James McClure, 86, a former U.S. senator from Idaho who spent six years as chairman of the energy committee and fought to keep Idaho’s wilderness areas controlled by the state, died Saturday, according to the McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho.
A Republican, he served 24 years in Congress.
McClure earned a reputation as a nuts-and-bolts legislative craftsman. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1966, staying there until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1972. He retired from Congress in 1991.
He fought to reduce federal control over wilderness in Idaho and throughout the West — hoping to free the land for economic development. He also was instrumental in persuading President Ronald Reagan in 1986 to abandon the unratified Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Agreement II in the wake of Soviet violations, and he co-sponsored legislation that weakened federal gun-control laws in 1986.
