President signs wilderness bill
President Barack Obama on Friday signed a wilderness bill protecting 275,000 acres in central Idaho.
Obama signed the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act in the Oval Office with Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho and others behind him.
The president noted that Simpson was able to pass the legislation without a single no vote.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Julie Thomas says boundary signs for the three wilderness areas in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains could start going up in a month.
She also says the agency hopes to have maps available this fall.
She says the Forest Service will manage the Hemingway-Boulders and White Clouds wilderness areas, while the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is managing the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness.
