Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

Ms. Thurman. Hello, I'm Kally Thurman. I'm a small businesswoman in Moscow, Idaho. I developed a minimall on Main Street in Moscow. It houses seven small businesses, two of my own. I'm here to address you today eye to eye because I'm real interested in Idaho remaining Idaho. The wilderness experience is something that I believe is a ground note to small business in Idaho. The outfitters, the people who create tours—there is a whole ground note—a whole beginning to a whole new economy. Small business is real difficult in America today. And if you want to live in a real nice place and not get rich but survive, the answer is in small business. Jokingly I call myself a pinko capitalist because I create jobs for myself and my friends and my community. I am committed to building my community. The way to do that is to keep Idaho Idaho. There are lots of jobs that can be created out of remaining—out of creating and keeping sacred wilderness areas in Idaho. Once you remove the wilderness of Idaho, you also remove the wilderness experience. When you remove the wilderness experience, you have removed part of our intellect, part of our cultural history. Our cultural history comes from the wilderness experience, and Idaho has a wealth of those. New York City has dozens of dance troops, but they don't get rid of half of them. It's realy important that we keep the wilderness there so that that experience is there for our children, for our children's children, for seven generations look forward. There is no remaking of a wilderness area. That's real important that we keep it sacred there. And it's only a blind area that things that you can go in and make some quick money on logging that because there's no remaking it. It's gone. That is what I'm committed to. Because not only are you taking away my culture, my Idaho, my experience, but you are denying the rest of America—not only Idahoans, but the rest of America, knowing what it is to walk on land that no one else has done before you. That's real important. And that's where Idaho's next dollar is going to come from. Today I brought to you a catalog. This is the Nation's largest river supply house. It's a mail order business. Those outside dollars end up in Idaho pockets. This is my model. And I'm going to build businesses that do that. 723