James V. Hansen: “I believe that decisions on wilderness are best left to the members of the affected State. They are the only ones…”

“I believe that decisions on wilderness are best left to the members of the affected State. They are the only ones elected by those who are directly affected by these decisions. Therefore, I agree with Chairman Miller that we should defer to the members of the delegation for direction. Unfortunately, the Natural Resources Committee and the House often fails to defer to those members that are duly elected by constituents who live and work in the areas proposed for wilderness. For example, next week the House will consider a 7 million acre wilderness bill for the California desert, which is opposed by all four members who represent that area. I personally believe the acreage in this bill is excessive. It designates twice as much wilderness as the professional land managers at the Forest Service recommended in their exhaustive rare II study. In fact, some of the counties affected by H.R. 2473 have voiced their opposition to this bill and I personally believe that local support is very important.”