Boise protesters urge Crapo, Idaho lawmakers to oppose any land sales
Activists gathered outside Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s Boise office Thursday evening to oppose a revised federal proposal to sell over a million acres of public lands for development, a move that could include part of the Boise Foothills, as well as land around Hailey and Ketchum in Central Idaho.
Leaders from the Idaho chapter of the Sierra Club, which organized the protest, said they hoped to encourage Idaho’s senators to “walk their talk” to get any public land sale language removed from the budget reconciliation bill being worked on, called by President Trump the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
“We know that (Crapo) has come out sharing his opposition,” chapter director Lisa Young told the Idaho Statesman. “We just need to make sure that he knows that he needs to take that all the way to the final vote.”
Dozens of Idahoans lined the Front Street sidewalk, holding both handmade and Sierra Club-provided signs. A family of activists spanning three generations was in attendance, the eldest being Roger Piper-Ruth and his wife, Pam.
“Public lands are really, really important to me and my family,” Piper-Ruth said. “Pam and I have been in Idaho now for almost 50 years. And that whole time, public lands have been a place that we went to recreate, to commune with God, to (keep) ourselves physically fit.”
Congress on Wednesday revised the budget bill provision, which was introduced by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to remove the possibility of the sale of 1.4 million acres of National Forest lands and limit sales to areas within 5 miles of population center borders. But up to 1.2 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands, including those in Idaho, still could be up for grabs for development.
The new proposal also added language to prioritize the sale of public lands that form a “checkerboard” parcel pattern with private lands or that are “isolated” and “inefficient to manage.”
Though Crapo opposed the original draft of the provision last week, his office told the Statesman in an email Thursday morning that Crapo was “reviewing the specifics” of Lee’s revised plan.
How other Idaho leaders have reacted to public land sale
U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, opposed the original wording of the provision alongside Crapo, speaking out for the first time last Friday in a statement to the Statesman. A spokesperson for Risch confirmed Thursday that the senator still stands opposed.
“After reviewing the Senate Energy and Natural Resources reconciliation language, I do not support the proposed provision to sell public lands,” he said in the June 20 statement.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has been vocal about how the public land sale provision would affect Boise residents. In a virtual press conference Tuesday, McLean came out against the revised version of the proposal, estimating that 11% of more than 200 miles of trails near Boise would still be at risk.
“Some of the trails I use a lot, like Polecat … that one stood out to me as a trail I’ve been on a lot over the last few years, and the idea of that one changing a lot was pretty sad,” Boise activist Alyssa Felzien said Thursday. “I heard that initially, our senators have opposed the bill. I think that’s really awesome that they’re standing up for our public lands and hope that they continue doing that.”