Idaho Intensive Wilderness Inventory Final Decision

Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Office

Contained within this report are the Bureau of Land Management's final decisions on those BLM-administered lands in Idaho which qualify as Wilderness Study Areas (WSA's) and those which do not. Note that BLM is not at this time recommending that these areas should or should not be designated wilderness by Congress. BLM has determined that some inventory units contain wilderness characteristics as defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964 and that some do not. The areas that meet these characteristics are identified as WSA's and will be studied to determine whether or not they are suitable for wilderness. These studies will take place at a later date. Every WSA will be reviewed and acted upon by Congress after the studies are complete, whether the BLM deems them suitable for designation as wilderness or not. These decisions are the result of intensive inventory field work conducted during the summer and fall, 1979. Procedures for evaluating wilderness criteria are noted in the BLM Wilderness Inventory Handbook, September 1978, and in Organic Act Directive 78-61, including changes 1, 2, and 3, and Instruction Memo No. 80-236. The narratives included here are summaries of more detailed intensive inventory reports available in the BLM Idaho district offices. These summaries present a brief, overall picture of Idaho's intensive inventory decisions. For more detailed, site specific information, refer to the district files. · More detailed maps· and photographs are also contained in these files. This report was prepared following a 90-day period for public comment on the intensive inventory, which ran from April 4, 1980, to July 3, 1980. Comments received by the offices of the BLM after July 3, 1980, were also utilized in the State Director's final decision, as the decision announcement date was extended from September to November 14, 1980.