I'm just back from a conference of outdoor writers. At one seminar I attended, I learned that the Bush admin has. made energy exploration in Rocky Mountain states a high priority. So much so that they are pushing hard to open Idaho's roadless areas for coal, gas and oil development. The BLM has been given marching orders to expedite the process and that any efforts to mitigate loss of fish and wildlife habitat must be justified and shown to not harm the push for new extraction industries. The biggest of many problems this will cause is massive water pollution from new techniques to release gas from coal beds. The BLM estimates that as much as 2 trillion gallons of polluted water will be dumped into pristine rivers in areas where west slope cutthroat and Chinook salmon are endangered. Of course, the current plans to count hatchery fish just like wild fish, will help this destruction of our wilderness. (Who needs wild fish when we have hatcheries)?

Trout Unlimited is fighting this hard, but right now only one district judge stands in the way of even more senseless destruction of some of the West’s most vital fish and game habitat.

The Idaho roadless area also produces the vast majority of the state’s trophy mule deer, elk and antelope. The largest antelope migration still occurring in the U.S. passes right through the area planned for development.