Idaho tribes want first crack at federal land

If anyone should get Idaho's 32 million acres of federal land, it should be the Indian tribes, tribal leaders said Monday. Representatives of three of Idaho's Indian tribes testified before the Idaho Legislature's Federal Lands Interim Committee Monday. They added to the doubts about the legality, cost and value of transferring the state's popular public lands from federal to state management. "If Congress is to transfer title to any lands, they should transfer them to their original owners, the Indian tribes," said Helo Hancock, legislative director of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. But several speakers Monday, including timber industry representatives, offered solutions and ways for the state to improve public land management short of a state takeover. Under questioning, the tribal representatives said any transfer of federal land to the state would bring legal challenges from the tribes. Timber industry representatives focused not on a state takeover, but on changing federal land management laws that they said discourage timber harvesting. Several noted that reform of laws like the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act can't be made by the Idaho Legislature. "We know that change has to come from Washington, D.C., and likely won't come from Boise," said Jerry Deckard, speaking for 400 log-hauling contractors. The timber industry is focused on the 23.5 percent of Forest Service land designated for timber production nationwide, said Robert Boeh, vice president of Idaho Forest Group, which has five sawmills in Idaho employing 800 people. It wants to see the same certainty for lands dedicated to timber production as lands designated for wilderness. To do this, he advocated federal legislation that would clarify to the courts that timber production is the primary objective on that fourth of the national forests; clear targets for timber volume and acreage to ensure accountability; and streamlined environmental laws...more