10 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Lehman appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. Rose. Thank you very much. Next, the Honorable Anna 

 Eshoo, Member of Congress from the State of California. 



STATEMENT OF HON. ANNA G. ESHOO, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 



Ms. Eshoo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good morning to the 

 members of the subcommittee. I am pleased to be here today to tes- 

 tify on behalf of H.R. 2153, the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act. 



This bill not only helps preserve the largest, most majestic trees 

 in the world; it would save American taxpayers tens of millions of 

 dollars by putting an end to below-cost timber sales in the Sequoia 

 National Forest. 



We are all familiar with giant sequoia trees, which are thousands 

 of years old and can be almost 300 feet tall. But more important 

 than their aesthetic beauty, these giants play a key role in the very 

 fragile ecosystem which is threatened by current Forest Service 

 policies. 



According to a 1989 Audubon Society study, there were only 

 41,000 acres of thickly wooded, old-growth forest left in our Nation. 

 There are even fewer acres now, and only 10 percent of them are 

 protected in wilderness areas. The Forest Service allowed more 

 than 1 million board feet of giant sequoia to be removed in 13 tim- 

 ber sales from sequoia groves during the 1980's. 



The fact is, timber is being cut at more than twice the sustain- 

 able rate because forest planners greatly overestimated potential 

 growth rates. Even with the Sequoia National Forest's terrible re- 

 forestation success rate, planners assumed almost all the forest 

 would be reforested with only one planting. As a result, the forest 

 is disappearing faster than nature and people can replace it. 



Worst of all, taxpayers are subsidizing the destruction of the 

 giant sequoia ecosystem. Although timber companies pay the For- 

 est Service an average of $3.5 million per year for the timber har- 

 vested in the Sequoia National Forest, the Forest Service must 

 spend up to $8.3 million per year to build logging roads and admin- 

 ister the sales. 



It is estimated that taxpayers have spent $45 million in the last 

 10 years to log the Sequoia National Forest, which only provides 

 1 percent of the wood and wood fiber used Einnually in the United 

 States. 



H.R. 2153, of which I am proud to be an original cosponsor, 

 would end the wasteful practice of below-cost timber sales and fi- 

 nally protect the remaining groves of giant sequoia by creating a 

 Giant Sequoia National Forest Preserve. It also provides for worker 

 training, counseling, and placement, with an emphasis on potential 

 new types of employment in recreation and restoration of our eco- 

 system. 



Mr. Chairman, I believe we must act now to preserve these areas 

 for our posterity or risk the tragedy of losing them forever, and I 

 underscore that word. 



Thank you again for allowing me to address your subcommittee, 

 and thank you for holding this important hearing. 



