Risch Working with Simpson Now on Idaho Monument Bill

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Risch derailed a 2010 wilderness bill but says he's working now with U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson on a scaled-down version as others attempt to persuade President Barack Obama to designate a central Idaho area a national monument.

Risch, a Republican, tells the Idaho Statesman (http://bit.ly/1BrLXFA) in a story on Sunday that he's looking forward to carrying a bill that he says is a collaborative product.

The smaller version of Simpson's Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act would create three wilderness areas totaling about 295,000 acres of wilderness, about 37,000 acres less than the earlier version.

Meanwhile, some groups are asking Obama to use his executive power under the Antiquities Act to create a 592,000-acre national monument that includes the rugged Boulder and White Cloud mountains.