01/21/08 Roadless plan, water users, energy corridors

The first of 16 public hearings opens this week on the Idaho roadless plan. Lt Governor Jim Risch spent most of last week in Washington testifying before the US Forest Service on the roadless plan that he developed on 9.3 million acres. Three million acres would have no roads, no logging. Five and a half million would be open to projects like forest thinning for fire prevention. The hearings open tomorrow evening in Bonners Ferry. On Wednesday their will be a hearing in Coeur d'Alene and Thursday's session is to be held in Kellogg. The hearings end on February 28th in Boise. Speaking of Risch he's be one of the speakers at this week's Idaho Water Users annual convention and so will Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Bob Johnson. More than 200 people from Idaho and the Pacific Northwest typically attend the convention. The convention also features a variety of special panels and workshops. Three federal agencies will hold a public hearing on January 31st on the proposal to designate energy corridors on federal lands in the west. The Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy and Interior are proposing locations where pipelines and transmission lines for oil, gas, hydrogen and electricity can be located. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott