SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — Bonner County commissioners in northern Idaho say they are meeting with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials later this month with the goal of altering the federal agency’s plan to protect habitat for woodland caribou.
Commissioners are concerned the plan to designate as critical habitat nearly 600 square miles of land in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington will harm the local economy by restricting logging, snowmobiling and forest access.
Commissioners tell the Bonner County Daily Bee (http://bit.ly/y18UKd) that the meeting is set for Jan. 24 at the Inn at Priest Lake in Coolin.
Commissioners are working to form a coalition with other counties impacted by the federal plan made in November, while also insisting the Fish and Wildlife Service coordinate with them on the habitat designation.
