Lawmaker wants federal fix in Yellowstone’s legal blind spot

By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A panel of Idaho lawmakers is recommending the Legislature ask Congress to fix a legal loophole that has some calling a portion of Yellowstone National Park the “Zone of Death.” The vast majority of the park sits in Wyoming, but a small part stretches into Montana and Idaho. The federal court in Wyoming has jurisdiction over the crimes committed within park borders, but a widespread legal theory suggests crimes committed in the Idaho portion can’t be prosecuted. That’s because no one lives there, so prosecutors wouldn’t be able to seat a jury. Boise Democratic Rep. Colin Nash’s resolution asks Congress to transfer that jurisdiction to Idaho’s federal courts.