Simpson offers reminder about walking in another fellow’s shoes

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has been allied with environmental groups like the Idaho Conservation League and the Wilderness Society in his quest to preserve central Idaho’s Boulder-White Clouds as wilderness. For nearly a decade, he’s been a regular at the ICL’s Wild Idaho conference at Redfish Lake near Stanley, where he often gets standing ovations after his talks. But many environmentalists were less than pleased this past year as he chaired the House Appropriations subcommittee on Interior and the Environment. His panel’s budget cut many of the environmentalists’ favorite programs, including the Environmental Protection Agency. He also added a rider that stops a Payette National Forest ruling requiring separation of wild and domestic sheep from being applied to any other forest. So when he spoke last week to the Idaho Environmental Forum — not a universally green group, but one with a bunch of environmental activist members along with others who work on and around environmental issues — it was interesting that he received yet another standing ovation. He sees his bighorn sheep rider as a way to try to get people talking again. The Payette National Forest decision forced several ranchers to get out of the sheep business at a time when it is booming. Simpson isn’t talking about reversing the decision. His rider would keep other national forests from following the Payette remedy, while scientists test vaccines the sheep industry hopes will resolve the issue. Simpson said the only answer is for bighorn sheep advocates and the domestic sheep industry to work things out collaboratively. “We need to start solving problems together,” he said...more