IDAHO ISN’T OREGON
As a member of the legislative body, it makes me furious that the Idaho Legislature is wasting a second of time contemplating greater Idaho when we’ve got so many problems that we have to solve (“The Movement to Make Oregon Great Again,” August 2023). We got elected to represent Idahoans, and to worry about Oregon and their problems is an abdication of our duty.
Rep. Ned Burns, D, Idaho District 26 Bellevue, Idaho @Ned4idaho via Twitter
LEGISLATIVE RELICS
As a in the 1980s, I wrote many stories about the Mining Law of 1872, focusing on the law’s negative economic and environmental consequences for Western states (“An antiquated law rules mining in the West,” August 2023). Much of my reporting covered efforts to reform the law, which were led by the Mineral Policy Center (founded by former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and Wyoming environmentalist Phil Hocker) and by a handful of progressive members of Congress, notably Rep. Nick Joe Rahall of West Virginia.
