12 



Mr. Vento. Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, not 

 their own facts. So we won't deal with the assassination of the mes- 

 senger at this hearing any further, I hope. 



I think that there has been a stream of new realities and data 

 that have come out and much of it has placed and expanded the 

 problems faster than we can the solutions in this issue. 



The thought occurs to me that suggesting limitations in terms of 

 harvest is not enough. The other manifestations of what goes on 

 with forest health, as my colleague from Idaho has discovered in 

 trying to write policy along these lines, also are issues which need 

 to be explored. What is their impact on the other laws, including 

 the Endangered Species Act and other factors. Now, that is really 

 what we have to explore. Beyond understanding what will result 

 in a good secondary growth for timber harvest, what is the impact 

 of thinning and other activities, as Congressman DeFazio has also 

 implied, with regard to other species and watersheds and how does 

 that impact. Wnat is the resource management plan for these 

 areas, what are we pursuing, how are we doing it, do we have the 

 dollars, and so forth. 



I think there are many questions that could be and should be ad- 

 dressed, either today or as an outcome of the hearings that we 

 have initiated. We appreciate our colleague from Oregon trying to 

 bravely present some answers to us this morning, and look forward 

 to working with him. 



Thank you very much, Ron. 



Mr. Wyden. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Vento. We are pleased to welcome the first panel of wit- 

 nesses, the professionals that very often we rely upon for ideas. I 

 noted as I was reading my opening statement we were addressing 

 them. I am very pleased to welcome Chief Dale Robertson of the 

 Forest Service; Mike Penfold, the Assistant Director of the BLM, 

 Department of Interior; and finally, Ms. Joyce Fleischman, the 

 Deputy Inspector General of the Department of the Interior. 



Your statements have been, by previous request, made a part of 

 the record in their entirety, so you can proceed to read the relevant 

 portions or to summarize as would best suit the needs of the com- 

 mittee and your expression. 



Chief Robertson, please proceed. 



PANEL CONSISTING OF F. DALE ROBERTSON, CHIEF, FOREST 

 SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE; MICHAEL 

 PENFOLD, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR LANDS AND RENEW- 

 ABLE RESOURCES, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DE- 

 PARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY ED 

 SHEPARD, BLM FORESTER; AND JOYCE N. FLEISCHMAN, 

 DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE- 

 RIOR 



STATEMENT OF F. DALE ROBERTSON 



Mr. Robertson. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to 

 summarize my statement. 



First, thanks for holding this hearing to talk about the invest- 

 ment needs for the national forests and public lands in the Pacific 

 Northwest. In the case of the Forest Service, we manage over 24 



