Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Senator Sverdsten. Hon. Senator McClure, and members of the panel, my name is Terry Sverdsten. I'm the present State Senator from district 3 on which soil we are congregated here today. I am also a logging contractor and have been involved in the industry since the early forties. We employ some 110 employees in the woods who also their livelihoods are dependent upon the income from our national forest land. I am also a sportsman having bagged my elk for about 27 times out of the last 29 years, so I'm also an outdoorsman and enjoy the exposure of trees, game, and the whole ecosystem that we have in our national forest land. As a result of that experience, I may have more experience than most anyone else here today as far as the use of our national forest lands. And I would like to rely on that experience on giving you a brief summary of my experience. As a logger, my employees tell me for the most part that they have never been in a wilderness area, and that the only time they can be in the wilderness area is an experience close to roads and access that they can reach on weekends. Because of their work schedules, season work, they are not able to use the wilderness areas in the summertime, and in essence, they are locked out of these areas. Also, as a legislator I hear basically the same thing, that people are not able to get into the wilderness areas. The only areas they can use are those areas adjacent to roads, and they can use them on weekends. As a result, they feel that the land is being taken away from them rather than being used. Senator McClure, I have given you a copy of my testimony, and, of course, in 2 minute's time this morning, I will not be able to review the whole thing. That will become part of the record. 4 I will just conclude by saying that many of my employees and many of my constituents within this district are very disturbed of the eroding tax base of private land. I have employees that live in one county just across the line of Montana, and less than 15 percent of that land base is privately owned. Therefore, the burden of taxes upon those people is very, very great. We do understand that the Government has quite an aggressive program in buying land, and, therefore, we do not feel that buying land and saving more land for wilderness is the right approach for us who live in the west. I pleased with you, Senator McClure, to protect those who live in the Western land and use discretion in the designating of more wilderness. I am not in favor of more wilderness.