Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Kerr. I'm Ronald Kerr from Boise. Thank you, Senator McClure, for having these hearings here in Idaho for all of us to express our views on this very important decision that's going to be made by you and other Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives. I want to say that I support the endangered Idaho wilderness core and will support the conservation sportsmen proposal that will be introduced in October. I'm especially concerned about the Sawtooth completion, the Payette Crest, and the White Clouds. And as far as White Clouds is concerned, I understand you may consider that separately, but if you consider it as part of this bill, I would encourage that you have a no-mining provision in that bill. I'm particularly interested in the wilderness areas close to Boise, Rapid River, Steel Mountain, Red Mountains, and others, but I won't go into those until the conservationist proposal is more de tailed. I would ask, too, that, whatever wilderness bill you come up with, the remaining areas as much as possible — if not all — could be 333 soft release. However, the tenor of my testimony that I would like to concentrate on is that the increasing Idaho's — building Idaho's economy on tourism and the wilderness aspects of it is something that really makes a lot of sense. Due to high interest rates and other factors, as you probably know, the mining industry is at an all-time low in the State of Idaho, where in 1980 it was 1.4 percent of the Idaho jobs. It only predicted to be 1.1 in 1987. And due to the volatile aspect of that industry, it's not expected to increase much. Likewise, the timber industry, another important part of the Idaho economy, will never probably see the days it did in the 1970's due to the fact that people are now demanding marked interest rates for their money. The lenders, as it were, are the savers and, therefore, the whole timber industry is going to change its color. You are going to find more multiple-family housing, much more smaller housing, getting away from detached family homes. But let me say —quote a few statistics about tourism in Idaho. Tourism in Idaho is a $1 billion industry with 29,000 employees, 8 percent of Idaho's employment, $166 million payroll, $32 million in taxes, and 4 million visitors. Specifically, 40 — excuse me. In 1981, 54,000 people used Idaho outfitters and guides; 90 per cent of out-of-State game hunters spent some time in the wilder ness. According to the statistics from the Travel Industry Council in Washington, D.C., in the West, when vacationing, the following rec reational activities were incorporated: 58 percent for hiking; 40 per cent, swimming; 33 percent, fishing; 11 percent, backpacking; 9 per cent, golf and tennis. In conclusion