Preserving wilderness and protecting natural resources are issues that deeply matter to me, and I strongly support designating the Scotchman Peaks area as wilderness. Our public lands are to be managed for multiple uses. We have thousands of acres of public land in the Idaho panhandle that are currently open to timber harvesting and to wheeled recreation. We do not currently have any wilderness. Let’s provide some balance in our land use and protect space for those, like myself, who want a place of quiet solitude, and a place where plants and animals can thrive away from roads and development. The Scotchman Peaks has been included within the forest planning process for at least the last decade and has been managed as proposed wilderness since the late 1970s. There has already been much work done and compromises agreed upon to arrive at the current proposal. It’s time to move forward with wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks.

DEB HUNSICKER

Sagle