Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Dr. Krumpe. My name is Ed Krumpe. And I do appreciate the time and effort that you and your staff have taken to collect public testimony prior to formulating legislation for additional wilderness in this great State. Let me say that I endorse as a minimum the Idaho Conservation League recommendation for endangered wilderness core areas. But I support this recommendation because I believe wilderness is a truly valuable, if little understood, natural resource. 715 Of course, a resource is defined as something that has value and is useful to mankind. And I believe that wilderness does, indeed, fit that description. We see evidence of this almost daily. Perhaps more so than in any other state I've lived in are the residents of this State proud to be from Idaho. And what's the basis of this pride? It seems like time after time people talk about and mention the rich blessing of natural resources. The scenic beauty, clear flowing streams and rivers, our porous and rugged mountains, all of which serve as a backdrop to our rich farmland and rangeland and prosperous communities. But not only do the citizens of Idaho recognize this high quality of our natural resources, I believe that people from all over America are attracted by its beauty. It's tourism continues to grow and increase in America and in Idaho and becomes a leading industry, our resource base will become even more valuable. But it's also this resource base that helps give Idaho the reputation of a great place to live. This fact becomes increasingly important to our State economy as industry seeks places to locate and to grow. So we must keep in mind that one of the keys to this attractiveness is the quality and naturalness of our forests and mountains and streams. This quality of the natural resources, protected and perpetuated, is perhaps no better than in designated wilderness areas. Now, it's true that Idaho has a large core of wilderness second only to Alaska. And these areas have served well in providing pure waters for wild salmon and trout and extinct habitat for big game as well as a place for people to recreate. But we need to have such high quality natural resource areas spread throughout the State from the Salmo Priest and Selkirk Crest area in the north to the Mallard-Larkins and Great Burn, French Creek and Lake Creek areas further down to the White Cloud, Boulder Peak, and Palisades in the south. I think that protection should be granted to show that there is a wide distribution of wilderness allowed to remain in its natural state. In conclusion, I recognize that we must provide for the intensive management and utilization of our natural resources if we are to supply the needs of industry in a healthy economy. This is as it should be. With proper care and management, our forest and rangelands should be productive for years to come. But interspersed throughout these harvest-oriented lands should be a system of areas where the quality of the resources is protected by its very natural—protected by wilderness designation. Thank you.