Keep Public Lands Public

I am a longtime resident of Boundary County having moved here with my family in 1994, and other than a handful of years out of state, Bonners Ferry has always been my home. While the town is great and the people are wonderful for the most part, the greatest part of our county (and our state in whole) are the great outdoors. And I use them nearly every day as an avid fly fisherman, forager, and hiker.

While we live in a time that our rich public lands are being threatened like never before, I always give appreciation and admiration for the ones in our state and local government who will stand up to the larger powers-that-be in our federal government who want to sell our land — the likes of which I am sitting on right now as I write this, and could maybe even include your backyard—to the highest bidder. Before anyone screams something dull-witted about what political side that I could represent, this is not a left or right on the political spectrum issue: this is an Idahoan issue. This is a Montanian issue. This is an Oregonian and Washingtonian issue. This is an issue that the whole country should be up in arms about.

While here in North Idaho we may not be as at risk as the rest of the state, that does not mean that our lands won't be next on the chopping block. I spend time fly fishing for many reasons, one of the most important being solitude. It is a time for reflection on the nature around me an reflection on myself as well. I enjoy that I have so many areas in this county to myself. Most of my fishing spots are on public land, and I am able to stand in the water and everything washes away downstream, and I do not want to lose the rivers and streams that know me better than I know myself.

As Arnold Gingrich wrote, “a trout is a moment of beauty only to those that seek it.” I could rewrite this with numerous other words replacing trout as well: creek, nature, forest, lake. I hope we can keep our minds in the right place and keep our public lands public. With Senators Crapo and Risch, who recently voted against an amendment to prevent the selling of public lands in order to support the selling of said public land to help provide large tax breaks for billionaires and corporations, Representative Mike Simpson broke from tradition to support the Public Lands for Public Hands Bill (H.R. 718), and I couldn't be happier. If we (the outdoor folks, the fishers, the hunters, hikers, bikers, foragers, etc.) don't fight to keep our public lands an end up losing them to the highest bidders, we are losing them for good. I thought what we were all about around here was keeping Idaho, well, Idaho. If we start losing our lands to the ones with more disposable incomes than us, we are losing them forever. Write letters to your representatives or give them a call. If you get a typical canned response or a busy phone, write another and call them again. We must make our voices heard if we want to save our public lands. For you, for me, for our families, our children, and our children's children. They will thank you.

And if you want to give a nice call to one of our representatives that seemingly are against keeping public lands public and keeping Idaho Idaho, here are some of their numbers: 

Call Sen. Crapo (208-334-1776)

Call Sen. Risch (208-342-7985)

Tell them that the outdoors are ours to enjoy. If you really love all the things that make this state so beautiful, so wonderful, and one of the best areas in the country, let them know. I’m doing my part, and I hope that you will too.