Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mrs. Kriz. I am Carol Kriz, a resident of Boise, Idaho. My intent is to briefly touch on one of the multiple uses of wil derness and that is watershed and specifically in the Boise forest although there are critical areas in other forests. I am frustrated because I have much more testimony than is pos sible within a minute and a half. It is an immensely complex issue, but I will be very brief. Watershed involves the relationship between the water and the lands. Briefly, it is the drainage basin from which waters of streams are drawn. Normally the streams are fed by the percola tion of water released very slowly onto unsaturated soil. These forest soils have a high water storage capacity and that is where the water is held back and released gradually into the streams over the period of the season. Without this retentive quality, the upper reaches of the area is often dry or in drought condition later on in the season. But when water is released from forested land, it is gradual and reliable. Most importantly, it carries hardly any silt. The waters of a rapid runoff area carry sand, clay, and gravel, and affect stream quality and can be deposited farther downstream. Another consequence of rapid runoff would be a rise in the water level downstream. Forests provide permanent and self-perpetuating cover. Mainte nance of that cover is a guiding principle for its management where erosion threatens. The soils of the Idaho batholith are particularly fragile and sus ceptible to erosion when unprotected by the specifically adapted forest that covered that area.