Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Barrette. My name is Ed Barrette. And I've come on my own. Senator McClure, thank you for taking the time to call this meeting for the opinions to be expressed by all groups. In particular, the one thing that I read in some of the newspaper articles concerned the declining of the basic industries. And I wanted to take issue with that. In particular, as I'm sure you're well aware, the Russian economist, Kondratiev, predicted that once every 50 years there would be an economic turndown or breakdown or whatever you'd like to call it. And the United States has seen those in 1837, 1893, of course, in 1929, and now the most recent one. My point is that the industries that provide excellent jobs and excellent wages for the working man shouldn't be penalized just because they're making a profit. And I feel very strongly about that. I have no objection that the timber industry goes in and cuts down a tree. I don't expect a mess to be left behind. But to me it's very important that those of us who have to go out and work for a living can find an employer that's willing to pay a decent wage. I'd like to site some specific examples of Superior Mining, a division of Superior Oil from Houston, Tex. They went into the Yellow Pine Mining District. And they took a town that was dead broke, flat out busted, and they've turned it into a town that now has at least a decent standard of living. It isn't great, but it's a whole lot better than only a few backpackers and a few guides could provide. The wilderness is great, but it doesn't provide enough jobs that pay well for the working man. I really feel that's important. You know, the rest of us have aspirations to build a life for ourselves, to have timber to build our homes out of. Nobody that I know of wants rape and plunder or any of the things that went on a half century ago. We want sound management, but we don't want to be locked out of our own land. I guess that pretty much sums it up. Thanks for your time.