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STATEMENT OF DAVID UNGER, ASSOCIATE CHIEF, FOREST 

 SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ACCOM- 

 PANIED BY BILL SEXTON, LAND MANAGEMENT PLANNING 

 STAFF; FOREST CARPENTER, CO-CHAIRMAN, PROJECT MAN- 

 AGER, SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN ASSESSMENT; CHARLES 

 VAN SICKLE, CO-CHAIRMAN, PROJECT MANAGER, SOUTH- 

 ERN APPALACHIAN ASSESSMENT; JEFF BLACKWOOD, 

 PROJECT MANAGER, INTERIOR COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN 

 ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT PROJECT; PHIL AUNE, RE- 

 SEARCH PROGRAM MANAGER, PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RE- 

 SEARCH STATION 



Mr. Unger. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would Uke our other 

 witnesses to join me at the table, if that would be all right. 



We are happy to be here today to discuss these ecosystem assess- 

 ments. I am accompanied by Phil Aune, who is Research Program 

 Manager for our Pacific Southwest Research Station in California; 

 Jeff Blackwood, who is Project Manager of the Interior Columbia 

 River Basin Ecosystems Project; Forest Carpenter on my left here 

 who is the Project Manager; and Charlie Van Sickle, science leader 

 of the Southern Appalachian Assessment. And also joining us and 

 sitting right behind me is Bill Sexton of our Land Management 

 Planning Staff. 



Mr. Hansen. Thank you. I appreciate you doing that. The testi- 

 mony and testimony of everyone today will all be included in the 

 record. We are quite concerned with what is going to be said here. 

 We are not going to put a time on Mr. Unger. 



Mr. Unger. Thank you. I would just like to summarize some of 

 the key points in our testimony and respond specifically to the 

 questions that you ask and the request for our testimony. 



Let me just say that all three of these ecosystem assessments 

 presented today are unique in a number of characteristics, the size 

 of the area, the issues addressed, and procedures used. We look at 

 ecosystem analysis as one of the tools in the agency to address the 

 increasing complexity and scope of the issues that are involved in 

 resource conservation these days and have expanded from the site- 

 specific level to the landscape and regional level. It has become evi- 

 dent in large scale assessments of the status and function of 

 ecosystems are sometimes needed to consolidate the information to 

 support our resource management planning. 



I do want to point out that a large number of our ecosystem anal- 

 yses occur at the smaller landscape level involving tens of thou- 

 sands of acres rather than this larger ecoregional level that we are 

 talking about today in terms of millions of acres. But all of these 

 assessments and especially the regional assessments are processes 

 to develop and summarize current science-based information on the 

 status of biological, physical, and human characteristics. And they 

 are often triggered by issues that can be effectively analyzed within 

 individual National Forest boundaries. Some of these deeds deal 

 with habitat for threatened and endangered and sensitive species, 

 perhaps water quality and forest and rangeland health problems, 

 but both the smaller and regional assessments that we are talking 

 about today provide the framework for subsequent decisionmaking 

 and can be used in forest planning and project decisions, and we 

 think they can save time and money in the long run. 



