55 



ity proves to be, it is the lowest possible cost for accomplishing the needed job to the 

 desired standard. 



(Signed) Richard O. Fitzgerald (for) F. Dale Robertson 



Chief 



Enclosure. 



LETTER OF EUGENE G. CLARK 



Clark Timber Products, 



June 21, 1993. 



Hon. Larry E. Craig, 



Room 313, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510. 



Dear Sir: As a small logger on the Targhee National Forest I would like to com- 

 ment on the below-cost timber sale issue. 



The Targhee Forest is mostly comprised of very mature stands of lodgepole pine 

 which are stagnant, heavily killed by the pinebark beetle, and infested with mistle- 

 toe and other diseases related to an overmature timber stand. There has also been 

 quite a lot of insect kill to the Douglas-fir and subalpine-fir in the last 4-5 years. 

 Consequently, a tremendous fire hazard has been created. One of my great concerns 

 is that if a lot more of these dead and dying timber stands are not cleaned up, we 

 are going to have more catastrophic fires like the fires of 1988 with little or no bene- 

 fit to anyone, and with a tremendous cost to the taxpayer to fight the fires. Further- 

 more, these fires will have a very detrimental effect on wildlife and do tremendous 

 damage to the environment and the ecosystem. 



Of the timber that has been taken from the forest in the last 20 years or so, large 

 amounts of the dead wood has been sold as firewood — the lowest value product — 

 which in turn drags timber sale costs down drastically. 



Of the acres of the forest that have been harvested, nearly all have great amounts 

 of regeneration growing on them which has the potential of creating a new and 

 vital forest in years to come if the forest is managed, not left to detrimental forces 

 of Nature. 



My business employs as many as 15 employees with a payroll of about $150,000 

 and related taxes which will be lost to the local economy if timber sales are cut off 

 on the Targhee. I am only one of many small timber businesses in this area, and if 

 we are put out of business there will be a tremendous impact on an already de- 

 pressed economy in this area. Harvest of timber from the forest would be beneficial 

 to both the people in the area and to the health of the forest. 

 Sincerely, 



(Signed) Eugene G. Clark. 



LETTER OF TARGHEE TIMBER ASSOCIATION 



Targhee Timber Association, 



June 21, 1993. 



Hon. Larry E. Craig, 



Room 313, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510. 



Dear Senator Craig: I am writing to you about the "below-cost" timber sales. 



The USDA Forest Service is one of the few Government agencies that gets a 

 return on any money spent. 



If all money paid for timber on national forests were left in the timber program, 

 all forests would be above cost now. The USDA Forest Service charges all road con- 

 struction to the timber program. Many of these roads are used for recreational pur- 

 poses such as hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, sightseeing, etc. The timber pro- 

 grams on the national forest should partially be applied back to timber. 



For every dollar spent for timber on the national forests, 25 cents goes directly 

 back to the county that the timber is located in. In our area this is not extra money, 

 this is money we need for our schools, roads, bridges, and many other county uses. 



The Targhee Timber Association members pay several million dollars a year in 

 wages that goes directly into the local economy. The taxes that the U.S. Govern- 

 ment receives on these wages would be more than enough to make all timber sold 

 above cost, not to mention all the fuel taxes, employment taxes, social security 

 taxes, property taxes, licenses and other Government fees. 



