Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Mr. Driscoll. My name is Wally Driscoll. And I, too, am an Idaho native. I was born and raised in this area. And I spent most of my life here. I want to speak initially to address an earlier—Dr. Cassell from the Lewiston School District, who suggested that the best way to support—I think he was suggesting that one of the best ways to support education in this State was to open up existing roadless areas to logging. And I would just really caution us in terms of that attitude. And I'd start by saying that the reason I've continued to live in this area is because of some things that money can't buy. And I know I could go elsewhere and earn more money. But I have chosen to make this my home. I've chosen to make this my home because I—I—there are some things that are just real important that can't be found elsewhere. Specifically, the quality of life as represented by water quality and good fishing and clean air, wildlife and wilderness is particularly important to me. And I'm going to limit, now, my remarks to just a few areas that I've personally experienced. First of all, Upper Priest Lake is an area that my family and I have gone to since I was a little boy. And some of my earliest memories are etched there. This last Memorial Day I took the family in there again. And I was amazed at just how many people were there. The only hardship I encountered in backpacking with my youngest son was that there was too many people there. And I—which reinforced—I was dismayed at that and I was also reinforced because I realized that there are an awful lot of people that are seeking that kind of experience. Now, I would urge you to—to protect that kind of experience. Specifically in that area and in other areas throughout the State. Long Canyon and the Selkirk Crest are other areas that I have visited in the course of the last several years. And from what I understand, Long Canyon is one of the last major canyons in the area that does not have a logging road carved through it. And in walking through that area, I was amazed. And I asked myself 'Who do 740 I have to thank for this?' And I'm not sure who it was, but, indeed, if you decided to protect it, I would certainly thank you and support you in years to come for doing that. We should take care, I think, of at least one forested area in the Northern Panhandle so that our children will be able to see what Idaho really is and has been for years to come.