Boisian Kathy Steinbach’s vision for a new national monument that contains Idaho’s most moving waterfalls, pure, clear springs bubbling out the ground, home for grizzly bears and priceless hot springs connected to Yellowstone’s geysers will have to wait.

It doesn’t appear that President Bush is going to set aside 200,000 acres in the Caribou Targhee National Forest as Mesa Falls National Monument. Steinbach, an Idaho Statesman reader, made the recommendation in response to our appeal for nominations to send to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

When I asked Kempthorne in 2007 whether he might recommend a part of Idaho to President Bush to protect as a national monument he replied, “stay tuned.” The last time I asked him he would not reply definitely either way but because of the time left it appears now unlikely that Bush would take such a step.

There are a lot of groups he would want to consult before taking such a step. But if Bush wanted to designate the Mesa Falls National Monument he wouldn’t have to consult anyone. The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives the president the power to protect historic, cultural, natural and other special places of national significance without having to go to Congress.

You might remember that eight years ago President Bill Clinton, under the recommendation of then Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, expanded Craters of the Moon National Monument. He also cited the Owyhee Canyonlands as worthy of protection but decided against designating it because he had not had time to address the issue adequately.

Bush may still get to sign legislation before he leaves that protects the Owyhees along with millions of acres of wilderness across the West. But special protection for Mesa Falls likely will have to wait.

There is no giant hue or cry to protect the area that Steinbach identified but there should be.

“The Mesa Falls area is as beautiful as anywhere in Yellowstone,” Steinbach said. “It deserves to be preserved and recognized.”

The area begins along the Yellowstone National Park boundary in Idaho. This is Idaho’s, Yellowstone, the only national park within our border, a fact often missed. USA Today reported in 2006 and the New York Times reported in 2007 that Idaho doesn’t have a national park.

Steinbach’s monument would include the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, Big Springs, a source of the Henry’s Fork northeast of Island Park, Warm Springs, due east of the falls and the Idaho part of Yellowstone’s southern entry to Bechler Ranger Station and Cave Falls.

She wants to protect all of the hydrothermal features connected to Yellowstone’s geysers. That would mean making a ban on developing the Island Park Geothermal Area, a 32 mile area in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, permanent.

This last piece of protection has wide environmental support, including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Perhaps Steinbach’s idea has legs that could carry it to a new, Democratic administration.

Or maybe Idaho congressional delegation wants to get involved. Congress also has the power to designate a national monument.

The politics will be different but perhaps Steinbach’s proposal, the Idaho Statesman’s 2007 pick, could lay the groundwork for a compromise similar to what Sen. Mike Crapo forged in the Owyhees and Rep. Mike Simpson has offered in the Boulder-White Clouds.

Steinbach wants the existing snowmobile and ATV trails to remain open since her son rides ATVs. She also doesn’t want to ban hunting, which is usually done when an area is designated a national monument.

Her proposal brought unofficial support from the Ashton Chamber of Commerce, which recognized that providing an Idaho gateway into Yellowstone would be a big boon to tourism and the economy.

Environmentalists are likely to get their wish to phase snowmobiles out of Yellowstone during the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. By setting aside a national monument that allows snowmobiling on well groomed trails next to Yellowstone, the administration would be offsetting some of the blow for snowmobilers and tourism businesses.

With Congress involved, the area could include the area south of Cave Falls, a stunning falls that flows over a cave on the Fall River in Wyoming. The Cowboy state made Congress have to sign off on future monument designations there after President Roosevelt designated Grand Teton over its objection.

Steinbach’s recommendation could help eastern Idaho’s economy, protect Yellowstone geysers forever and elevate Idaho’s Yellowstone to the recognition it deserves.