My name is Ed Hamrick. I am the President of the Marshall University Student Body, Huntington, West Virginia.

Tonight you will hear both sides of the story supposedly, and there will be those who give you scientific studies and statistical data informing you of how this area can be mined and timber can be harvested without harming the natural environment. There are some who would even wish to turn the backcountry into a grazing area. I do not relish the thought of hiking and backpacking in a cow pasture. I do not want to be constantly watching where I might step.

I would like to read to you tonight not a plea for the Cranberry, but a plea for life.

There was once a time when the world knew true peace. All rivers and streams were pure and life-sustaining. Animals lived in coexistence with their environment.

Then, with the emergence of man, began the systematic rape and destruction of the very life-giving source we are dependent upon for survival, our own environment. I am reluctant to believe that mankind does not have the foresight to once and for all put a stop to this vicious dilemma.

The animals, streams and forests are defenseless against this unrelenting attack. So we, as human beings, who are the very root of this evil problem, must rapidly come to our senses and put a stop to this ultimate destruction now.

The real issue is not the preservation of the Cranberry Backcountry, but ultimately the preservation of the human race.

I want my grandchildren to experience the tranquility of a clear mountain stream in a Wilderness setting, to drink from its waters without fear of disease or pollution. I want them to experience the excitement and mystery of seeing wild animals in their natural habitat.

In a sense, I want the future generations to be free. Free to live and coexist with nature, which God has so graciously given to us, to love and to cherish, but not to abuse. The time to end this potential nightmare is now, not in the future.

Because when future generations awaken to see their forests and streams replaced by concrete and steel, then it will truly be too late.

We, the Student Representatives of Marshall University, urge the leaders of the proud state of West Virginia to set precedence by protecting the environment in which we live. By the power vested in me as President of the Marshall University Student Body, I would like to present a bill in the form of a resolution passed unanimously by the Marshall University Center supporting the first Forest Service proposal to designate the Cranberry backcountry as Wilderness. Thank you.