The Boulder-White Clouds wilderness bill went to mark-up in the Senate Resources Committee today and won committee approval by unanimous consent; the measure, authored by 2^nd District Rep. Mike Simpson, already has passed the House without objection.

Idaho Sen. Jim Risch is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, but his press spokesman didn’t return calls or emails today about the bill and its prospects for a vote in the full Senate. Nikki Wallace, press spokesman for Simpson, said, “I do know that Sen. Risch is working very hard on that, I know that our office is working very hard on that, and I also know that the interest groups involved are making phone calls and trying to get that moved up on the calendar. I know there are a lot of people working to try to make that happen so that a vote can occur.”

She added, “Congressman Simpson is very, very pleased and grateful for all the hard work Sen. Risch has done to help move this bill forward.” The measure is a compromise backed by an array of groups, from conservationists to off-roaders to ranchers; there’s more on the bill here.

UPDATE: On Friday morning, Risch's spokeswoman, Suzanne Wrasse, emailed, "The senator is pushing for a vote in the full Senate before the August recess."