253 



Statement of Jim Owens 



Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee 



September 10, 1992 



Pages 



covered over two million acres of the coastal landscapes between 

 Southern Oregon and San Frandsco Bay. These forests have been cut- 

 over since white settlers first set foot in northern California. Of the 

 original two million acres, less than five percent, or approximately 

 95,000 acres, remain uncut and unentered. 



Redwood National Park and California State Parks contain 

 approximately 76,000 acres of oldgrowth redwood forests, and the U.S. 

 Forest Service controls approximately 6,000 acres of oldgrowth 

 redwoods. Thus, 82,000 acres of andent redwoods remain protected in 

 public lands, a scant four percent of the original forest cover of this 

 region. 



I've had the privilege of frequently flying over northern 

 California's forests, particularly over the redwood forests of the 

 Northcoast. From 5,000 feet above the breakers of the Pacific Ocean, 

 one can look into California's interior and see the region's heritage of 

 logging - vast vistas of logged slopes, with a thin band of protected 

 redwoods hugging the Coastal FDghway between the Oregon Border 

 and the Eel River. Little else remains of the vast virgin forests which 

 once defined this region. 



The Headwaters Forest, over which I have also flown, is one of 



