Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

LUMBER PRODUCTS, INC. Mr. Kolar. I'm Kenneth Kolar, manager of Shearer Lumber at Elk City, Idaho. And we employ about 70 employees directly out of our plant and another 35 to 40 in the woods in lumber hauling operations. The concerns in considering cost of building roads does not consider taxes that are paid by road building companies, whether employees or the logging companies and their employees and the manufacturing companies and their employees. These people earn 578 income, which in turn pay income tax to the Federal Government and local governments. There is very little privately owned timber in the Elk City area. We are just about 100 percent dependent upon the national forests for our timber supply. The last battle over the remaining roadless areas—I'm referring to the act that formed the central Idaho wilderness lands, the Jersey Jack, Mallard Creek area was supposed to have been released by release language which was not a part of the bill. But it does not seem that that land has been released as any activity in that wilderness area has come under litigation. One of those areas in the Red River District contains a considerable amount of lodgepole pine that is being attacked by the mountain pine beetle. This—about 70 percent of that timber will die because of this. The Red River District normally would sell about 17 million board feet annually. But because of litigation and threat of litigation, they probably will only be able to sell about SY2 million over the next 4 years annually.