8 



Mr. Herger just a moment ago alluded to the President's timber 

 summit or forest conference in Portland three years ago when he 

 and the Vice President traveled there to promise relief to our tim- 

 ber dependent and resource dependent communities that have been 

 hard hit by the spotted owl injunctions. In the years since, the 

 Community Economic Revitalization Teams have distributed mon- 

 eys to initiatives such as market analyses, economic studies, and 

 recreation centers. 



Programs such as Jobs in the Woods, which I often hear touted 

 by the environmentalists — I am talking about the militant profes- 

 sional environmentalists — as a substitute for living wage jobs in 

 the timber industry have, in fact, yielded short-term river restora- 

 tion projects without providing any prospects of long-term employ- 

 ment or economic development. 



In Lake County in my Congressional district, a CERT program 

 has been recently approved to establish a Watershed Information 

 Network on the Internet for acquisition and exchange of informa- 

 tion. In Del Norte County, at the far northern end of my district 

 against the Oregon border, CERT money is now being used to con- 

 struct a welcome center and exhibits to go in that welcome center. 



Mr. Chairman, while these projects are laudable, the North 

 Coast is still a resource dependent area and service sector jobs pro- 

 vided by CERT will never take the place of the living wage re- 

 source industry jobs which have long been the economic mainstay 

 of my district. The prospect of long-term dependence on Federal 

 handouts results in a de facto form of welfare which only serves to 

 demean our formerly self-sufficient counties. 



The Federal Government has driven a stake through the proud 

 heart of our timber country. Communities in Northern California 

 are anemic and in urgent need of available timber to rectify the 

 havoc wrought by this administration. Make no bones about it. 

 This administration, while every once in a while making sort of a 

 good faith gesture in the direction of the timber industry, remains 

 beholden, particularly in an election year, to the increasingly mili- 

 tant professional environmental element in this country, like the 

 Sierra Club, which recently came out in favor of a complete ban on 

 all commercial logging on Federal forest lands. 



We must mend the damage of this failed national environmental 

 policy that has destroyed entire communities and actually wors- 

 ened the health of our national forest. If we truly desire healthy 

 and viable forests, we must put forth a balanced approach to forest 

 management that seeks to preserve our national resources while 

 not destroying our communities, and I am convinced we can do 

 that. We can protect our natural resources. We can conserve and 

 husband them wisely without destroying jobs and entire resource 

 dependent communities. 



Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your attention to this issue 

 which is of utmost importance to my district and our nation. 



Mr. Hansen. Thank you very much. 



Of our Members who were witnesses, Mr. Dicks asked to be ex- 

 cused. We appreciate you being here. 



We will now turn to the first panel. We will give you each five 

 minutes. Sue Kupillas, we will start with you. If you would all pull 



