—Giving federal land to Custer and Blaine counties was a way for Simpson to get locals behind CIEDRA. The plan is for that land—in Stanley, anyway—to be sold as luxury homesites. The resulting tax base is supposed to bring solvency to Custer County governments and schools.

I have two words for Congressman Simpson: Teapot Dome. If the Congressman wants to forever tie his name to questionable disposals of federal assets, he should keep this aspect of CIEDRA intact. The sudden conversion of federal land into luxury real-estate is going to be a lot like a loss of virginity: it’s hard to keep that door closed once it’s been opened.

Hundreds of little starve-acre counties and municipalities are scattered across the American West, and most of them are conservative and Republican. Conservative or not, they’re going to want their share when CIEDRA’s charity gets distributed. What they’re not going to want is chunks of Nevada salt flats. They’re going to want their own private Idaho, too.

Watching the scramble will not be for the squeamish. Someone will have to decide what places to give away, lot boundaries, auction participants, asking prices, and who will get land in return for selfless community service. Neighbors who bought property thinking that views and privacy were protected by bordering national forest will hire lawyers. The rich will want to make sure that the highest bidder gets the land, and that no affordable housing should depress their property values, and that they get the full benefits of county services. Here again, Blaine County shows what to expect in Stanley and Challis.

—One group of people who will be watching the whole process of federal land transfer is Idaho’s Native Americans. Up to now, the land that the tribes lost in a series of dubious legal transactions has not been given a dollar value. But CIEDRA will give a high and very public value to federal land—it will commodify the resource base, in the language of economics, and then the tribes will have a dollar figure to give to their lawyers when the courts begin to scrutinize 19th Century treaties. Up to now, the ambiguous nature of federal land meant that it could belong to all of us. Put a dollar amount on it and you’ll begin to see people come off the reservations who have legitimate claims to it. That’s when the true expense of CIEDRA will become apparent.

There are other unintended consequences, but these should be enough to question the wisdom of going ahead with the act. Right now Challis and nearby towns are benefiting because of a spike in molybdenum prices, so the necessity for an economic development act isn’t as dire as it was before China started making steel. The mines commodify the resource base, too, but they don’t commodify so much of it.

And if there’s a worldwide depression and the Thompson Creek Mine closes again, I hope Congressman Simpson forgets CIEDRA and just gives every man, woman, and child in Custer County a check for a hundred thousand dollars. Financially, culturally, and spiritually, it will be cheaper.