Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

'Hysterical preservationists' and 'gouge-and-run bulldozer boys' : the land-use controversy in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains, 1968-1972

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  • Similar to other spectacular scenic areas in the American West, Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains have been a contested landscape since the beginning of the 20th century. Although, legislation was introduced in Congress as early as 1913 to protect the towering mountains of south-central Idaho as a national park, the issue did not generate significant interest until the 1960s. When American Smelting and Refining Company began exploring molybdenum deposits at the base of Castle Peak in the White Clouds in 1968, conservationists rallied around the call to ‘Save the White Clouds.’ Idaho Senator Frank Church proposed legislation to protect the mountains with either a Forest Service administered national recreation area or a national park. The issue found the national spotlight in January 1970 as Life magazine published an article on the land-use controversy. In November of the same year Cecil Andrus took over the governor’s office from incumbent Don Samuelson largely because Andrus opposed mining in the White Clouds. Despite all of Idaho’s congressional delegation supporting a national park and recreation complex, the legislation was modified in 1971 to create only a national recreation area under Forest Service management. Congress passed the bill and President Nixon signed the measure in 1972. The years between 1968 and 1972 offer an interesting glimpse into the conservation struggle in Idaho and how the emerging environmental movement reached even the highest peaks of central Idaho. The controversy highlights public concern over federal land use, reveals tensions between the Forest Service and National Park Service, and explores the dynamic relationship between politics and land management decisions.
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