Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Groll. I'm not used to doing this, but will do it anyway be cause I care about Idaho. I am Stacie Groll and have lived in Idaho for 11 years. I am very proud to be an Idahoan because Idaho has the second largest amount of wilderness in all the 50 States, second only to Alaska. I would very much like to keep it that way. I strongly support the preservation of all 6.5 million acres but espe cially support the 10 endangered Idaho wilderness core. Several places I've actually been to are the Sawtooth completion, Snowbank Mountain, and the area near Silver Creek Plunge which is part of the Scott Mountain proposal. They are all very beautiful and have excellent wildlife, fishing and recreation, and watersheds. In north Idaho the wildlife habitat is more important In south Idaho the stability of the watersheds becomes increasingly impor tant. I just had a very nice camping trip at Silver Creek Plunge this weekend. I camped, hiked, picked a couple handfuls of huckleber ries, and went swimming. It was very beautiful up there, and we even saw some deer. I also support soft release so that we can keep forest manage ment options open in future planning cycles. Wilderness is multiple use. We can use it for four out of five uses: Range, recreation, wildlife, and watershed. The only use not included is timber. Also, there is comparatively little commercial timber in these 6.5 million acres. If an area is deserving of wilderness, it should be des ignated as wilderness. 32-426 0—84 22 330 Tourism is the second biggest industry and is growing fast. Tour ism is a more renewable use of steep and unstable or otherwise fragile areas then logging. In the early years people used to take fresh air, fresh water, beauty, and wildlife for granted. They thought the endless prairies, mountains, and rivers would never disappear or that there was so much there that it wouldn't be ruined. I, for one, would like to save these last 6 million acres as they are, and I hope that any child and the grandchildren that I may have can enjoy this, too. Even the areas I can't visit I feel good about knowing they are preserved. Thank you very much.