14 



and improve wilderness management, as well as expand rec- 

 reational opportunities on the national forests through some selec- 

 tive high priority investments and construction projects. And fi- 

 nally, to intensively manage the forest for all of its values and all 

 of its uses, including timber, in an ecosystem management frame- 

 work. 



So when you put all these needs together we have a big job 

 ahead of us to develop an investment program for the national for- 

 ests in the Pacific Northwest. 



So, with that, Mr. Chairman, I would be happy to respond to 

 questions. 



[Prepared statement of Chief Robertson follows:] 



Statement of F. Dale Robertson, Chief, Forest Service, United States 

 Department of Agriculture 



Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity 

 to discviss our efforts towards the rehabilitation, reforestation, and reinvestment in 

 the National Forests of the Pacific Northwest. 



The Pacific Northwest Region includes over 24 million acres of National Forest 

 System lands on 19 National Forests in the States of Washington and Oregon. This 

 is 19 percent of the total lands of the two States. These 19 National Forests are 

 guided by the Land and Resource Management Plans that were developed in accord- 

 ance with the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976. The Forest Service 

 is committed to using an ecosystem approach to implement these plans and assure 

 the long-term sustainability of the resources. 



In recent years, the Forest Service has attempted to meet greatly increased public 

 demands for the full range of goods and services while at the same time addressing 

 the growing public concern over a broad array of environmental issues. We are now 

 working to adjust to new scientific information about biological diversity and eco- 

 system management, meeting new evolving public expectations, and dealing with 

 threatened and endangered species, such as spotted owl, salmon, and marbled 

 murrelet. These factors significantly change the management of the National For- 

 ests in the Pacific Northwest. 



The Pacific Northwest Region is implementing ecosystem management to ensure 

 the long-term sustainabiUty of the resources under its management. The Region has 

 an inventory of backlog restoration and rehabilitation work needed for the improve- 

 ment of National Forest System lands. The need to reduce this backlog was recog- 

 nized in the President's initiative "A Vision of Change for America" to "protect natu- 

 ral resources and reinvest in America's infrastructure." This inventory includes 

 projects addressing ecosystem restoration, forest health improvement, recreation 

 and wilderness use, range management, trail maintenance and construction, and 

 recreation construction. "Riese are explained in more detail below. 



ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION 



In the Pacific Northwest, restoration will focus on achieving healthy, productive, 

 and biologically diverse ecosystems. Examples of projects that could be undertaken 

 include protecting wetlands, restoring riparian zones, improving watershed condi- 

 tions, restoring fisheries and wildlife habitat, closing roads to reduce soil movement 

 and sedimentation, cleanup of abandoned mine sites, and treating timber stands to 

 restore vigor, improve health, and reduce the risk of damaging insect and disease 

 outbreaks and wildfire. 



The Forest Service is working jointly with the Federal, State, tribal entities, and 

 the pubUcs of the Columbia River Basin (CRB) area in developing a guide to man- 

 age watersheds for the benefit of anadromous fish in the Columbia River Basin. 

 Consistent with our commitment at the Pacific Northwest Salmon Summit, we are 

 protecting and managing these watersheds and establishing monitoring programs to 

 ensure that our management leads to improvement in watershed conditions. The 

 Forest Service is improving its range msmagement and administration to improve 

 watershed conditions, with an emphasis on protecting and improving riparian and 

 aquatic habitat conditions within the Colimibia River Basin. 



