Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

HUNTERS Dr. Johnson. My name is Brad Johnson. I am a family physician at Valley Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho, where I have practiced for the last 4Vfe years. I am also an avid and active bow hunter by avocation and am currently the director for the Idaho State bow hunters in the northern part of Idaho. I am also the region II director for citizens against poaching program of the Fish and Game Department. I would like to testify both on behalf of myself as an interested sportsman and also on behalf of the Idaho State bow hunters. As a bow hunter I have spent a great deal of exciting and enjoyable times in the Clearwater National Forest and I share this experience with many others in the sport of bow hunting. The Idaho State Bow Hunters is an organization of approximately 1,000 members throughout Idaho. We feel we represent the most concerned and active of the bow hunting fraternity and our organization is a nonprofit one, dedicated to the preservation and progress of ethical bow hunting in the State. The Idaho State Bow Hunters have a track record of energetic and positive conversation activity in the past. An example of this was our reward for reporting poaching activity, which preceded the citizens against poaching program by many years. Also, the Idaho State Bow Hunters were one of the leading organizations working to prevent changes in the highway 12 corridor, which would have been detrimental to the wildlife of the region. We feel that the current controversy on the designation of wilderness in Idaho's roadless areas is very important because of its potential impact on Idaho's wildlife. More and more, habitat is the key issue in wildlife survival and maintenance of healthy populations, with Idaho's roadless areas representing the best of the remaining habitat. We wish to make sure that wildlife is one of the foremost resources considered in any decisionmaking. The Idaho State Bow Hunters have no forestry or biological experts per se as advisors. We do, however, trust and depend on organizations such as the Idaho Department of Fish and Game who do possess such expertise for guidance in what is best for our wildlife resource. We would urge that any decisions as to the designation of wilderness areas be made in consideration of the recommendations 32-427 0- 84 41 634 by competent wildlife authorities so that critical habitats can be maintained; particularly in areas where there is uniqueness of the qualities of the environment or where there exists a foothold for an already threatened species such as the wolf. Further, the Idaho State Bow Hunters would like to join others in calling for restraint and caution in the move to finalize any designation of land use in Idaho's forest and other public lands. Trying to be overly comprehensive may lead to premature decision on various areas which are difficult to change later. Certainly this would seem to be happening in the aftermath of the Alaska land use bill where now groups from both sides of the issues are having trouble living with the restricted designations. The Idaho State Bow Hunters are one of the groups which are reluctant to have once and for all type decisions made precipitously on Idaho's forests and we feel that any permanent decisions need to be approached slowly and cautiously because of the difficulty in modifying them in the future. Bow hunters, like many other sportsmen, appreciate and use the access of the outdoors which is provided by logging activity, but this does not seem to be our threatened commodity. We currently are seeing as more precious the areas which give us satisfaction because of the challenge to reach them, the lack of human impact there, and because of the reservoir they provide for wildlife. Thank you.