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be able to spread rapidly throughout our forested regions in the absence of co-evolved predators 

 and resistant tree species. 



This is not an exaggeration. History has shown that diseases and insect pests have 

 been repeatedly introduced into the U.S. with devastating results. Data from government 

 documents show that Dutch elm disease was introduced into the United States in the mid 1920's 

 when a shipment of European logs was brought into the Port of New York. As a result, it is 

 estimated that one hundred million American elm and other elm trees were killed by that disease, 

 which is now found in every state in the nation. Chestnut blight was introduced into the United 

 States on imported chestnut trees in the early part of the century. It has now spread over 200 

 million acres and has killed billions of mature trees. White pine blister rust, which was also 

 introduced from Europe, spread throughout the range of white pine in only 10-20 years. This 

 disease has killed 80-95% of the white pine trees in infested stands from California to Montana. 

 One last example is gypsy moth, which was introduced from Europe in the late 1800's and is now 

 defoliating hardwood trees from Maine to Michigan and Virginia. Once these diseases and pests 

 were intnxiuced, there was Jio way to eradicate them or even to stop their spread. The continued 

 problems from these pests and diseases, as well as more recent introductions, indicate that we still 

 do not know how to eliminate or even control these pests once they are in the our country. 



The E>roposed Rules for Importation of Whole Logs, Timber, and other Unmanufactured 

 Wood Articles into the United State recently promulgated by the Animal and Plant Health 

 Inspection Service (APHIS) are guaranteed to allow new pests and virulent pathogens to enter the 

 U.S. Although we would all like U.S. timber mills to remain open and operate at full capacity, 

 th§ reality is that the risk of introducing exotic forest pests and diseases that infest foreign logs is 

 too great The new Proposed Rules are completely and totally inadequate. I am a scientist and am 

 used to reaching conclusions and making managenient decisions based on the best available 

 scientific evidence. But the Proposed Rules and the associated Draft Environmental Impact 

 Statement cannot be defended at any reasonable level 



Today, I'll first discuss a few of the myths associated with this topic; and then I'll mention 

 a few of the rules and procedures in the Proposed Rules that can only be called absurd. 



Myth #1: Log imports are needed to make up for the short-fall in timber due to 

 environmental regulations and new ecosystem management. 



