Linwood Laughy, the lead plaintiff in the litigation over the megaloads, is the next witness. He's lived in the region since 1948, when his family moved to the Lewiston Orchards area when he was 5. He's an honors graduate of Harvard, with a master's degree in counseling and a doctorate in education and psychology; he's a retired educator and published author; he's lived in the Highway 12 river canyon on and off all his life, and continuously since 1996. He and his parents acquired property there in 1965 and built a home where they eventually added a cable car to cross the river, replacing the previous access - a canoe. He and his wife now live in another home on 10 acres, overlooking the river and highway.

Among his other works, Laughy and his wife, Karen "Borg" Hendrickson, published a mile-by-mile guide to the Clearwater Country. He also conducts heritage tours in the area. "We are tied to the land," he said. "I've been researching the history of that area since high school."