BOISE, Idaho — Ten years ago, with the stroke of a pen, then-President Barack Obama enshrined nearly 300,000 acres of Central Idaho backcountry as protected wilderness. It was a quiet conclusion to a hard-won victory spearheaded by conservationists and championed by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, who introduced 10 bills in as many years in an attempt to preserve the site.

The area, frequently called the Boulder-White Clouds, is three separate wilderness areas that converge in the Sawtooth and Challis national forests: the Cecil D. Andrus-White Clouds Wilderness, the Hemingway-Boulder Wilderness and the Jim McClure-Jerry Peak Wilderness. The areas were given wilderness designation as part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act, which limited wh

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