Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. McKenzie. Senator McClure, my name is Diane McKenzie. I live in Boundary County where I am a gas station attendant. My two daughters attend Bonners Ferry High School, my husband is a horse logger, we are not rich, and I am here to ask you to please put Long Canyon in the wilderness bill as wilderness. There are many people here today to speak for Long Canyon, and out of a small population of 7,000 in Boundary County I have more than 35 letters of people who could not be here today, which I will give you. I would like to quote from these letters briefly. First a letter by a Bonners Ferry resident, Russell Michaelsen: In discussing the relative merits of either the commercial viewpoint or the pro wil- derness viewpoints, the ability to arrive at valid comparisons and truthful conclu- sions is difficult because there is very little common language in which to discuss the issues. That's been evident here today. I have been a logger, a mill hand, and a carpenter. I have also been a biochemist, a medical technologist, and an active participant in the arts. I know that we are finding many substitutes for wood in its traditional uses. We have never found a substitute for whole nature. The public lands of the United States of America are a heritage beyond immedi- ate values. Another letter by Steven McClosky, also of Bonners Ferry: Far too often, economic concerns have dictated how our physical and mental ne- cessities will be met. A fact of life. Nevertheless, it is extremely important for us as a society to recognize that nature innate, such places as Long Canyon, must remain intact. Once used, nature, however managed, inevitably becomes abused. Thank you.