Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Reed. Senator McClure, I am concerned about any haste in passing a new Idaho Wilderness Act. Is there not time to treat each roadless area as a unique unit the established step-by-step process of study and recommendation? 285 The concept of deciding now, once and for all and closing future options, while tidy, does not convey the ring of wisdom. To earn my spurs on this creative panel, I have resorted to didy form. We may ask: What's the rush? Tell us what's happening. Why the rush? What will the future bring? The tall trees of Long Canyon have been standing far longer than Congress has been sitting. What's the rush? Why the hurry? Need we push in August flurry? The honey-hued rocks of the Selkirk Crest have weathered fires far hotter than those created by the baking of political hay. What's the push? Must we be hurried? Why stampede? Who can be worried? Heart Lake in the Mallard-Larkins has seen generations of deer reflected in its waters. Have we not time for reflection, too? The mills in the town in southern Oregon where I grew up have long since closed down. The trees were cut and with them went the jobs. Is the legislation that is proposed for Idaho going to benefit all the people, land, and resources of Idaho, or just the companies that may, in their fickle ways, abandon us as they did my home town once the trees are gone? Please take time and take care, for Idaho's national forests are its treasure. Thank you very much.