Idaho Conservationist, July 2013 Vol. XVI, Number 2 | Page 4

WILDLANDS A Monumental Opportunity Pledge to support the Boulder-White Clouds! We’ll let you know when and how you can help with the monument efforts. www. idahoconservation.org/ supportBWC. The Boulder and White Cloud Mountains of central Idaho are a wild place. Here, 150 peaks reach over 10,000 feet and four rivers begin. It’s where the world’s highest-elevation salmon run exists and where you can see plants found nowhere else on earth. The Boulder-White Clouds provide critical alpine habitat for elusive species such as wolverine and mountain goat. But more than just a place of amazing beauty and habitat, the BoulderWhite Clouds offer extraordinary backcountry recreation and a rich history in mining and conservation. National monuments are designated under the Antiquities Act. Such designation would address many of the primary ecological threats to the area, such as increasing motorized use and grazing pressure. It’s an opportunity to highlight the area’s spectacular ecological, cultural and historical values as well as to ensure larger and more permanent landscapelevel protection. By better balancing the values that Idahoans cherish, we can make sure that the BoulderWhite Clouds remain wild, now and forever. Dani Mazzotta Central Idaho Associate [email protected] Castle Peak, White Clouds / Jay Krajic For more than a decade, ICL and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) have worked unwaveringly to protect the wilderness of the Boulder-White Clouds. This dedication shaped the Central Idaho Economic and Recreation Act (CIEDRA), a bill seeking to designate the heart of the Boulder-White Clouds as wilderness. CIEDRA has been introduced in six consecutive sessions of Congress, each time being held up. The reality is now clear—Congress is not the place to go to solve problems. With challenge comes opportunity. Building from lessons learned over a decade of work on CIEDRA, we now have a chance to move forward on a new path to permanent protection for the Boulder-White Clouds. As you read on page 2, we are pursuing a national monument proclamation from the Obama administration for the Boulder-White Clouds. It’s an opportunity to highlight the area’s spectacular ecological, cultural and historical values as well as to ensure larger and more permanent landscapelevel protection. 4