Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Allen. Thank you, Senator McClure. The roadless areas close to Boise and McCall must be considered for wilderness classification. They are the places we people of southwestern Idaho can visit in a day or on a weekend and come away refreshed from experiencing a special wild place. Let's leave them as they are. A good road system is already in place to give automobile access to within a few miles of scores of lakes, streams, and mountain peaks. Trail systems exist and need little improvement. The area I am most familiar with is referred to as the Payette Crest in the endangered Idaho wilderness core presented by the conservation groups. I started hiking in Oregon, where I grew up, in the late 1950's. Since then, I have hiked in many of the mountainous areas of the West as well as in New England and in the Swiss Alps. These wild areas around McCall compare favorably in terms of ruggedness, solitude and the special beauty of an alpine setting. It is rare to be able to experience such isolated and spectacular areas with so little effort as we can in the Payette Crest. Idahoans, now and in the future, need to have special areas like the Payette Crest saved as they are now. The only way this can be done is through their formal designation as wilderness. Finally, I would like to support the 10 endangered Idaho wilder ness core areas as proposed by the conservation groups. I support their attempts to determine possible wilderness boundaries for these areas and for others such as Steel Mountain, the Trinities, Breadwinner, Snowbank Mountain, Rapid River and Council Moun tain. The most important additions to Idaho wilderness would prob ably add another 3 million acres to the existing 3.8 million. Please wait until October when the conservationists and sports men have their wilderness proposal together before putting your legislation into final form. Also, I oppose hard release language for any of the roadless areas not designated as wilderness in the forthcoming legislation. Thank you.