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Senator Daschle. So they can stay; good. 



Mr. Lyons. The President's fiscal year 1994 budget proposal in- 

 cludes, as you know, a reduction of $46 million which is directed at 

 initiating the phase-out of below-cost timber sales, and it also calls 

 for the phasing out of below-cost timber sales over a 4-year period, 

 fiscal years 1994-1997. 



Let me start by saying that the April 30th New York Times arti- 

 cle stating that the Forest Service will end logging on more than a 

 third of the national forests by 1998 is blatantly false and inaccu- 

 rate. This article caused a great deal of concern, based in large 

 part on a request for preliminary data from the national forests 

 that was initiated by Forest Service Chief Dale Robertson. It is un- 

 fortunate that the Chiefs request for information was miscon- 

 strued as the first step toward shutting down units of the National 

 Forest System. That is not the case, and it does not reflect the 

 policy of the administration on this issue. 



The Department of Agriculture is committed to meeting the 

 President's goal of phasing out below-cost timber sales. However, 

 we are presently handicapped by a lack of information necessary to 

 assess alternative approaches to meeting the President's goals. For 

 this reason, we will need to move more slowly in the first year of 

 this program while we develop the necessary database and infor- 

 mation. 



Some of the information we seek to obtain is clarification of the 

 following. First of all, the nature and extent of below-cost timber 

 sales on the national forests and the adequacy of the Timber Sale 

 Program Information Reporting System, or TSPIRS, to provide 

 that information. Second, the cause for below-cost timber sales and 

 their justification. Third, opportunities to make those sales positive 

 from a cash flow or investment standpoint. Fourth, criteria to de- 

 termine whether a timber sale is the appropriate tool to achieve 

 the intended management objectives. And fifth, opportunities to 

 improve the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of the timber sale pro- 

 gram, including impacts of eliminating sales that do not meet any 

 of these management objectives. 



We intend to proceed in the following manner. We will first de- 

 velop a short-term strategy for initiating the phase-out of below- 

 cost timber sales in fiscal year 1994, and I'll offer a few details 

 about that. Second, we will initiate a review of TSPIRS to address 

 criticisms and concerns that have been raised regarding the ade- 

 quacy and the accuracy of the TSPIRS accounting system. And 

 third, we'll assess the impacts of changing the way timber sales are 

 prepared and offered to reduce timber program costs and to resolve 

 some of the controversies that have surrounded the program. 



Some examples of areas to be assessed include the timber sale 

 appraisal system, the issue of minimum bids, sealed bids versus 

 oral bids, and the road construction program that Senator Baucus 

 has alluded to. 



To conduct this review, I intend to establish a multidisciplinary 

 task force of individuals with expertise in the timber sale program. 

 I hope to be able to select from a group of experts within the 

 Forest Service, from academia, industry, and the environmental 

 community to construct this task force and to conduct this review. 



