Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

d’ALENE, IDAHO Ms. Favor. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Senator McClure, and staff members. My name is Donna Favor. I live at 1036 North 23d Street in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I am glad that the roadless areas are to be resolved, but I want you to know that I believe that the U.S. Forest Service has done a sufficient job in studying those lands, and that all roadless areas should be released to nonwilderness uses. I have lived all my life in the State of Idaho and the neighboring State of Washington; the past 32 years in Idaho. There was a time I lived in Victorville, Calif., in the middle of the Mojave desert for 6 months while my husband was mustering out of the U.S. Air Force after a term in Korea. We missed our native pine trees so much we would travel about 100 miles away to the Big Bear Lake area just to see some pine trees. I enjoy the scenic beauty of our forests, but they have an even greater hold on me and my family; we are dependent on forest timber for our home, food, clothing, everything it takes for a family 27 to live. We have an investment in the forests for tomorrow as well as today. We have to take care of them that we may survive. 'Taking care' to me means managing the forests in an efficient productive manner much as we do a vegetable garden. When I see trees dead and dying unnecessarily from disease, fire, and insect infestation, I am sick inside for the waste I see. I think of homes for families that could have been built and never will be because of the waste. I think of job opportunities lost because of that needless waste, too. And I think of moneys that could have gone to our public schools, institutions, and roads through timber sales and are lost in the wasted trees. Senator McClure, I am at a loss to understand how the people of Idaho are to live and take care of themselves and their families without a stable industry.