Boulder White Clouds

The Boulder White Clouds Mountains are located in the central part of Idaho and are the subject of a lot of controversy given that the president appears to be inclined to use the antiquities act of 1906 for the formation of a 591,000 acre national Monument. Bob Hayes lives just outside of Stanley and served on the board of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. He championed the formation of the area working with the same conservation groups that helped establish the SNRA. Mr. Hayes stands opposed to the monument designation and fears that the antiquities act would forever lock Idahoans out of the area."The antiquities act of 1906 can be a useful tool in recognizing and protecting small areas of historical and scientific interest which is the way the act was written. I am very concerned that it is an inappropriate tool to make a large scale land management decision of the type involving the Boulder white clouds. This is for a variety of reasons. First, it is a top-down process that deprives the people who live, work and recreate in the area with the opportunity to fully participate in the land use decision of critical importance to them. It also has the potential to be terribly disruptive because it doesn't involve the real stakeholders.