House OKs resolution to reduce Idaho wilderness study areas
UPDATE: Legislation urging Congress to remove hundreds of thousands of acres from wilderness study area designation in Idaho has passed the House.
The House voted 50-20 on Monday to approve the joint memorial put forward by Republican Rep. Priscilla Giddings.
Wilderness study areas typically carry the same restrictions as wilderness areas. Idaho has about 845 square miles of wilderness study areas tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Federal officials have listed some of those study areas as not being suitable for wilderness designation. Only Congress can lift the designation.
Giddings says those areas should be opened up to multiple uses.
Comments against the resolution included that it harmed collaborative processes in Idaho and that it could lead to more wilderness designation in the state by tacitly approving land suitable for wilderness.
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ORIGINAL:
Legislation urging Congress to remove hundreds of thousands of acres from wilderness study area designation in Idaho is going to the full House despite concerns it could also end up encouraging Congress to designate more wilderness.
The House Resources and Conservation Committee voted 10-7 Tuesday to approve the House joint memorial put forward by Republican Rep. Priscilla Giddings.
Wilderness study areas typically carry the same restrictions as wilderness areas. In Idaho, federal officials have listed some study areas as not being suitable for wilderness designation.
Giddings says Congress should remove those as study areas to open the land up to industry and other uses.
Some lawmakers on the committee worried that if Congress agrees to remove non-suitable areas from wilderness consideration, Congress might be inclined to designate remaining areas that are suitable as wilderness.
