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miles on the west side of the river, and 20 miles on the east side. Yet Congress did 

 not stipulate that the river itself was not included within the wilderness area, as the 

 jet boat lobby contends (see, Exhib-t P), for the purpose of allowing jet boat use on 

 the entire river at all times. 



The river could have been drawn out of the wilderness area for any number of 

 reasons related to maintaining management options that might be precluded by 

 wilderness designation, e.g.; to better protect and restore the historic and 

 archaeological sites on the river, to better manage the section of the river wherein 

 the vast majority of all the recreation use in the HCNRA occurs, or to keep the 

 option of using mechanical drilling equipment to maintain or construct segments of 

 trail across the rocky cliffs above the river. 



Congress also might have assumed that the protections provided to the river by the 

 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the HCNRA Act were sufficient, and it 

 wished to allow those provisions to take precedence. But the fact remains, as is 

 often pointed out by opponents of wilderness designation, that wilderness 

 designation is not the only way to provide a primitive atmosphere or experience. 



Again, the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act declares that rivers designated as a 

 Wild river under the Act, like the upper 31 miles of the Snake, represent "vestiges 

 of primitive America." The HCNRA Act states that wilderness values should be 

 protected throughout the HC RA. The HCNRA Act also requires the protection of 

 atmospheric habitats, which implies that the noise of jet boats should be limited. 



The area within Hells Canyon itself, and the country surrounding the gorge, 

 represents one of the most substantial expanses of roadless backcountry in the lower 

 48 states. Whether statutorily designated or not, much of the river is enclosed 

 within or bordered on one side by both defacto and designated wilderness. Much of 

 the land adjacent to the river is unroaded and undeveloped. There are or\ly four 

 roads that access it, and no roads border the river any further than about two miles. 

 It is therefore a defacto "wilderness" river, except for unlimited jet boat use. 



In summary, theie is no indication that Congress intended to preclude the Forest 

 Service from establishing any nonmotorized period. There are several legal 

 provisions that provide for the protection of specific Snake River, and HCNRA 

 values inconsistent with motorized rivercraft use. Thus, it cannot be said that H.R. 

 2568 is simply correcting a misinterpretation of law or intent of law. It seeks to 

 legislatively establish a new mandate favoring jet boat use. 



MYTH #5: Nonmotorized recreationists will have exclusive use and jet boaters will 

 be discriminated against if a nonmotorized period is established 



The jet boat lobby claims that the 21-mile, 24-day per year nonmotorized period 

 proposed in the Forest Service plan is discriminatory against them and promotes 

 "exclusive use" for floaters. (See, Exhibit A.) However, in both the current 18 year 



Testimony of HCPC on River Management 1 



