Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

CHAMPION INTERNATIONAL CORP. Bentley. My name is Jim Bentley; I am the forest lands Mr. manager for Champion's Rocky Mountain operation headquartered in Milltown, Mont. 590 Champion International Corp. owns and operates a sawmill in Salmon, Idaho, that employs 50 people with an annual salary and benefit payment of over $1.5 million. This figure does not include workers who directly support the running of the mill and whose jobs are dependent on the operation of the mill, but who are not on Champion's payroll. Our mill is a major source of employment in Salmon, Idaho. Since the Salmon mill requires 18 million board feet of timber annually, land use decisions that affect Salmon and the Challis National Forest are of concern to our company. Champion supports the Idaho timber industry's position to seek legislation which designates appropriate RARE II areas as wilder ness, releases nonwilderness RARE II lands for multiple-use man agement by the Forest Service, and declares the RARE II process legally sufficient. Passage of the Central Idaho Wilderness Act of 1980 had a signif icant affect on the future timber supplies of the forest products companies that depend on the Salmon and Challis National Forest. Five RARE II areas were made wilderness in the 1980 act; that was within close proximity to our Salmon mill. This represents a loss of nearly 350,000 acres of timberland and 7 million board foot of annual potential yield that would not be available for competitive timber sale bidding. This was a significant reason that led to the permanent closure of our mill in Northfork, Idaho. To help resolve the wilderness issue, we support the forest indus try position that an additional 600,000 acres of Idaho national forest land be added to the already designated 3.8 million acres of wilderness in Idaho. This proposal promotes the concept that qual ity and not quantity should be the basis of wilderness legislation. Wilderness designation is not the only way to protect the wilder ness area. If roadless areas exhibit wilderness attributes that are mixed with commercial forest land or other resources that require development, a roadless recreation management scheme can be uti lized by the Forest Service. This would allow a mixed variety of uses and still allow a nonwilderness land allocation. In addition, RARE II areas with significant amounts of commercial forest land should not be classified as wilderness. Reduction of commercial forest land available for long-term timber management will have a detrimental impact on both the forest products industry and the overall economy of Idaho. I have included a list of 13 RARE II areas totaling about 600,000 acres that the timber industry proposes to be included into the wil derness system. Two of these areas occur on the Challis National Forest: Pioneer Mountain, 105,000 acres, and Borah Peak, 120,000 acres. These two areas exhibit the special characteristics that make them worthy of wilderness classification. The remaining roadless lands on the Challis and Salmon National Forests should be uti lized for all resources to include timber management. Prompt resolution of the wilderness issue in Idaho is important to Champion and we stand willing to assist this committee in reaching a final solution. We appreciate this opportunity to provide our views.