The Craig legacy

Joe Jaszewski / Associated Press - U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, addresses the media in Boise on Aug. 28 about his arrest and guilty plea for disorderly conduct in a Minnesota airport earlier this summer.

When it comes to his legacy, Sen. Larry Craig's attitude toward the West's public land reads like an environmental impact statement that miners, grazers and loggers would love to write -- given the chance. And in his 27 years in Congress, Craig dedicated himself to giving them plenty of chances.

Idaho's embattled senator was a steadfast friend of Idaho National Laboratory. He pursued the politically turbulent path of immigration reform. And Craig championed other causes, notably easing the path toward adoption and helping rural schools hurt by the decline of logging.

But as far as Craig was concerned, public land was public in name only. Industries ruled.

He favored building more roads in roadless forests. In 1995, Craig pushed through a legislative rider -- without public hearings or involvement -- to push through a salvage logging measure that limited environmental restrictions on tree-thinning projects. He was not above pressuring local Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management staffers to speed up logging.

He sided with Washington's dams on the lower Snake River at the expense of Idaho's salmon and steelhead runs. In late June, he again sought to revive the Bush administration's plan to put dams first and always -- even though a federal judge ruled it violated the Endangered Species Act.

And when the Fish Passage Center continued reporting dwindling fish runs, Craig passed special legislation to eliminate the center. Craig's legislation was later overturned.

It's no coincidence that no Idaho wilderness bill has passed since Craig first was elected to Congress in 1980. Last year, he distanced himself from two historic Idaho wilderness bills when just a nod could have pushed them through Congress. One was Rep. Mike Simpson's Boulder-White Clouds wilderness bill. The other was Sen. Mike Crapo's Owyhee Canyonlands bill. Both involved the art of compromise. Simpson and Crapo forged coalitions among people with vastly different interests and views.

Craig also stalled a bill to protect the Snake River in Wyoming because of an unsubstantiated claim by Idaho irrigators that the measure threatened their water.

The West has been transformed in the three decades since Craig went to Washington. The region is facing climate change, more expensive energy, scarce water and the disappearance of wildlife species. More people have moved in, and fewer of them depend on the traditional resource industries that Craig has championed all these years.

Left behind are figures such as former House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R- Calif., who was defeated for re-election last year, and now Craig, who announced his intention to step aside at the end of this month.

Gov. Butch Otter will select Craig's successor. His choice should reflect the West's new era. Idahoans have turned the page on Craig's legacy.

J. Robb Brady