176 



Mr. Chairman, for the record my name is James Geisinger. I am the President of the Northwest 

 Forestry Association (NFA), a trade organization representing the forest products industry, large 

 and small companies, in the Pacific Northwest. All of our members rely on the forests of 

 Washington and Oregon to supply their manufacturing facilities with the raw material necessary 

 to make a variety of finished products ranging from lumber and plywood to pulp and paper. 

 Many of our members have historically been entirely dependent on timber sold from the 

 federally owned forest lands in the region. Consequently, our members have been directly 

 impacted by the Clinton Administration's failed forest policy, especially the President's 

 Northwest Forest Plan which is the subject of this hearing. 



I am qualified to be testifying before this subcommittee here today based on my first hand 

 knowledge of the issues surrounding the management of federal forests in the Pacific Northwest. 

 During the 80s and 90s, I was involved in the debate over Wilderness bills. Wild & Scenic River 

 designations, new forest plans, congressional forest management studies and numerous lawsuits. 

 "It was for these reasons that I was one of the participants at the President's Forest Conference 

 held on April 2, 1993 in Portland, Oregon. 



History of the Forest Product Industrv's Predicament 



The situation facing the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest is a result of several factors. 

 First, the courts were used successfully to halt any new timber sales in the forests inhabited by 

 the spotted owl. In an attempt to respond to the court injimctions, the federal land management 

 agencies prepared new management plans. Also during this period. Congress conducted a 

 scientific study of the management options for the region. Finally, as a result of the President's 

 Forest Conference, another management plan was prepared, known as Option Nine, or the 

 President's Northwest Forest Plan. 



The President's Northwest Forest Plan was prepared by a hand picked group of scientists, who 

 were given a very narrow set of parameters to develop a plan. They did their work in three short 

 months, hidden from public involvement and scrutiny. As a result of a lawsuit filed by the forest 



