Table Of Content

Y 4.R 31/3: 104-44/PT. 1 SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH-PART I OVERSIGHT HEARINGS BEFORE THE TASK FORCE ON SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH OF THE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SALVAGE TIMBER TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES, THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH FEDERAL TIMBER LAWS, AND EXAMINE THE EFFECT THAT PUBLIC LAW 104-19 HAS HAD ON SALVAGE TIMBER SALES OCTOBER 6, 1995—LEWISTON ID OCTOBER 21, 1995—REDDING, CA Serial No. 104^4 Printed for the use of the Committee.o^-Resources °miff^ APR1 **96 SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH-PART I OVERSIGHT HEARINGS BEFORE THE TASK FORCE ON SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH OF THE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SALVAGE TIMBER TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES, THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH FEDERAL TIMBER LAWS, AND EXAMINE THE EFFECT THAT PUBLIC LAW 104-19 HAS HAD ON SALVAGE TIMBER SALES OCTOBER 6, 1995—LEWISTON ID OCTOBER 21, 1995—REDDING, CA Serial No. 104-44 Printed for the use of the Committee on Resources U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 21-254CC WASHINGTON : 1995 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-052191-2 COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES DON YOUNG, Alaska, Chairman W.J. (BILLY) TAUZIN, Louisiana GEORGE MILLER, California JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts JIM SAXTON, New Jersey NICK J. RAHALL II, West Virginia ELTON GALLEGLY, California BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado PAT WILLIAMS, Montana JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico WAYNE T. GILCHREST, Maryland PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon KEN CALVERT, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American RICHARD W. POMBO, California Samoa PETER G. TORKILDSEN, Massachusetts TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota J.D. HAYWORTH, Arizona NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii FRANK A. CREMEANS, Ohio GERRY E. STUDDS, Massachusetts BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, Texas WES COOLEY, Oregon OWEN B. PICKETT, Virginia HELEN CHENOWETH, Idaho FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey LINDA SMITH, Washington CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California GEORGE P. RADANOVICH, California CARLOS A. ROMERO-BARCELO, Puerto WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North Carolina Rico WILLIAM M. (MAC) THORNBERRY, Texas MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York RICHARD (DOC) HASTINGS, Washington ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD, Guam JACK METCALF, Washington SAM FARR, California JAMES B. LONGLEY, Jr., Maine PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona JOHN E. ENSIGN, Nevada Daniel Val Kish, ChiefofStaff David Dye, ChiefCounsel Christine Kennedy, ChiefClerk/Administrator John Lawrence, Democratic StaffDirector Task Force on Salvage Timber and Forest Health1 WES COOLEY, Oregon, Chairman HELEN CHENOWETH, Idaho (Vacant) RICHARD W. POMBO, California (Vacant) FRANK A. CREMEANS, Ohio (Vacant) GEORGE A. RADANOVICH, California (Vacant) WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North Carolina (Vacant) RICHARD (DOC) HASTINGS, Washington (Vacant) JACK METCALF, Washington (Vacant) JAMES B. LONGLEY, Jr., Maine Min1oNroitMyinMoermitbyerMeomfbtehresFuwlelreCormemciottmemee.ndAelldMfiornoarpiptoyiMntemmebnetrtsootfhethTeaFsukllFoCrocmembiyttteheewRearnekinnog- tifiedofeachhearingandwerewelcometoparticipate. (II) CONTENTS SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH—LEWISTON, ID Page Hearing held October 6, 1995, Lewiston, ID 1 Statement ofMembers: Chenoweth, Hon. Helen, a U.S. Representative from Idaho 3 Cooley, Hon. Wes, a U.S. Representative from Oregon, and Chairman, Task Force on Salvage Timber and Forest Health 1 Craig, Hon. Larry, a U.S. Senator from Idaho, presented by Susan Fagan 5 Kempthorne, Hon. Dirk, a U.S. Senator from Idaho 127 Nethercutt, Hon. George R., Jr., a U.S. Representative from Washington, presented by Dennis Mitchell 7 Statement ofWitnesses: Alexander, Dave, forest supervisor, Payette National Forest 55 Bliss, Steve, Horseshoe Bend, Idaho 7 Bosworth, Dale N., Regional Forester, Intermountain Region, U.S. Forest Service 55 Prepared statement 156 Cazwell, James, forest supervisor, ClearwaterNational Forest 55 Danielson, Hon. Judi, State Senatorin Idaho from Council, ID 41 Hammond, James O, Mayor, Post Falls, ID 48 Harrington, Ron, Northwest Timber Workers Resource Council, Emmett, ID 15 Hitchcock, Robert, Evergreen Mill, New Meadows, ID 27 Prepared statement 113 Hughes, John, Deputy Regional Forester 55 Hughes, Phil, Lewiston, ID 9 Irby, Alex, resource manager, Konkolville Lumber, Orofino, ID 29 Jahn, Phil, forest supervisor, Nez Perce National Forest 55 Litz, Ronald, Chief, Bureau of Forest Management, Idaho Department ofLands 57 Lombardi, Lisa, Idaho Wildlife Federation, Moscow, ID 25 Mallory, James, Potlatch Corporation, Lewiston, ID 32 Prepared statement 122 Medberry, Mike, French Creek, Boise, ID 46 Prepared statement 152 Minshall, Dr. Wayne, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 23 Prepared statement 89 Petersen, Mike, Forest Watch Program (prepared statement) 298 Pluid, Ina, Bonners Ferry, ID 12 Prepared statement 81 Rittenhouse, Dave, forest supervisor, Boise National Forest 55 Rosenberg, Barry, Inland Empire Public Lands Council, Spokane, WA 44 Prepared statement 147 Smith, Donald, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Boise, ID 43 Prepared statement 140 Willhite, Richard, resource manager, Shearer Lumber Products, Elk City, ID 30 Prepared statement 119 Wilson, James, Chairman, Clearwater County Commissioners, Orofino, ID 14 Zaleha, Bernard, Boise, ID 10 Additional material supplied: Boise RiverFire Salvage Sale Record 145 (in) IV Page — Additional material supplied Continued Hughes, Phil: Table attached to statement 77 Public Law 104-19 426 Wildlife and Salvage Logging, a report 98 Communications submitted: Vento, Hon. Bruce F.: Letter ofAugust 2, 1995, to RogerViaDero (DOA) .. 78 Western Legislative Forestry Task Force: Letter with attachment dated October 2, 1995, to Jack Ward Thomas 130 SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH—REDDING, CA Hearing held October 21, 1995, Redding, CA 163 Statement ofMembers: Cooley, Hon. Wes, a U.S. Representative from Oregon, and Chairman, Task Force on Timber Salvage and Forest Health 163 Herger, Hon. Wally, a U.S. Representative from California 165 Longley, Hon. James B., Jr., a U.S. Representative from Maine 179 Statement ofWitnesses: Albrecht, Mike, registered professional forester 172 Anderson, Jim, Department ofAgriculture 260 Blumberg, Louis, Assistant Regional Director, Wilderness Society 238 Prepared statement 398 Bower, Joseph, Citizens For Better Forestry 189 Boynton, Jim, Department ofAgriculture 260 Brown, Melinda, Co-Chair, Shasta Tehama Bioregion Council 170 Buckley, John, Executive Director, Central Sierra Environmental Re- source Center 235 Prepared statement 391 Dlugonski, Melba (prepared statement) 423 Henson, Ryan, California Wilderness Coalition 213 Prepared statement 371 Husari, Sue, Department ofAgriculture 260 Losekoot, Frank, forester with Hi-Ridge Lumber Company 183 Prepared statement 338 MacMuUin, Robert, licensed professional forester and timber operator, State ofCalifornia 215 Prepared statement 378 Madrid, Mark, Department ofAgriculture 260 McFadden, Marty, Vice President, Pacific Wood Fuels Company 233 Prepared statement 384 Molen, Kirby D., timber manager, Dinuba Timber Industries, Inc 210 Prepared statement 360 Nelson, Tom, registered forester, State ofCalifornia 212 Norby, Jon, Vice President Resources, Norby Lumber Company, Inc 208 Ostrowski, Jim, timberland manager, Timber Products Company 190 Prepared statement 356 Pace, Felice, Executive Director, Klamath Forest Alliance 185 Prepared statement 342 Schultz, Milton, General Manager, Burney Forest Products 187 Smith, Joan, Executive Director, Klamath Alliance For Resources and Environment 168 Sprague, Lynn, Regional Forester, Department ofAgriculture 260 Prepared statement 411 Taff, Mike, United Paperworkers International Union, Local No. 1101 167 Wilson, Richard, Director of Forestry and Fire Protection, State of Cali- fornia 240 Prepared statement 407 Withroe, Jeff, Department ofAgriculture 260 Additional material supplied: Albrecht, Mike: Forest fuels management through biomass harvesting 314 Brown, Melinda: Attachments to statement 305, 432 High Sierra Resource Conservation and Development Area Fuel Reduc- tion Workshop Report, dated August 8, 1994, on file with the Commit- tee records. Memorandum ofAgreement on Timber Salvage 292 V Page — Additional material supplied Continued Pictures ofcondition oftrees 326 Public Law 104-19 426 Smith, Joan: Siskiyou County loggers 303 Communications submitted: Blumberg, Louis: Letter ofOctober30, 1995, to Wes Cooley 424 Clinton, President Bill: Letter ofJune 29, 1995, to Hon. NewtGingrich 420 LetterofAugust 1, 1995, to Department Secretaries and EPA 290 Letter ofAugust 11, 1995, to Berney Elking 421 Page, Rev. Archie: Letter of October 19, 1995, to Congressman Wes Cooley 422 SALVAGE TIMBER AND FOREST HEALTH FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1995 House of Representatives, Task Force on Salvage Timber and Forest Health, Committee on Re- sources, Lewiston, ID. The Task Force met, pursuant to call at 11:03 a.m., in the Elks Lodge, 3444 Country Club Drive, Lewiston, Idaho, Hon. Wes Cooley (Chairman ofthe Task Force) presiding. STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE WES COOLEY, A U.S. REP- RESENTATIVE FROM OREGON, AND CHAIRMAN, TASK FORCE ON SALVAGE TIMBERAND FOREST HEALTH Mr. Cooley. Before I open my opening statement, I want to tell you a little bit of ground rules. There is a lot of diversity in the people represented here today on both sides ofthe issue. Both sides have emotional involvement. The Chair will not tolerate any out- bursts, nor discussion while the testimony is going on. If you are going to talk, that is fine, but when you do, I want you to leave the room and then come back in in an orderly manner. If you are going to scream and holler, then scream and holler in a way that does not disrupt this meeting. If it gets out of hand, we will have the local law enforcement come out and remove you. We want to hear this testimony, it is very important on both sides of the issue. This is a very serious situation economically for this area and we want to make it work. But in order to make it work, we all have to respect each other. So please give courtesy to those that are making testimony. I call to order the Task Force on Salvaging Timber. I am Con- gressman Wes Cooley, Chairman of the Resource Committee Task Force on Salvaging Timber. I also represent the Second District of Oregon. Your Congressman, Ms. Helen Chenoweth, who requested this hearing, is also here today. She is a true leader who works so hard to make the emergency timber salvage law a reality. We both want a strong law, but the other body, that is the Senate, insisted on changing the House version ofthe salvage bill. Congressman Frank Cremeans of Ohio is another member of the Task Force and is also with us today. He also sits on the Resources Committee with us, which oversees this particular piece of legisla- tion. Frank also is a very strong supporter ofour issue in Congress. It is good to have somebody from the midwest who is interested in these important western issues and I thank you, Frank, for coming, I really appreciate it. (1) Our Committee Chairman, Don Young, created this task force to reach out, travel across the country and hear from those who do not normally get a chance to come to Washington, D.C. to testify in Congress. This is our first Timber Salvage Task Force hearing. We will conduct similar task force hearings in California and I be- lieve it will be Redding, and one in Medford, Oregon, and we are looking for another one down south somewhere. Our mission today is to learn about the importance of salvage timber to the communities in Idaho. We want to know about your experiences with the Federal timber laws, particularly the new timber salvage law. We want you to be our eyes and ears in Federal forests where you live, work and we hope that you will bring for- ward examples ofwhere salvage sales are and how they have been brought to the market quickly. We want your assessment of how the new law is working. We want to get a real assessment of this. I a—m interested in hearing from all of our diverse witnesses today workers, timber specialists, the state and local government representatives, and the unique viewpoint of our environmental witnesses. Our staff requested witness recommendations from the environmental community, and we will listen carefully to their testimony. You will see today that we evenly broke up the witness section with one third for the environmental groups, one third for management and Forest Service and one third for the timber industry. So we are all equally represented. Every one on the Task Force is for sensible environmental laws that protect healthy resources, but the old law is not working for salvage sales. The 1994 forest fires burned over four million acres of public land. This is not acceptable, and good evidence that those old laws are not working. That is why our Committee, in close co- operation with the Agriculture Committee and the Appropriations Committee took on the salvage timber issue. We held hearings, drafted a bill and passed it in record time. We had to send the bill to the President twice and we are still trying to get his people to aggressively implement it. This is part of the reason that we are here today. Remember that this went through the appropriations bill and was rejected, went back and the Presi- dent signed this into law. This is law. Today, there are 21 billion board feet of salvage timber on Forest Service commercial forest lands. This figure was given to us by Jack Ward Thomas. It is something we did not make up, it is something he came up with. So we feel that there is probably even more than that, but at least that is a credible figure. It rots away while mill after mill in the west is closing due to lack oftimber. Our Committee thought that ifan expedient environmental prep- aration process was available to land managers, more of the dead and dying timber could reach the market. The new salvage law al- lows such a process. It also protects the salvage sales from any friv- olous lawsuits that delay sales while they rot. We want to hear how this new law is working and what plans our Federal land managers have to use the new authority that Congress has provided to them. I suspect that not many of the witnesses today have testified before Congress. Our roster includes such working people. In the