Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Wells. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I'm Charles Wells, an 8year student of natural resources, resource management and pres ently enrolled in the College of Forestry at the University of Idaho. As I see it, the advantages of roadless areas are manyfold. Fore most, they are economical. They offer a wealth of knowledge for the future and they are part of the natural heritage that has made this country great. Unroaded areas offer mankind the purest water available. Not only is this important for some fisheries and wildlife, but also for the future of mankind. Water for human consumption is going to become increasingly more valuable. Not only to the people of Idaho, but more impor tantly to the people outside the State who depend upon Idaho's waters in order to enjoy a standard and quality of life that we all hold sacred. 415 Unroaded areas offer mankind a gene pool from which to observe the evolutionary development of certain strains of genetically supe rior commercial species that can naturally ward off some insect and disease epidemics. The collection of seed from these hearty individuals, combined with the proper sidvacultural practices, on high productive, cut over roaded areas, will produce further stand of high quality timber at a long-term economic savings, since the road network has already been established. Unroaded areas offer mankind the ultimate in outdoor recrea tion experiences, such as solitude, hiking, hunting, camping, pho tography, wildwater boating and more. Recreation and tourism is presently ahead of timber as far as being a money making industry here in Idaho. A lot of what attracts the outside mining into this State are the wild qualities of unroaded areas. To hastily disturb these unroaded areas without first studying and considering all possibilities, both economically and otherwise, would be cutting off the hand that feeds Idaho for the future.