Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

BUREAU FEDERATION Geary. Mr. Thank you, Senator McClure, for this opportunity to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on proposed wilderness in Idaho. My name is Tom Geary. I am the vice president of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, a farmer and a rancher from the Burley area. I am speaking on behalf of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federa tion which is the largest farm organization in the State represent ing over 22,000 families throughout the State. Farm Bureau has long been on record as an advocate for the wise use and development of America's national resources. As a result of this philosophy we are opposed to the concept of locking up land by designating it as wilderness. As you are all well aware, Idaho has in excess of 3.8 million acres already locked up by this designation. This represents more acres than any other State in the Union, except Alaska. We have several concerns that are brought up by the prospects of having additional land in Idaho placed into wilderness, and I would like to touch, briefly, on a couple of these today. First, we are concerned that the Forest Service will have several land management options removed. In Idaho, as in other farming States, noxious weeds are a very costly problem to the farming community. Wilderness areas become breeding grounds for weeds with the Forest Service unable to do any control. Control of forestkilling insects is also removed as in all vegetative manipulation, which is used to improve range conditions that benefit all animals on national forests, wild and domestic. The development of water that is beneficial to livestock and wildlife becomes difficult, if not impossible. We are also concerned about the curtailment of preda tor control in wilderness areas. Second, as you are well aware, the United States is very depend ent on other countries for our supplies of strategic minerals as well as gas and oil. The countries that we are dependent upon are in regions of the world that are very unstable and we could find supply lines cut rather suddenly. The potential for these materials, as well as gas and oil, are just beginning to be explored in the east ern part of our State covered by the national forests you are taking testimony on today. These natural resources need to be expanded and developed in an orderly fashion where concern for the environ ment will be looked after and the land protected. Whereas, if we 686 lock these lands up until we find our supplies cut, our fear is that great environmental damage would occur in the rush to find and develop these resources in the interest of national security. In short, we feel that wilderness designation would have a detri mental effect, both from a local prospective as well as a national one. Wilderness is not wise management of our natural resources and would not be in the best interest of the citizens of Idaho or the Nation as a whole. Thank you, Senator.