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commented earlier that the receipts are declining in the area. You 

 are reducing your work force in the Pacific Northwest, is that cor- 

 rect, Chief? 



Mr. Robertson. Yes. 



Mr. Vento. And the planned reduction this year is about 900 

 full-time equivalents? 



Mr. Robertson. Well, that is over the last couple of years. We 

 have proposed about a 900 to 1,000 reduction in our primarily tim- 

 ber-related work force and that will be completed by the end of this 

 fiscal year. 



Mr. Vento. And are you exploring ways to add agency jobs in 

 other resource management areas, such as wildlife or recreation? 



Mr. Robertson. Well, our budget is expanding in recreation and 

 fish and wildlife, so we are doing a lot ot retraining and as people 

 related to timber sales, if they can fit into one of the expanding 

 programs, we are doing that and then doing some retraining for 

 the new job. But we are tr3dng to place our people to the extent 

 we can 



Mr. Vento. So there is a shift in terms of personnel focus here. 

 You are increasing the numbers in other areas as the timber spe- 

 cialists are retrained, and through attrition, mostly, you are trying 

 to do it. Is that correct? 



Mr. Robertson. It is a combination of a transfer between pro- 

 grams and attrition. But you can't always take somebody from a 

 timber program. For example, if you need a fisheries biologist, you 

 can't venr well take a forester from a timber sale program. So there 

 is some limit on how transferable some people are from one job to 

 the other. But to the extent we can make them qualified for the 

 new job through training, or retraining, we are doing that. 



Mr. Vento. Are you actually asking for changes in the appropria- 

 tions and requests of the Congress through the administration con- 

 cerning these programs, these wildlife rehabilitation programs? 



Mr. Robertson. Yes. Our budget request that has come up the 

 last couple of years or so have asked for increases in fish and wild- 

 life and recreation. 



Mr. Vento. Mr. Penfold, the same for your budget on this? 



Mr. Penfold. Yes, sir. Yes. 



Mr. Vento. Well, let me yield to my colleagues who have been 

 patiently waiting here. 



Mr. Smith. 



Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Penfold, does the BLM have a tree-planting backlog? 



Mr. Penfold. No, sir. We do not have a tree-planting oacklog in 

 western Oregon, 



Mr. Smith. Well, I must be confused here. It sounds like there 

 is criticism that you are behind in reforestation. You are not be- 

 hind in reforestation? 



Mr. Penfold. No, sir. 



Mr. Smith. Is that what you are telling me? Why am I confused? 



Mr. Penfold. Well, I think the problem is at the time the IG 

 took a look at those programs back in 1989 we had just gotten done 

 with a huge amoimt of forest fires out in that region. Timber com- 

 panies were cutting out their sales at a very rapid rate. So it ap- 

 peared to the IG that there was a very large volume of many, many 



