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will be deprived of the opponunity to bid on 20 million board feet of timber which we 

 desperately needed. The Administration has shown once again that it does not really care 

 what happens to small companies like Hi-Ridge Lumber. 



Vn. Congress Gets Into the Act 



In 1994, a little more than four million acres of lands in this country were butBed. As a 

 result of those fires, and the generally deplorable health conditions on our federal forests, 

 Congress pushed through land-mark legislation to expedite the salvage of the timber killed 

 in these fires. 



This year, we have experienced more fires, to date, than we had in 1994. As of July 18th, 

 the Forest Service reports 2.9 million acres have burned so for. compared to 1994 when 

 slightly less than l.S million acres had burned by July ISth. Yet, both the House and the 

 Senate seem to be ignoring this year's fires . Less than a month ago, 208 of your 

 colleagues voted to repeal fimding for implementation of the emergency salvage law. We 

 expect the Senate will face a similar vote within the next month. 



Mr. Chairman, as of last May, the Forest Service indicated there were 18 billion board feet 

 of dead and dying timber on Forest Service lands that had economic value. Since the 

 passage of the Emergency Salvage Law, the Forest Service has salvaged less then 2 billion 

 board feet of that dead and dying timber. In a year when the fire season is even more 

 active than 1994, 1 do not understand how Congress could be seriously considering 



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