Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

INC. Mr. Henderson. I'm Steve Henderson from Lewiston. I operate Henderson Logging, Inc. Any custodian, whether public or private, should maximize the utility of his holdings. In the case of the U.S. Forest Service, we must maximize the utilization of lands suited for the production of wood and fiber, grass, minerals, recreation, or a combination of all of the above. Anytime you put land in wilderness you eliminate the possibility of a positive economic return. Last year my small logging company logged a little over 20 million board feet for gross sales of $2,830,000. We had a payroll of over $645,000; over $45,000 was paid to subcontractors; $150,000 for repairs and maintenance; $94,000 for fuels and lubricants. I also found Mr. Slickpoo's comments very interesting. We purchased a sale from the Nez Perce nation last year for 5,433,000 feet. We paid the nation $426,105. And I can't really see how they're managing their lands any different than the national forest. 32-427 0 -84 37 570 Any timbered lands under the jurisdiction of the nation that are suitable for timber production should be managed as such. I support the 600,000-acre industry wilderness proposal.