The Cecil D. Andrus–White Clouds Wilderness is a protected area in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in Custer County,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. The

Sawtooth National Recreation Area The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest S ...

, in the

Sawtooth National Forest Sawtooth National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest that covers 2,110,408 acres (854,052 ha) in the U.S. states of Idaho (~96 percent) and Utah (~4 percent). Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the United States Depart ...

, manages the majority of the wilderness, with managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

at the wilderness's eastern edge along the

East Fork Salmon River The East Fork Salmon River is a tributary of the Salmon River, flowing through Custer County, Idaho in the United States. It joins the Salmon River about east of Clayton and south-southwest of Challis. The East Fork Salmon River is formed a ...

. The wilderness encompasses part of the

White Cloud Mountains The White Cloud Mountains are part of the Rocky Mountains of the Western United States, western United States, located in central Idaho, southeast of Stanley, Idaho, Stanley in Custer County, Idaho, Custer County. The range is located within the ...

and is north of the

Hemingway–Boulders Wilderness The Hemingway–Boulders Wilderness is a protected area in the western United States, located in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in central Idaho. Part of the Sawtooth National Forest in Blaine and Custer counties, the wilderness covers p ...

and west of the Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Wilderness. The area, originally White Clouds Wilderness, was added to the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally ...

in 2015 on August 7, with the passage of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act. Sponsored by second district representative

Mike Simpson Michael Keith Simpson (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Fa ...

, a Republican from

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

, it passed

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

without objection and was signed into law by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. In 2018 it was renamed to honor the late Idaho Governor

Cecil Andrus Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served as 26th and 28th List of Governors of Idaho, governor of Idaho, for a total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as United States Secretary of ...

, over the opposition of Senator

Jim Risch James Elroy Risch ( ; born May 3, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Idaho since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as lieutenant governor of Idaho under governors ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil D. Andrus-White Clouds Wilderness Sawtooth National Forest Protected areas established in 2015 Protected areas of Custer County, Idaho Wilderness areas of Idaho Bureau of Land Management areas in Idaho 2015 establishments in Idaho

See also

References