Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

IDAHO Mr. Sieffert. Senator McClure, Congressman Craig, frankly I would like to see as much of the RARE acreage in wilderness as possible; all of it, in fact. As mayor of Ketchum, in the past 8 years I have resided over with mixed emotions one of the largest percent age building booms in the history of the State. Wilderness, we have found, has been very good for business, as we are one of the gateways to the outdoor recreation areas of the wilderness areas around us. As such, we have seen residential counts increase by a factor of three in the past 10 years. We have seen all forms of construction. A square footage basis probably in creased by 12 to 14 times. And with that, jobs, bank footings, all increases of economic ac tivity have been commensurate with that growth. For this reason, I'm saying I would like it all in wilderness be cause I think it is probably one of the highest and best uses of that area for wilderness values that Americans are going to see in a tre mendous demand in the next 20 years. And I will venture to say that many of the gateway cities to the wilderness areas are going to boom because of the demands we're going to see for those wilder ness areas, and, as such, I think economically it's a growth indus try and a provision for outdoor recreation values and those areas are going to be one of the great growth areas for the State of Idaho in the next 20 years. Thank you.