We prefer to inform you about advances in wild land conservation, but this week that opportunity has been denied for Idaho’s magnificent backcountry forests.

At the end of January, a federal district court upheld a dangerous federal rule that eliminates protection for 400,000 acres of Idaho’s wild backcountry and exposes more than 5 million acres in the state to greater threat of development.

Soon after the youngsters and I reached the top of the mountain, an elder who had been hunting caribou stopped by. The kids quickly settled down. “I just saw three caribou,” the elder said. “They were the first I’ve seen this season. In the old days there would be so many here by this time. But there are fewer and fewer each year.”