Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Rose. Hello, Senator McClure. I'm Allen Rose. I live in Moyie Springs. I've lived in Idaho for 12 years. I've worked for the Forest Service for 8 years. There's something that's always bothered me. I've lived in a lot of logged areas. And the amount of slash which gets burned and wasted in those logged areas seems a waste to me. If you go into a logged area and you see short log lengths that apparently aren't economical to pull out and some sways in some sections of the trees and tops and limbs, it all gets burned up. I propose that this is—we need to find a more efficient use of our resource before we go logging all the hills and valleys in our national forests. Firewood is an example or pulp wood, chips to fuel our hog burners. And I'd—I think we can preserve some wilderness and still be able to provide plenty of wood for our home industries. I'm personally familiar with Long Canyon, Selkirk Crest, and Salmo Priest, Scotchman Peaks, and the Pioneer Mountains in Idaho. And I would definitely propose to retain those in wilderness. On a different note, I think that recreation in Idaho has a good economic future. And wilderness preservation would be—definitely help that. Thank you very much.