CIEDRA

The Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA), resulted from longstanding efforts to address and resolve decades-old land management and economic development issues in central Idaho.  Representative Mike Simpson (R–Idaho) has been leading this effort since 2001, but on April 30, 2010, I, along with Idaho Senator Jim Risch, introduced a Senate version of the Simpson bill in an effort to move this project toward a hearing. 

What CIEDRA Will Do

CIEDRA seeks to address the needs of public lands and public land users in central Idaho.  It does so by creating three new wilderness areas, totaling 332,775 acres, and releasing 131,616 acres from wilderness study status.  Additionally, the agreement reached by the stakeholders helps to address the needs of Custer County and the surrounding Boulder-White Clouds communities.  Specifically,  Congressman Simpson has already provided funding through the annual appropriations process for economic development, a community center, a county health clinic and EMT support, and improvements to Trail Creek Highway.  Grant funds have also been provided for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area for trail maintenance and improvements, including maintenance and improvement of existing motorized trails and two existing trails to provide primitive wheelchair access, and for acquiring the land to build a mechanized bike/snowmobile access trail between Redfish Lake and Stanley. 

Goal

The goal of CIEDRA has been to develop and implement a plan in the Boulder-White Clouds to protect the pristine public lands of the region while providing recreational and economic development opportunities to the surrounding communities. This will support and sustain the pristine forest lands of the region while bringing much-needed economic opportunities to Stanley, Challis and the rest of Custer County. It will also provide for economic stability by preserving livestock grazing as an economically-viable use.

My Role

I have had an interest in addressing these issues in the Boulder-White Clouds for many years, and devoted significant time to these issues when I first arrived in Congress in the early 1990s.  Unfortunately, we could not get traction at that time but the opportunity has once again presented itself.  As such, I am working closely with Representative Simpson and Senator Risch to facilitate movement of this legislation through the Senate. 

Legislation

Read the legislation, S. 3294,  introduced in the U.S. Senate on April 30, 2010 (HTML). 

Supporting Documents and Maps

Please note that some documents listed below are very large files, and it is advisable that you right-click on the link and select "save as" to the hard drive on your computer before attempting to open them.

More Information

For more information, please visit Representative Simpson’s website. 

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