Idaho Gov. "Butch" Otter (R) will appoint Craig's successor, and one possibility is Otter's own successor, former Idaho Gov. James Risch (R). Risch was appointed to the governorship from his position as lieutenant governor after Dirk Kempthorne resigned to become interior secretary in May of 2006. In an op-ed that ran in the Idaho Statesman this past January, Lee Flinn and Matt Bullard of Conservation Voters for Idaho offered thanks to Risch for his positive leadership on environmental issues:

With Gov. Jim Risch's seven-month term complete, he can reflect on diverse achievements. One area that stands out is his commitment to protecting Idaho's clean air, water and the natural places that make our state a special place to live. Risch took strong positions supporting these shared conservation values and demonstrated that protecting our quality of life is not a partisan issue.

On the other hand, there's also the possibility that Kempthorne himself -- who served a single term in the U.S. Senate from 1992 to 1998 -- will return to Capitol Hill on behalf of the people of Idaho. His noteworthy achievement in the past year has been to be a terrible secretary of the interior, and his environmental record over the course of his congressional career earned him a solid 1 percent rating on the League of Conservation Voters' National Environmental Scorecard.