67 



We would recommend that Congress replenish the funds and work with the 

 agency to reduce excessive firefighting costs. 



KV fund transfer to federal government: Despite the $42.7 million KV deficit 

 in Region 6, some of the forests apparently had surpluses and $4 million 

 were transferred to the federal treasury. We would suggest that Congress 

 amend the KV Act so that the region did not have to return "surplus" funds 

 when the region itself had a deficit. 



Timber Management Improvement Act: This legislative bill, sponsored by 

 Representative Ron Wyden, would direct the Secretaries of Interior and 

 Agriculture to prepare a yield report on second growth timber management 

 opportunities for lands in Oregon, Washington, and northern California. An 

 updated report on intensive management opportunities for the Pacific 

 Northwest is needed. 



Public/private partnerships: The Forest Service should be encouraged to 

 develop more public/private partnerships to address the forest health issues. 

 Proposals can be developed that would allow the contractor to remove 

 diseased and dying trees, prescribe burn the sites, and replant at little or no 

 cost to the federal government through the sale of the dead trees. 



Audit and performance committee: A committee composed of non- 

 government and government individuals is needed to specifically review and 

 monitor Forest Service and BLM budgets to make sure that the line officers 

 are meeting or exceeding target goals, whether for reforestation, timber 

 stand improvement, trails, timber, wildlife, or recreation. 



BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 



The BLM manages 2.6 million acres of forestlands in western Oregon. Of 

 these forestlands, 2.2 million acres are classified as commercial forestlands. 

 The BLM is currently developing new resource management plans which will 

 likely decrease the timber sale program from a level of 1 .1 billion board feet 

 to approximately one half of that historical level. 



Previously, the O&C lands have provided approximately 1 5% of the total 

 timber harvested in the state of Oregon. The O&C Counties received 50% 

 of the timber sale receipts. Historically, the counties have received an 

 average aggregate total of $113 million annually. 



In FY 1 990, the timber sale program totalled 1.14 billion board feet on 

 western Oregon BLM lands. In FY 92, the BLM sold only 35 million board 

 feet. 



