Max Baucus: “my colleague from Montana has just introduced his version of the wilderness solution in our State of Montana. It is my…”

“my colleague from Montana has just introduced his version of the wilderness solution in our State of Montana. It is my very fervent hope that we who represent Montana and this country can finally resolve this issue. Montanans have been attempting for many years to solve the wilderness issue. At issue is how many of Montana's 6 million acres of roadless acreage in national Forest Service land should be designated as wilderness and how much should be returned to the forest planning process. Montana has been wrestling with this question for 16 years. We are in this situation because about that number of years ago the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the national Forest Service did not correctly apply NEPA with respect to roadless acres in national Forest Service land. As a consequence, the Forest Service asked the U.S. Congress to allocate the various designations of use of roadless acreage in national Forest Service land. If the Forest Service had to go back and rewrite the environmental impact statements for every roadless area in the national Forest Service System it would be too expensive and in effect break the bank. Therefore, the U.S. Congress has for the 29 States in our Nation that have national Forest Service roadless acreage, addressed the wilderness allocation question. Congress has done so, that is, for every State but two; Montana and Idaho. It is a very contentious issue in our State because Montanans are outdoors people.…”