Nothing lasts forever, which may include some of America's wilderness lands. Citizens should be pleased with movements of conservation during the last hundred years, but changing course and compromising the Wilderness Act today may set a new direction for future projects. Congressman Mike Simpson, from Idaho, has put together a controversial bill introducing changes for the White Cloud and Boulder Mountain area, an unprotected wilderness. The bill would provide protection for 318,000 acres in central Idaho, and an additional half a million acres under a compromised plan. Simpson's plan would allow for motorized vehicular traffic, now forbidden under the Wilderness Act of 1964. It would also convert 3,600 acres of Forest Service public domain into land used by private developers. It would also give Stanley elbow room, as it is hemmed in by wilderness lands. Stanley's growth has been held in check for years and the new bill would offer land for housing and development.
This Picture of the Day's serene landscape is part of Idaho's pristine wilderness, found just east of Stanley. Castle Peak, rising up nearly 12,000 feet, casts its own reflection onto the crystal clear waters below. Nothing would break the hearts of conservationists anymore than seeing the scars from a open pit mine or modern hotel along this shoreline.