Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Fuhriman. I'm Maggie Fuhriman. My husband, John Fisher, is guiding a group down the Salmon River today and could not be here. This is his testimony. He is also a school teacher at the Lewiston High School. And he teaches environmental science, wildlife, and biology and being a licensed river guide on the Snake and Salmon River for 10 years. This testimony deals with the 18,000acre proposed Moose Mountain Wilderness. I have hunted and hiked the Moose Mountain area off and on for 15 years. Most of this area has very little merchantible timber. It was hit by wildfires in the early part of the century. The land is very steep, soil is thin and rocky, and at the end of one glacial lake is the steepest, highest head wall I have seen in Idaho. 637 This general area is known to support the rare and endangered grizzly and the timber wolf. Last fall, while scouting the area, we saw mountain goats. These animals are relatively few in number in the State and the Fish and Game Department has had to greatly reduce controlled hunt permits for them. This area has not been open for years, if ever, to goat hunting. With logging roads intrusion by man into their environment would threaten this isolated population. In addition, we saw a large fisher, the second I have seen in the area in 5 years. This rare protected member of the weasel family was extirpated in the early part of the century by fur trappers. It was reintroduced by the Fish and Game Department a number of years ago. Wilderness status would help to protect a number of rare and endangered animals. Most of this proposed wilderness area is impossible to access by a horse, and extremely difficult to hunt even on foot. It thus provides excellent escape habitat for deer, elk, bear, and moose, which are heavily hunted around this island especially on the northeast unregenerated burns and clearcuts. Wilderness status would also eliminate any danger of siltation from this area to the two premiere fishing streams, the North Fork and the Kelly Creek. Thank you.