Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Johnson. I'm Jackie Johnson. Good morning, Senator and staff. I'm here to testify for myself. I want to say that I do support for inclusion in the Idaho wilderness system the endangered Idaho core. And I live in Pocatello and I am specifically interested in adding some areas, some wilderness areas to the wilderness system that would be more accessible to those of us who live in a fairly populous part of a relatively unpopulated State. One area that I am particularly interested in seemed to be in cluded in Lionhead, a roadless area, I was there about 2 weeks ago. It's an area like many places in Idaho, is astoundingly beautiful, astoundingly wild, and very lightly used. I'd also like to see includ ed specifically Mount Naomi, roadless area, the Italian Peaks, and the west fork of the Main Creek; the west fork of the Main Creek may be particularly important because of it's proximity to Pocatel lo and its heavy use as a recreation area. The present wilderness designation of land in Idaho amounts to approximately 7 percent of the overall land base of the State. Even if we were to add 3.5 to 4 million more acres to this, in terms of wilderness, we'd still only be talking about 14 percent of the total land base of the State. And this land is not land which is generally productive for other uses such as agriculture and ranchland. I'd like to be able— when I'm an old woman in my eighties or nineties, hope to live that long, I'd like to be able to not look back and say we told you so; that we squandered a valuable resource, which few other areas in the world, let alone the Nation, can boast their wilderness is as wonderful as Idaho's. I'd like to be able to 626 look back and say, weren't we smart, weren't we intelligent to have the foresight to take care of this wonderful country. It's true that Idaho does have the largest amount of designated wilderness land in the lower 48 States, but this is true partially be cause Idaho has the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 States. I think this is something to be proud of. I think Idaho has some thing that's comparable to the Taj Mahal, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and Idaho potatoes. That's all.