Senate votes 20-13 in favor of national park in Idaho, sends non-binding memorial to House

The Idaho Senate has voted 20-13 in favor of a non-binding memorial to Congress calling for creation of a national park in Idaho at Craters of the Moon, but only if current uses, including hunting and grazing, are protected. It was a long debate, in which some expressed doubt about whether those current uses really could be protected in a national park.

Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said, “I can’t think of another thing we could have bought to this floor to help us feel more comfortable with this vote.” He noted that a memorial to Congress, long nicknamed a “hanky in the wind” in Idaho, doesn’t have any force of law. “They have a special shredder that they receive these things, and they shred ‘em all, they never pay attention,” Davis said. “So who is going to pay attention? Four members of Congress,” referring to Idaho’s delegation. “And those four members of Congress are going to craft something that makes sense for Idaho. I have confidence in those four individuals to take this hanky in the wind … and try to write legislation that covers these concerns.”

Davis said people in the communities around Craters of the Moon are “pleading for some opportunity to have some serious economic development. And this is what they have brought.”

Sen. Cliff Bayer, R-Meridian, noted that the Idaho Farm Bureau is opposing the move. Sen. Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, the measure’s Senate sponsor, said, “We’ve invited those guys to meeting after meeting to come in. … They’re not going to budge on this deal.” He said, “You can come up with all kinds of excuses and ask all kinds of questions, but our congressional delegation is going to have to write a bill that will guarantee the existing uses, and not disallow us the opportunity to expand our economy.”

The measure, SJM 101 , now moves to the House side.