Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

FISHERS Mr. Goodrich. Yes, I'm Lorenzo Goodrich. I would like to submit some ideas to you this afternoon, Senator McClure. First of all, I've heard a lot of emotion here, but I have not heard any clear man agement objectives from either you or anyone else. I think the first business we have to do is to get into management objectives. Stat ing our ideas, that first one numbered there, is that there can be no compromise in water quality. Second of all, we do need sus tained yields in our logging operations in the State of Idaho. We owe it to our offspring to supply them with good living. Also, in mining, we should have sustained mining. We do not need ups and downs in the mining area. Resources in a given area should be evaluated. I personally believe that in the Palisades area we should find out what's there. If there's oil there, let's use it. If there's not, let's des ignate it as wilderness and use it for a very good purpose. I think we need to do more. Some other ideas that I have in written testimony; I think the approach to accomplish these objectives would be to first accept the RARE II as a base. RARE II we have paid for. These ideas are from professionals, and if we don't accept this, it's like going to a doctor 733 and getting advice and telling him to go to hell. So, I believe that we should accept them, too. Also, and my conservation friends may not like this, there are some areas that we need to use. The logging and mining industries have to be able to look at their future. The way it is right now, they cannot do that. And we have some areas that we feel very strongly about that we not in RARE II. The Burns Creek area and Kelley Creek we feel that these areas must be maintained as a wil derness area. We have made a lot of mistakes in that area. If you read the fish and game department's 5-year management plan, they have numerous comments in there about how the water fall in that area has been locked and has been locked and has been overgrazed and has gone down. The Kelley Brook area is magnifi cent. It's one of the few areas left, not only in Idaho, but in the United States, where the drainage is intact. We must maintain that drainage. Second of all, in the Idaho Falls area, the Garns Mountain area and, mainly, Burns area, must be — the water quality must be maintained. The Idaho Fish and Game Department has told us that approximately 45 percent of all the spawning in the South Fork of the Snake River occurs in Burns Creek. If we lose Burns Creek, we have lost not only the spawning, but also the fishermen in South Fork. Now, there is a great economic value to businesses in this area on South Fork of the Snake River. Our associations in the federa tion is doing work with the Idaho Fish and Game Department to bring back Palisades Creek, which was lost due to poor practices in the past. We also helped them along on Burns Creek. We'd like the idea of multiple use. But a gentleman that testified earlier, I think, echoed our summons. He was a rancher and he said, we have worked well with lumber and mining. What happened to us, the sportsmen? They have not worked well at all with the sportsmen. We are very annoyed at them because we feel that we can show them how we can have our cake and eat it too. We don't feel that we have to tie up enormous lands, but we feel we have to direct oversediment, which is occurring more and more, especially in this area, than I've seen in the 20 years that I have been in Idaho. So, Senator we feel that we should adopt the RARE II and that we should protect Kelley Creek and Barns Mountain. We also would like to see a more comprehensive multiple-use plan.