Posted: Sep 17, 2008  15:29

The future of Idaho's hunting and fishing traditions just got a little brighter.

The nearly complete Idaho roadless rule, which establishes management of the state's national forest backcountry, should conserve valuable fish and wildlife habitat and sustain hunting and angling for generations to come. The rule acknowledges the crucial role roadless areas play in the continued enjoyment of our outdoor pursuits.

And it never would have happened without a truly unique collaboration, one that united the goals of state and federal government with the desires of ordinary citizens.

Roadless areas are U.S. Forest Service-identified backcountry areas of 5,000 or more contiguous acres without improved roads. They provide large blocks of exceptional habitat for big game and clean water where trout and salmon thrive. Hunters and anglers know them as strongholds of our best remaining fish and wildlife habitat.

It's no secret that Idaho's backcountry holds the key to some of the finest big-game hunting and wild trout fishing in the nation.

Thanks to staunch leadership from Lieut. Gov. Jim Risch, receptiveness from the Forest Service - and steady advocacy by Idaho hunters and anglers, who offered input on all phases of the draft plan - Idahoans will go on experiencing top-notch hunting and fishing on public lands. Consequently, the sportsmen's community has reason to be grateful.

The Idaho roadless rule, which will dictate future administration of 9.3 million acres of backcountry in the state, should be finalized in October. Its implementation will close the book on a rule-making process initiated in 2006, when the state submitted a petition to the federal government to revise management of Idaho's roadless areas. The final rule incorporates thousands of public comments, made in part during a series of public meetings held across the state in 2008.

While no rule is perfect, the Idaho roadless plan is worth supporting. The multi-year development process comprised numerous revisions and improvements, resulting in a final product of which Idahoans can be proud. In fact, the "modified" alternative of the rule's final environmental impact statement includes significant alterations from earlier versions of the plan - alterations that include added conservation measures for 257,700 acres in southeast Idaho to sustain big-game habitat important to sportsmen.

Other additions to the Idaho rule clarify phosphate allowances and focus timber cutting in and around communities to protect homes and people from wildfire.

All of these changes should safeguard some of the state's best hunting and fishing grounds. None of them would have occurred without involvement by rank-and-file sportsmen, as well as leadership by groups including the Idaho chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Idaho chapter of Safari Club International, the Idaho Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited.

Southeast Idaho provides some of the finest mule deer hunting in the nation, and improvements made to the final version of the plan will better uphold high-quality hunting opportunities in the Sawtooth, Caribou and Targhee national forests. Given the importance of the mule deer herds near Pocatello, steelhead runs of the Salmon River and elk populations of northern Clearwater County, sportsmen looked to the state and federal governments to devise a well-crafted roadless plan that will guarantee the future of Idaho's hunting and angling traditions.

And the government has delivered a plan that does precisely that.

Lieut. Gov. Risch has been consistently receptive to the needs of the sportsmen's community during the rule-making process. His dedication to these values, along with active involvement by the people of Idaho, resulted in a strong Idaho roadless rule.

Future generations of hunters and anglers, who now will be able to enjoy the state's outdoors in its current, unaltered state, can thank the foresight of all those who had a hand in developing this visionary rule for their management.

Joel Webster is a lifelong hunter and angler who works to engage sportsmen on public-lands issues through his position as roadless initiative manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.