Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Gilbertson. Senators McClure and Symms, the Idaho Gem Club, representing many families in the Boise area, is one of 21 such clubs in Idaho. I'm speaking for the board of the Idaho Gem Club of Boise, Idaho. Our club alone has spent over 1,100 recorded hours in field trips last year and many other hours working, displaying and enjoying what we find. There are many recreational as well as educational benefits to this hobby, including the fields of geology, minerology, crystalography, lapidary, paleontology, and other related fields. Each year the Idaho Gem Club, as well as other gem and mineral clubs, holds shows that are educational and open to the public in the various parts of Idaho in which they meet. The Idaho Gem Club is a member of the Northwest Federation and the American Federation of Minerological Societies and they also hold regional, as well as national shows, yearly. And those shows are also educational in nature and open to the public and very well attended by the people from all over the Nation. The board of the Idaho Gem Club believes that there should be no changes in land use management, but that land use should stay the same as at present with multiple use. Sufficient land has already been set aside and further restrictions will tend to deny people the proper uses of their heritage. Our club members enjoy this hobby and the outings and wish to continue them. The Idaho Gem Club members are proud of Idaho being the Gem State. Thank you.