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the Forest Service has failed its responsibility. However, I am not prepared to end their charter and 

 proclaim them the new stewards of a forest system criss-crossed with preserves. Our forests an be 

 better managed and I think the Forest Service has the potential to restore pubUc faith in itself. I will 

 soon introduce my version of how best to manage California's forests. I believe we shotild advance 

 the notion of ecosystem management to address the needs of forest health, conmiunity stability and 

 environmental protection. The current tree-by-tree, species-by-species management approach cannot 



be sustained. 



Ceasing timber harvests altogether puts a terrible burden on our communities. This bill takes 

 all the remaining land and resource base in the south-central Sierra Nevada and makes it ofif-limits 

 to a variety of multiple uses. This is area that was not included in our national parks, of wiiich I 

 have three in my district, or the California Wilderness Act, which passed into law in 1984. We 

 already have millions of acres of wilderness and parks set-aside in the south-central Sierra Nevada. 



I would close by stressing that the giant sequoia is protected. Standing giant sequoia are 

 protected by no less than three federal mandates, including former President Bush's presidential 

 proclamation of July 14, 1992. Just as importantly, the Mediated Settlement Agreement - a 

 consensus document signed by representatives of envirormiental groups, local timber industry, the 

 Forest Service, California's Attorney General, area Native American tribes, and various multiple-use 

 groups - remains a viable means of managing the forest in the near term. Appropriately, the MSA 

 was a local solution to management of our public resources, an idea which should be replicated 

 nation-wide. The Clinton Administration has advocated local solutions to management disputes - 

 I support this objective and encourage its use in the legislation I am introducing. 



Thank you very much for this opportunity to testify before your subcotmnittee. 



