12 



1,500 to 2,000 years old, not as old as some of the ancient trees 

 on the west coast but, by our standards, very, very old. 



I recall one day, about 8 or 10 years ago, I took one of my sons, 

 who happens to be Down syndrome with an educable IQ of only 17; 

 on a cold New Year's Day I took him down, and we walked a mile 

 down in this virgin forest on a bright, cold, clear day. We got down 

 to the end of the boardwalk. His name is William. I asked him, 

 "William, where are you?" His response to me was, "Church." That 

 was his reaction to that ancient forest. I just wonder what in the 

 world this little guy would say if he were to go into one of those 

 ancient forests and look at these giant sequoias. 



The problem you have is that what we are tr5dng to do is we are 

 trjdng to preserve not just the sequoias themselves but the eco- 

 system — that is the basic word of what we are talking about — in 

 which these sequoias exist, and, of course, there are very few of 

 them, relatively speaking. 



Of course, it is very easy to replicate a forest. We have the na- 

 tional forests in South Carolina, most of which are used for timber 

 production, which are proceeding satisfactorily in the program that 

 we have down there. I am an active participant in the drawing of 

 the forest plans. The Francis Marion is the one closest to the urban 

 area of the greater Charleston area, and most of it is about 80 per- 

 cent. Post-Hugo, the plan now is to continue in timber production. 



But preserving an ecosystem is extremely difficult, and I think 

 that most recognized experts will tell us that replicating an eco- 

 system can only be done over a very long period of time, millennia, 

 naturally, but replicating it artificially for timber production is 

 very difficult. 



You take the Biedier Forest there. There Eire 3,500 acres. It is 

 the core portion of this forest. They have trees in there. They have 

 loblolly in the higher areas. They have black gum, and they also 

 have tupelo. Certainly those trees could be — could be — taken out 

 for timber sale. But if you remove the tupelo, the black gum, and 

 the loblolly from the area, that destroys in fact the ecosystem. 



It would seem to me that that would be the problem out there 

 on the west coast, and that is why I think that, in these particular 

 areas, these jewels in the crown of these forests over there, these 

 sequoias, that the entire ecosystem should be protected. 



Thank you, sir. 



Mr. Rose. Thank you, sir. 



I thank all the members of the panel. 



I asked Mr. Brown to come up here not for any reason other than 

 to suggest that I have a couple of appointments during the length 

 of this hearing, and I need somebody to preside. I believe I am 

 going to ask Mr. Farr, if he is here, if he would take the chair in 

 a few minutes. 



But all of the panelists, including Mr. Brown, are available to be 

 questioned now by other members of the subcommittee. Are there 

 any questions by any of you for our panel? 



Mr. VOLKMER. I would like to ask the gentleman from California, 

 Rick, a question, if I may. 



Mr. Rose. All right. 



Mr. VOLKMER. Rick, most of this area is within your district, I 

 understand. 



