Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST MINING ASSOCIATION Mr. Mote. Thank you, Senator and to your staff, for allowing me to sneak in earlier to accommodate a plane schedule. I have submitted formal testimony that includes mineral areas in the Clearwater and in the southwestern part of the State. I'd like to drop the formal testimony and speak aside for just a moment. In most of the testimony, the issue of timber of other resources has been very well covered. But the issue of minerals is so unclear because they simply aren't on the surface. They're not a visible resource. And I hope that during the determination on what should and should not be included that the body of data concerning minerals will be brought forward and considered fully for the reason that an acre of land in agricultural use may produce $100 or $200 per year in value where an acre of land average in mineral production is in excess of $500,000 per acre per year. It's such extreme economics that I believe it deserves that special consideration. Furthermore, the use of land in mining is an extremely small use being less than one-sixth of 1 percent of the land area. And, therefore, again I believe that minerals should again receive very deep consideration.