Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Booth. Senator McClure, I am not Viet Howard. However, I am Bill Booth. I do represent Sunshine Mining Co. in Kellogg. Sunshine operates the largest single silver mine in the United States at Kellogg, and we are one of Idaho's primary employers. We also maintain a vigorous exploration effort with geologists searching for new mineral deposits throughout the West, but particularly, Senator, here in Idaho. We support the Idaho Mining Association's position that Idaho presently has a reasonable and proper amount of wilderness parcels set aside. Any additional wilderness allocations would be extremely detrimental to the State's economic base. A reasonable amount of wilderness is important to our way of life in Idaho, but don't forget that our well-being is also critically dependent upon a sound economic base. The foundation of Idaho's economy are the agriculture, timber, and mining industries. Additional wilderness would cut at the heart of all three because it would deny access to the primary resources of the Earth. For example, I asked our geologists to quickly review the new wilderness acres in this State for potential mineral significance. They found the following major companies working in or near the proposed wilderness areas: Anaconda, Noranda, Phillips, Superior, AMACO, KOMECO, St. Joe Minerals, U.S. Borax, and Simplot. Any one of these would potentially provide as many, if not more, jobs in Idaho as Sunshine now does. Our geologists further noted that some nine separate mineral districts in the proposed wilderness areas have been given very thorough analysis by Sunshine and appear to be extremely important economically. In closing, I'd just like to say that a reasonable amount of wilderness is necessary. We feel that the existing amount is reasonable.