KTVB

Rep. Mike Simpson's bill would set aside 300,000 acres of wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud Mountains.

BOISE -- Changes may be in store for Idaho wilderness bills pending in Washington.

Republican Congressman Mike Simpson and Senator Mike Crapo say they're working to get their bills through the lame-duck session of Congress convening next week.

But if they don't, they may have to work on new versions that will pass muster with a Democrat-led House and Senate that takes over in January.

Environmentalists who opposed the bills also expect Democratic leadership will demand more wilderness and fewer trade-offs in the proposals to protect the Boulder and White Cloud mountains in central Idaho and the Owyhee canyonlands in southwestern Idaho.