Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Morris. Thank you, Senator, for listening to the people of Idaho on the issue of wilderness. I just got back in Idaho, and I think this is the last thing I want to be doing. There are 10 BLM areas which were dropped by Secretary Watt because they were smaller than 5,000 acres. These acres, in gener al, physically adjoin Forest Service wilderness study areas. Their elimination is arbitrary, and does not reflect the real situation. I urge the following areas be brought back into wilderness con sideration: Selkirk Crest, Box Canyon, Boulder Creek-Boulder White Clouds, Goldberg, Borah Peak in the Lost River Range, Little Wood River in Pioneer, Henry's Lake, Worm Creek, Back Butte, Salmon Falls Creek. These droppings, I feel, were a cheap political shot by someone who has lost all credibility on the wilderness issue. Additionally, Boulder Creek, Borah Peak, and Little Wood River are strong can didates for legal challenges if the surrounding areas become wilder ness. For example, Little Wood River provides winter range for 300 to It is part of the Elk Mountain crucial elk range and an area of critical environmental concern. Secretary Watt dropped this unit from wilderness consideration be cause it is smaller than 5,000 acres. It is about 4,400 acres. This is 400 elk and year-round deer range. absurd. It is an integral part of our ecosystem. There are no mining claims, and the existing moderate sheep grazing would be protected under wilderness. The highest and best use of Idaho's wilderness is wilderness. Ask the packers and guides, the sportsmen, the conservationists, the tourists, the people who benefit from the clean watersheds that don't slide into town every spring. Outdoor recreation is Idaho's second largest industry. It has remained healthy during this long 534 recession when the sawmills and the mines, and the smelters have shut down for months or even years at a time. One of my employees recently ran into old friends from Oregon who were logging on the Boise River. When she asked them why they were working in Idaho, they replied, 'Because there aren't any forests left in Oregon.' What do we do after we log the last Idaho forest? It is time we faced reality. The forest products of to morrow will come off the tree plantations of today. It is time to re plant and properly manage the millions of acres of unreseeded forest land already exploited in Idaho, not chase after some last pie-in-the-sky bonanza. I strongly urge that Corral Horse Basin, Jerry Peak West, Jerry Peak, and Boulder Creek be included in any White Clouds-Boulder wilderness. This is vital to protect the lowland crucial winter range which is essential to the total Boulder- White Clouds ecosystem. I personally urge that Mallard-Larkin, Great Burn-Cayuse Creek, and Grandmother Mountain would be my top wilderness sugges tion for Idaho; my comments explain why