Forest plan approval aids Scotchman proposal

SANDPOINT — Proponents of the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness are hopeful that approval of forest management plans in Idaho and Montana will give the proposal additional traction.

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness anticipate that a record of decision on the Idaho Panhandle and Kootenai national forest plans will be issued next month.

The U.S. Forest Service plan recommends that nearly 26,000 acres in the Scotchman Peaks area be added to the Wilderness Preservation system.

“It addresses a core area of Scotchman that, over the last 10-11 years of putting the plan together, has achieved a broad base of community support and consensus,” said Phil Hough, executive director of Friends of Scotchman Peaks.

Hough hopes that finalization of the forest plan will lead to a resolution from Bonner County commissioners asking the state’s federal delegation to take action on the Idaho portion of forest plan.

“It is an ardent hope, but also an expectation, that the request would be echoed by others in the community and would be taken very seriously by the delegation,” said Hough.

County commission Cary Kelly and Glen Bailey have voiced support for the Scotchman Peaks proposal and even scaled its 7,009-foot namesake peak in October to demonstrate that support.

The proposal also enjoys broad community support on both sides of state line, including some timber and mining interests.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted for a $585 billion defense bill on Thursday that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military mission against Islamic militants in Syria and Iraq.

The 1,648-page bill also includes measures to expand wilderness in Montana, but also authorizes timber harvest on 70,000 acres of old-growth forest in Alaska, a land swap in Arizona for a copper mine and easing mining and grazing regulations on Bureau of Land Management lands.

Senate passage of the bill is expected in the final days of the lame-duck session.

Although Hough would rather see Scotchman Peaks be designated via standalone bill, he said the massive package approved by the House does show some degree of promise.

“Even as contentious as our current Congress is, they can still work together on bills by looking at all the proposals before them and putting things together in a package that has a high degree of approval and that wilderness can be one of those components,” he said.

n The Associated Press contributed to this report.