to life, liberty and property, without permission from Congress.

Today resource producers have been put with their bowls to beg, and Congress should call off the dogs! Resource economies should be protected, not victimized by wilderness designation, wolves and the Endangered Species Act. Alas, that would require a collective congressional spine—a body part in short supply.

While wilderness competes for center stage, Idaho is desperately “witching” for water, and facing a defining moment in Idaho’s water history.

On May 16, state sovereignty was brought to its knees by the terms of the “huge” Nez Perce Tribal settlement—an “agreement” between the tribe, U. S. Department of Interior, state of Idaho and irrigation interests—and Commissioner John Keys, Bureau of Reclamation, has made it abundantly clear that the agency’s commitment to provide 427,000 acre-feet of stream flow for endangered salmon takes precedence over proposals for recharge of the aquifer, further proclaiming that any new use of “federal water” must comply with the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Protection Act.

On Memorial Day, many of us will acknowledge the departed souls of family and friends, linger at the monument to the Unknown Soldier and wonder why Congress can’t see the train behind the light at the end of their tunnel!