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THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY 



CAUFORNIA/NEVADA REGIONAL OFRCE 



STATEMENT OF LOUIS BLUMBERG, ASSISTANT REGIONAL DIRECTOR, 

 CALIFORNL\/NEVADA OFHCE, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, ON HR 2866, THE 

 HEADWATERS FOREST ACT SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

 SPECLO^TY CROPS AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF 

 REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 



OCTOBER 22, 1993 



Mr. Chjiirman and members of the Committee, The Wilderness Society (TWS) 

 submits these comments for inclusion in the record of your hearing of October 13, 1993 

 on HR 2866, the Headwaters Forest Art. The Wilderness Society supports HR 2866, the 

 Headwaters Forest Act As this Committee is well aware. The Wilderness Society has a 

 long-standing interest in our nation's forests and supported similar legislation in the last 

 Congress. Passage of HR 2866 is important for the protection and persistence of the 

 redwood forest ecosystem in northwestern California. Enactment of HR 2866 will 

 authorize Federal acquisition of important redwood forest lands and create the 

 Headwaters Forest Wilderness. I*ublic ownership and federal management of the 

 proposed 44,000 acres acquisition is in the best, long term interests of the American 

 public. 



HR 2866 would add The Headwaters Forest and other redwood forest to the Six 

 Rivers National Forest. The bill would also create a 44,000 acre ancient redwood 

 ecological reserve along watershed boundaries that will help preserve this unique 

 ecosystem for future generations. 



These redwood forests have uiunatched ecological, aesthetic, and recreational 

 j/alues, and are a unique part of our national heritage. Federal acquisition of these lands 

 will insure that this important biological legacy will be passed on, in tact, to future 

 generations of Americans. 



The Headwaters Forest is 4,000 to 5,000 acres of virgin, redwood ( Sequoia 

 sempirvirens ) forest and is the largest, unproterted, block of virgin redwoods in the 

 northern hemisphere. This is truly a pristine, unique, forest ecosystem worthy of 

 protertion as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 



116 NEW MONTGOMERY. SUITE 526, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105 



