45 



Frankly I wasn't that thrilled with the policies we found in the 

 predecessor Administration of the Clinton Administration. But I 

 think it's time for NEPA and ESA and FLPMA and a couple of 

 those other acts to be seriously streamlined and revised with a 

 view toward effectuating an effective policy for the national forests 

 because it seems to me that we're going to end up increasingly with 

 the sort of blight that we see in the picture on the far left which 

 shows the charred stands of trees that have been burned by these 

 catastrophic forest fires. 



I thank the witnesses for appearing. There will be further ques- 

 tions perhaps we'll submit in writing that I would ask you to re- 

 spond to in a timely fashion. 



[The questions to be furnished and responded to follow.] 



[Prepared statement of Hon. William M. Thomas follows.] 



Statement of Hon. William M. Thomas 



Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I would like to thank you for 

 the opportunity to comment on forest service resource management and fire control. 

 This issue is of great concern to residents of my district, where fire has already 

 consumed thousands of acres in the Sequoia National Forest and threatened Giant 

 Sequoia groves. 



Already this year, a total 88,142 fires have burned almost six million acres of 

 wildlands, making 1996 one of the worst fire years in recent times. During the peak 

 fire activity in August, the Forest Service estimated it was spending $10 million per 

 day for fire suppression. Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt indicated his agency 

 was spending another one million dollars each day. The National Emergency Fire 

 Center has estimated that the agencies will have spent $515 million for emergency 

 firefighting by the end of September. This cost does not include the costs of military 

 aircraft and the two battalions of military personnel which were involved in the fire- 

 fighting effort. 



Yet as alarming as these figures are, the most disconcerting fact is that this fire 

 damage would not have been so intense had the Administration taken proper pre- 

 cautions — such as forest thinning and salvage through the use of commercial timber 

 operations — to help reduce fire risk. For example, in August, 1994, the Seattle Post- 

 Intelligencer reported that the Clinton Administrations planned a major expansion 

 of timber thinning and deliberate burning to reduce fire risk in the West. Jim 

 Lyons, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, and 

 Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of the Forest Service, said in interviews that these forest 

 policy reforms could improve forest health and wildlife habitat while providing jobs 

 and wood for needy sawmills. 



The Sequoia National Forest had planned to sell approximately 40 million board 

 feet this year, a majority of that under the Rescissions Bill, which was designed to 

 expedite the harvest of dead trees and those trees imminently susceptible to fire or 

 insect damage. Although the President signed the bill into law, he then rendered 

 the law ineffective. As a result, the Sequoia has sold less than four million board 

 feet of timber this year, weakening the Forest's ability to fight severe wildfire and 

 forcing local timber mills to lay off dozens of employees. 



The Clinton Administration cast further doubt on the future of forest manage- 

 ment in the Sierra Nevada when he shelved the California Spotted Owl Environ- 

 mental Impact Statement, which would have protected spotted owl habitat, im- 

 proved long-term forest health, and potentially yielded more timber. The Adminis- 

 tration ignored years of scientific research, thousands of public comments, and mil- 

 lions of dollars in costs. 



The Clinton Administration needs to work on solving our forest health problems. 

 Since the passage of the salvage legislation, the Administration has thwarted its ef- 

 fectiveness. In light of scientific consensus on the seriousness of forest health prob- 

 lems, the Administration should be acting as good stewards of our national forests, 

 not using the people's lands to create headlines. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. With that this hearing is adjourned. 

 [The Subcommittee adjourned at 5:20 p.m. subject to the call of 

 the Chair:] 



