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Three Wilderness Bills Meet Death by Lame Duck


By David Frey, 12-07-06

Three controversial bills that proposed new wilderness areas in exchange for development lands seem likely to die at the hands of a lame-duck Congress.

A bill that would have sold off up to 24,300 acres of federal land in Washington County Utah in exchange for new wilderness areas around Zion National Park is off the table, at least this year. Sen. Bob Bennett tells the Salt Lake Tribune that it might have had a chance in the Senate, but House leaders refused to tack on any new legislation to existing bills.

That raises questions as to how well the Democratic majority in either chamber next year will view the plan, which was sharply criticized by environmentalists. Rep. Jim Matheson says he'll champion it to fellow Democrats, but environmentalists hope to see it die.

"I think the changes in Congress will make it more difficult to pass legislation that is bad for wilderness, like this one," Scott Groene, executive director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, told the Tribune. "The legislation ran into a wall of [opposition] locally and nationally, in the House and the Senate, and this opens the door to try to find a solution for discussions that work for everyone."

The bill would have allowed the sale to help Washington County -- one of the fastest-growing in the nation -- to grapple with growth, while recognizing 219,725 acres of wilderness areas. Environmentalists called it a giveaway to real estate interests. The Bush administration objected, too, to language that would direct most of the estimated $1 billion in expected revenues to conservation in the county.

"It's a disappointment," said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner. "We'll just keep moving ahead. It's not going to bring the county to a grinding halt."

The bill was patterned off a similar one proposed in Nevada by Democrat Sen. Harry Reid, soon to be majority leader. But that bill is running into trouble, too. Reid's bill would let the BLM auction up to 45,000 federal acres in White Pine County, handing 10 percent for law enforcement and transportation planning, 5 percent to the state education fund and the rest for wilderness management in the county. The idea was to boost the economy in a county where 95 percent of the land is in the hands of the feds.

But county commissioners complained the bill didn't have any money to pay for a groundwater study in parts of the county targeted to pump water to Las Vegas, and they threatened to pull their support. Meanwhile, it added about $1 billion for water-related projects in Clark County.

"We had to take a stand," Commissioner Gary Perea told the Associated Press. "Right now, water is the most important issue in White Pine County."

Things aren't looking much better for an Idaho wilderness bill to protect the Boulder-White Cloud mountains and surrounding forest, which looks to be scuttled by a lame-duck Congress. Rep. Mike Simpson, R, says he'll keep trying to attach it to other legislation before Congress adjourns but prospects are dwindling.

It would be the first new wilderness in Idaho since 1980. In exchange for new wilderness areas in the Sawtooth and Challis national forests, it would give several local counties nearly 4,000 acres of Forest Service and BLM land to sell or use for affordable housing or public facilities, plus land for an off-road vehicle park.

That bill also attracted criticism from various sides. Sen. Larry Craig, R, insisted supporters pay ranchers and other stakeholders compensation promised them before the wilderness is designated.

On the other hand, Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W. Va., said the bill "cheapened" the process by swapping wilderness for public land giveaways and payoffs to mining speculators, the AP reports. That's a problem, since Rahall will chair the House Resources Committee next session, when Simpson's bill would resurface.

"I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place," Simpson told AP. "The more I move to what Larry Craig will accept, the more I move from what Nick Rahall wants. The more I move to what Nick Rahall will accept, the more I move from what Larry Craig wants."