Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

FEDERATION Mr. Anderson. Thank you, Senator McClure, Senator Symms, and Representative Craig for this opportunity to testify. My name is Andy Anderson and I represent the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation. The farm bureau is the largest farm organiza tion in the State, representing 22,000 families throughout Idaho. The position of the Idaho Farm Bureau has been and will remain that we are opposed to any additional wilderness designation in the State of Idaho. We feel that 3.8 million acres, which is more than any other State except Alaska, is far too much land to be locked up. When this 3.8 million acres was set aside, there was language in the legislation that called for the Government to explore and cata log the mineral resources of the area. This has not as yet been done. No more should be locked up at least until the resources have been cataloged. It is interesting to note that as the Forest Service has had to stop timber sales and mining activities in road less areas, that the revenue from the sale of minerals and timber back to the State and local units of government has fallen. Many counties in Idaho are made up of mostly Federal lands and they depend very heavily on the revenue generated by the sale of timber and minerals to support their schools and roads. 150 Agriculture is one of the largest taxpaying groups in the State and, as such, is very concerned with the prospect of seeing these lands locked by wilderness designation. If the Federal funds to local units of government, especially schools, continues to drop, an already shaky agricultural economy will be further taxed to make up the problems faced by farmers and ranchers. There is a lot of talk by the proponents of wilderness that wilder ness is good for the tourists and recreational industry. The number of people speaking and participating in a wilderness recreational experience are a very numerically small part of the recreating public. Thus only a small part of the tourist trade. If Idaho is to have a strong tourist trade, it will need to develop more opportunities for the vast majority of people who need and want campgrounds that they have motorized access to. In conclusion, Senator, the local areas and the State of Idaho, as well as the Nation, cannot afford to lock up land and not develop and use the natural resources contained thereon. By locking up the land so it might be used by a very small part of the population you are denying the rest of the society access to these lands as well as removing from the land manage ment agencies the ability to do just that: manage.