Political Quotes

“It is probably not applicable in areas of high concentration of private land, but out West, we have vast areas of virtually nothing. You can only appreciate that if you get in a small airplane and fly over the western part of the United States or my State of Alaska. I had a group of Senators in a single-engine airplane a few years ago. We had been in the air 22 hours cruising along at about 80 knots. Finally, one of them said: How much more wilderness do I have to see to, indeed, believe there is a lot of wilderness to be seen and beauty to be seen? Nevertheless, when that engine quits, you have a problem. If you do not have some of these areas available--I know many of our friends from the east coast and populated areas cannot quite appreciate why we need them, but we vitally need them. I join with my colleague in what I understand is a general commitment from the agencies, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, to work with the States to identify what is in the interest of the States from the standpoint of safety access.”