148 



TESTIMONY ON H.R. 2866 - HEADWATERS FOREST ACT 

 FOR THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPECIALTY CROPS AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 



UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



OCTOBER 13, 1993 



My name is WilUam Stewart and I am pr^ently a senior research associate with the 

 Pacific Institute for Studies in Devdopment, Environment, and Security of Oakland, 

 CalifOTnia. I was requested by Representative Dan Hamburg to summarize some of the key 

 trends regarding the relationship of forests to the local economy in the Headwaters region as 

 well as suggesting how the q)edfic impact of the Headwaters Forest Act could be calculated. 

 As part of my doctoral dissertation at the Department of Forestry of the University of California 

 at Berkeley, I recently completed a detailed analysis of the relationship between timber 

 harvests, timber jobs and die local economy using county level data covering the past twenty 

 years. The advantage of analyzing such a lc»g period is that the confounding impact of 

 business cycles is reduced. The econometric models I developed for this analysis proved to be 

 considerably more accurate than qiproaches used by US Forest Service or industry analysts in 

 two respects. Hrst, they were better at tracking die historical patterns at the local levd and 

 second they csqNured the key trends that can explain the major changes we are witnessing in die 

 timber industry and the economy of forested r^ons. 



The Benefits and Costs of the Headwaters Forest Act 



The prop o sed Headwaters Forest Act would create many benefits for this and future 

 generations by protecting a number of unique old growth redwood forest ecosystems whose 

 fiiture is not presendy ensured by private forest managment The Act also involves two very 



Headwaters Forest Act Testimony, William Stewart, October 13,1993 1 



