ago from the Pacific Rivers Council and others and heard about a 

 watershed restoration strategy. 



There are other non-timber-commodity activities that could go on 

 on these public lands that would provide some additional employ- 

 ment for rural communities who nave few alternatives. We have 

 seen some progress. There was a little bit of money in the Presi- 

 dent's stimulus package, about $15 million, to begin to engage in 

 some of these activities. And the 4-year vision document of the ad- 

 ministration, which we hope will soon be backed up by solid budget 

 requests, included 1.5 billion over 4 years for BLM and Forest 

 Service natural resource protection £ind environmental infrastruc- 

 ture initiative. 



So I am very hopeful that the decade of disinvestment is over, 

 and we are going to begin now to stop the acrimony of the past and 

 begin to look toward the future and hear productive suggestions on 

 how to go forward. I look forward to the testimony of my colleague 

 from Oregon, who has a number of ideas in that area. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Vento. I thank the gentleman for his work initially and con- 

 stantly in terms of this issue. I well remember the first set of ques- 

 tions that he raised and we wrote in our recommendations to the 

 Appropriations and Budget Committee concerning these adequate 

 funding levels for rehabilitation. 



I am pleased to welcome and recognize the gentleman from 

 Idaho, Mr. LaRocco, who has attempted to draft major proposals 

 dealing with forest health, and we are pleased to have him as a 

 member of the committee and present this morning. 



Mr. LaRocco. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY LaROCCO 



Mr. LaRocco. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for 

 holding this hearing. I will just take a couple of minutes. I appre- 

 ciate your reference to H.R. 229, the bill that I have drafted, on for- 

 est health. We made a run at it last year, and I am happy to see 

 on the witness list today some people whose counsel I sought, Mr. 

 Aplet and Mr. Sampson. They were very helpful to me as we moved 

 that bill along and actually got it through the full Ag Committee. 

 There is a lot of work that needs to be done on that bill yet and 

 that is why I am here today. 



I want to say that I fully recognize where Region VI is. It is not 

 in Idaho, but there are implications for the State of Idaho. I was 

 talking to a ranger the other day in the Payette National Forest. 

 We were talking about a timber sale. It was called the Republican 

 Flats timber sale. It caught my attention right away. 



And I said, "Who would bid on that sale?" 



And she said, "Well, there is some interest from Oregon and 

 Washington in that sale." It is on the Salmon River breaks of the 

 main Salmon. So there is tremendous pressure put on the forests 

 of my district, and also many logging crews are moving over to 

 Idaho because of the lack of work. So we have to look for resolution 

 to this issue. That is why I introduced the bill, and I just hope that 

 we can keep that process moving along. 



In addition to that, today I am announcing the introduction of a 

 bill, a wilderness bill for the State of Idaho that encompasses the 



