6 



ment, including sales, are already providing positive results in many areas of the 

 Nation. In the Ottawa Nation Forest timber harvesting is used as a tool to maintain 

 specified amounts of aspen ecosystems, wildlife thermal cover and habitat suitable 

 for the gray wolf. In Montana, timber sales are being designed to produce berries 

 and desirable conditions for grizzly bears within their critical habitat. Timber man- 

 agement can and does work. 



Certainly, the Government and all Americans are seeking new ways to control 

 costs. The Forest Service is no exception. This agency has been working to reduce 

 administrative costs and overhead by consolidating offices, transfering its employees 

 to other resource jobs, etc. Further, it is my understanding the Forest Service will 

 consider additional measures once the Timber Conference report is published. More 

 can be done in terms of streamlined organizations and procedures, and I encourage 

 them to get on with it. 



In summary, all of our national forests provide innumerable benefits to this 

 Nation. While it may not appear that way on paper to an economist, there are far 

 larger issues to consider than the profitability of individual timber sales. This issue 

 doesn't hold water. It is merely a banner being flown by those who don't want any 

 timber cut on the public forests. Timber sale programs on all the national forests 

 are necessary, beneficial, and must be retained. I am confident today's hearing will 

 establish the positive record on below-cost sales so that we will not have to debate 

 this issue again. 



Prepared Statement of Hon. Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senator from the State of 



Kentucky 



The issue of below-cost timber sales is not a simple or easy topic to explain. Too 

 often the facts are skewed and misrepresented by special interest groups. In the 

 name of working for the "good" of the people, certain groups have called for the end 

 of below-cost timber sales. Arguing that these timber sales only add to our burden- 

 some budget deficit and do damage to our environment, ignores the facts behind 

 these transactions. 



The fact is that below-cost timber sales provide for the proper management of our 

 country's forest lands. Many of the items counted as expenses under the Timber 

 Sale Program Information Reporting System (TSPIRS) are things which improve 

 the forest and are not typically considered in the case of private timber sales. Addi- 

 tionally, less than 1 percent of national forest lands are cut every year, and the 

 Forest Service oversees the reintroduction of many native species that otherwise 

 would not occur. 



My State of Kentucky is home to the Daniel Boone National Forest, 1 of the 62 

 forests on the list targeted to end timber sales. By looking at the Daniel Boone Na- 

 tional Forest, one can see first hand how important the Forest Service and the 

 proper use of timber sales are to the Daniel Boone Forest and to the Kentuckians 

 who live in that area. 



The Daniel Boone National Forest encompasses 675,000 acres of diverse natural 

 resources in east central Kentucky. It includes some of the Nation's most productive 

 hardwood forests, is home to the largest trail system in Kentucky, and has the high- 

 est concentration of rock shelters in the United States. Within the forest's bound- 

 aries are over 500 potentially significant historical and archeological sites, including 

 the oldest archeological site in the Southeastern United States and a site which con- 

 firms the beginning of agriculture in the United States. Proper management of 

 these natural wonders is essential and timber sales on the forest has allowed these 

 resources to be discovered, maintained and protected. 



Timber sales are not approached randomly and the Forest Service must comply 

 with at least 30 laws before a timber sale can be approved. Environmental assess- 

 ment studies must be completed and a team of biologists, zoologists, archaeologists, 

 agronomists, hydrologists, and sociologists must agree to the sale, or it is denied. 

 Less than 1 percent of the Daniel Boone Forest is harvested in any single year, so a 

 century will pass before the same area is harvested again. 



The receipts from timber sales are spent on several worthwhile purposes. Over 

 one-fourth of the receipts are reinvested in planting and nurturing new trees for 

 future generations — an expense not always incurred by private landowners. A large 

 amount of money is spent to rebuild roads in the forest system. Nine times out of 

 ten these roads, which are moved from environmentally sensitive areas like creek 

 beds or on steep slopes to better locations, actually improve the health of the forest. 

 And in the case of the Daniel Boone Forest, money is spent to maintain nearly 200 

 buildings within the forest boundaries. 



