80 



Oregon, Washington and California. Unemployment has continued to 

 skyrocket in many of the rural communities despite President 

 Clinton's promise of economic assistance and retraining for displaced 

 workers. Its worth noting, Mr. Chairman, that when jobs are found, 

 they are not well-paying, food-on-the-table jobs, they are too often 

 temporary and do not provide sufficient wage to support a family. 



In my district, the agencies are putting the final touches on the 

 Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP). 

 Public comment closes next month. If the President's Option 9 

 Forest Plan serves as a guide post, I have grave doubts that the 

 ICBEMP will do what is promised. Let's look at the facts. 



Pi-esident Clinton's Option 9 plan was to provide One Billion 

 Board Feet (1 bbf) of sawtimber annually. Let me restate that for 

 clarity. President Clinton promised to facilitate annual timber 

 sales of one billion board feet. He's not even come close. 



The first year that Option 9 was in effect, BLM and USES sales 

 were 0.187 bbf. FY95 saw 0.336 bbf; and sadly, Mr. Chairman, 

 FY96 is projected at less than 0.5 bbf. Each of these levels fall 

 miserably below President Clinton's promised level of timber sale 

 availability. 



Mr. Chairman, these paultry numbers must be considered not 

 only against the one billion board feet of sawtimber promised by the 

 President, but against the back drop of the 4.5 billion board feet 



