Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Venard. Senator McClure, ladies and gentlemen, I am Laura Venard, a retired high school teacher. I have come here in support of the Selkirk Crest and Long Canyon as wilderness areas. I have lived in Bonners Ferry for almost 24 years. We came here from the Midwest in search of living away from the city and closer to nature. There are many other in Boundary County like us. There are many uses of the wilderness without including lumber. My sons are lovers of the mountains, one lost his life in them. It did not curtail the others from pursuing the same love. They have climbed the peaks and know them well, more so than many longtime residents. They have utilized the mountains for practical and aesthetic purposes, hunting, fishing, huckleberrying, mushrooming, as well as for photography, recreation, and studying, and solitude. They have brought back to the public their findings in the form of slide shows, wood sculptures, art objects, photographs, and custom-made signs which they sell in their shop. There are others like that who appreciate nature, and who have the ingenuity to do something else besides depending on the lumbering business. Diversity is a necessity in a small mining or lumbering town. These places can dwindle and die from lack of imagination. I know that from experience. I was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I can appreciate the needs of lumbermen. My father worked mining and lumbering. My maternal grandfather was a forester for the government in Finland. He was honored for 50 years of active sevice. I can appreciate the necessity for conserving our natural wells.