Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Boeh. My name is Robert Boeh and I'm employed by the Plum Creek Timber Lands. We manage about 170,000 acres in the Idaho Panhandle and the Clear Water Forest. And of that amount, up to 8,500 acres may be impacted should several of the areas currently under consideration for wilderness through the RARE II process be so designated. And it's our opinion, the generally shared by others throughout the Forest Service, the environmental community, the forest industry, and other user groups, that a wilderness area should not be created which encompasses vast acres of private lands until the private landowner is adequately compensated. Plum Creek Timber Co. specifically requests that any wilderness bill contain provisions for legislated land exchanges whereby the private landowner could convey to the Government his lands which were impacted by wilderness designation, and in exchange acquire equally valued properties from the Government. Insofar as Plum Creek Timber Co. is concerned, there are two such areas where legislated exchanges will likely be desirable. They are the Scotchman Peak, approximately 2,000 acres, and Mallard-Larkins, approximately 6,500 acres. Plum Creek Timber Co. management has for many years recog nized the high recreation values that exist on the company lands within these areas. We have deferred construction of roads and harvesting of timber pending resolution of the public debate over eventual land use allocation of the adjacent Federal lands. However, we cannot continue to defer our managment activities indefinitely. Should the public debate and subsequent legislation regarding these areas fail to pass in the near future, we will need to construct roads and harvest the timber. Thank you.