STATEMENT OF JAMES R. LYONS, UNDERSECRETARY, NATU- 

 RAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF 

 AGRICULTURE; ACCOMPANIED BY JACK WARD THOMAS, 

 CHIEF, FOREST SERVICE; LYLE LAVERTY, DIRECTOR OF 

 RECREATION, HERITAGE AND WILDERNESS RESOURCE 

 MANAGEMENT, WASHINGTON OFFICE; BERT KULESZA, FOR- 

 EST SUPERVISOR IN THE ASHLEY; AND BOBBY RICHMOND, 

 FOREST SUPERVISOR OF THE WALLOWA-WHITMAN NA- 

 TIONAL FOREST 



Mr. Lyons. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate 

 it. 



I am pleased to be here to discuss the General Forest Service 

 Policies and the processes for river management, particularly relat- 

 ed to the Green River in Utah and the Snake River on the Idaho 

 and Oregon border. 



I am accompanied by Jack Thomas, as you mentioned; by Lyle 

 Laverty, Director of Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness Resource 

 Management in the Washington office; Bert Kulesza, who is Forest 

 Supervisor in the Ashley; and Bobby Richmond, who is Forest Su- 

 pervisor of the Wallowa- Whitman National Forest. 



Along with Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Chief 

 Thomas, we are all committed to the long range and short term 

 planning processes that provide the direction for Forest Service 

 Management of rivers and the other lands and resources under our 

 jurisdiction. 



The general guidance and specific requirements for river man- 

 agement the Forest Service have had are in a number of statutory 

 provisions. I will provide an overview of these authorities, consist- 

 ent with the questions you asked in your invitation to appear, and 

 I hope this will give you an idea of some of the matters we have 

 to deal with, the processes we have to follow to develop general 

 guidance for river management and direction. 



The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

 1974 is the overarching authority of the government's long range 

 planning for the Forest Service. The long term strategic plan devel- 

 oped by that act and by its guidance are for all Forest Service pro- 

 grams. RPA, of course, was amended in 1976 by the National For- 

 est Management Act, directing the Forest Service to develop land 

 and resource management plans and forest plans for each unit of 

 the National Forest. These plans are to be devised every ten to 15 

 years, and are amended as appropriate to reflect significant 

 changes in resource management conditions and directions. 



Each Forest supervisor has the responsibility to ensure an inter- 

 disciplinary approach in developing forest plans, taking into ac- 

 count the physical, biological, economic, and social aspects of pro- 

 tecting and restoring ecosystems and providing multiple use bene- 

 fits from those ecosystems, including river management. 



In our efforts to protect natural resources, we often find it nec- 

 essary to provide specific direction that addresses individual eco- 

 system components, such as rivers. For example, in the case of how 

 rivers are managed, the desired future conditions, goals, objectives, 

 standards and guidelines for specific rivers are stated in each for- 

 est plan. 



