Comments closed September 25
Idaho Power fuel break would clear forest along Jesse Creek transmission line
U.S. Forest Service · Salmon-Challis National Forest, ID
- What
- The Forest Service would expand vegetation clearing beyond Idaho Power's existing right-of-way on Salmon-Challis National Forest.
- Where
- Salmon-Challis National Forest, ID
- How much
- Public forest land along the Idaho Power transmission line corridor and adjacent Forest System Roads faces expanded clearing.
- Decided
- Comments closed September 25, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Forest Service CARA comment page ↗, read October 29, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Forest Service project page ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the project page names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedSeptember 25, 2026, from Forest Service CARA comment page, the notice text ↗: “requested through 9/25/2026 11:59:59 PM (Mountain Standard Time)”. Read October 29, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 9, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
Affects public lands
The Forest Service would expand vegetation clearing beyond Idaho Power's existing right-of-way on Salmon-Challis National Forest.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
The agency’s own analysis
What the notice says, and what it leaves out
The window has closed; the record of what was missing stays.
The agency says
“To create a strategically located fuel break along the Idaho Power transmission line and Forest System Roads within the wildland-urban interface”
The project description says the fuel break will increase 'defensible space of the transmission line outside of the Idaho Power right-of-way,' but the notice never states the acreage, width, or linear extent of the proposed fuel break.
The agency says
“The project area runs along the Idaho Power Transmission line, Forest System Road #65002 (Leesburg Stage), Forest System Road #60707 (Morning Glory), and Forest System Road #65001 (U.P. Lake)”
The location description names four specific Forest System Roads and an Idaho Power transmission line corridor but does not disclose whether the project area overlaps with any inventoried roadless areas, wilderness study areas, or designated wilderness.
The agency says
“Location Summary: The project area is located on the Salmon-Cobalt Ranger District, west of Salmon, ID.”
The notice mentions no consultation with Tribal governments, even though the project area is in Lemhi County, Idaho, which is within the ancestral territory of the Lemhi Shoshone and Bannock peoples.
The agency says
“To create a strategically located fuel break along the Idaho Power transmission line and Forest System Roads within the wildland-urban interface (WUI)”
The notice does not identify what vegetation will be removed, what equipment or methods will be used, or how slash will be disposed of.
The agency says
“increasing the defensible space of the transmission line outside of the Idaho Power right-of-way”
The notice states the project will expand defensible space 'outside of the Idaho Power right-of-way' but does not disclose whether Idaho Power has applied for or holds a special-use permit for the additional ground disturbed on National Forest System land, nor whether coordination with FERC-regulated transmission infrastructure is required.
In the agency’s own words
To create a strategically located fuel break along the Idaho Power transmission line and Forest System Roads within the wildland-urban interface (WUI), increasing the defensible space of the transmission line outside of the Idaho Power right-of-way.
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Idaho
Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Idaho, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Advocates for the West
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Stibnite Mine / Boise National Forest, Idaho: Lead counsel for the six-group coalition suing over the Stibnite Gold Project, filing the February 2025 complaint, a May 2026 preliminary injunction motion, and a June 2026 emergency appeal to halt construction.
- Center for Biological Diversity
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Stibnite Mine / Boise National Forest, Idaho: Plaintiff and co-counsel in the February 2025 lawsuit arguing federal wildlife agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and wolverine from the mine.
- Idaho Conservation League
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho: Mobilized Idahoans to file Interior Department comments defending Craters of the Moon during the 2017 national monument review, arguing shrinkage would damage the economies of Blaine, Butte, Minidoka, and Power counties.
- Western Watersheds Project
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers, Idaho: Challenging BLM's grazing management across 1.4 million acres of the Jarbidge and Bruneau river canyonlands, where it won an injunction blocking ranchers from grazing beyond their permit limits.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
No court case we track is over Challis National Forest and Salmon National Forest.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
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