ment plan was developed here and is now being revised for the 

 next 10 years. 



However, before we go ahead with a new 10-year plan for the 

 Black Hills, there is an important dispute that must be settled. 



How much timber is in the Hills? Today the Forest Service and 

 the forest users have significantly different estimates about the 

 amount of sellable board feet. 



Common sense tells me that this data should be agreed upon 

 before the release of any plan. The number of trees in the Hills ob- 

 viously will affect the 10-year plan and the future of the Black 

 Hills. There will be differences of opinion as to how these lands are 

 managed, but we should all be able to agree on what's out there. 



I call for the release of the data the Forest Service used to calcu- 

 late its timber estimates and how the service arrived at its num- 

 bers. I think that's something we all deserve to know, because I 

 know there have been different timber estimates by some of the 

 local forest people, by some of the local people, and the Forest 

 Service. 



Our public lands have provided a rich and colorful history of 

 ranching, logging, and mining to which we have added manufactur- 

 ing, tourism, and recreation more recently. Over the years, a tradi- 

 tion of small business entrepreneurship has sustained the economy 

 and the families in this region. In 1992, employment-related 

 income from the timber industry alone was 76 million. That's on 

 this chart over here. Thousands of employees in small business 

 depend on access to the Black Hills to make their livings. If we 

 close off the Black Hills, we cut off jobs. Tourism, for example, em- 

 ployed 24,944 people in 1992, certainly due in part to the accessibil- 

 ity of the national forest. Through all this, we must remember that 

 these numbers are real people with real jobs and real families 

 hanging in the balance. 



Multiple use related businesses are facing tough economic times. 

 The possibility of a sizably reduced allowable sale quantity and the 

 oftentimes frivolous appeals process threaten the future of forest- 

 related jobs. And let me say that I have been very critical of frivo- 

 lous appeals, which, as I understand it, the Sierra Club routinely 

 files. They are very costly for small business men and women. Now 

 if they have a reason to file appeals, I would not feel it, but I've 

 become very disillusioned, and my voting record in Congress has 

 been to change that appeals process. We've had several votes on it. 

 I'd be happy to send anybody the results of those votes. I have been 

 on the losing side. 



If we fail to reverse this trend of appeals, small business entre- 

 preneurship will be bulldozed by a small fraction of environmental- 

 ists — I should say extreme environmentalists, because we're all en- 

 vironmentalists. But the Sierra Club and extreme environmental- 

 ists have been, I think, irresponsible in filing appeals on every 

 single proposed timber sale. And that's just creating havoc with job 

 creation. Their narrow agenda does not speak for the greater needs 

 of this area. 



Finding the right balance between multiple use and environmen- 

 tal concerns is not an easy task, but I believe the Black Hills can 

 continue to be a leader as a model of successful multiple use man- 

 agement of the our public lands. 



