Group: Don’t trust Idaho w/fed lands

A Wilderness Society report issued Wednesday says Idaho officials have sold 1.7 million acres of endowment land since statehood, or about 41 percent of state-owned property. The environmental group argues the report, produced from records obtained from the Idaho Department of Lands, shows there is a clear danger that the state would sell off land if it were transferred from the federal government - as some legislators have pushed for. “The reason we did this is because proponents of giving lands to the state have said many times, emphatically, that access would not change and in no way would land be sold,” said Brad Brooks, deputy regional director of the Wilderness Society at Boise. “Based on our research, if past behavior is any indication of future behavior, I think it’s hard to deny that public lands would be sold off if they were given to the state”/ Eric Barker , Lewiston Tribune. More here.

DFO: I’m running the Lewiston Tribune version of this story to emphasize to you that lawmakers, like state Rep. Ron Mendive of House District 3, who advocate for state control of federal lands aren’t protecting the public interest. Beware of them. Thoughts?