But the application of prescribed fire just simply isn't going to do 

 the job. In fact, with the complexity now of landownerships and the 

 movement of the urban wildland interface further and further into 

 the mountains there are a lot of other methods that have to be con- 

 sidered. 



Mechanical treatment is one of those, and there are methods 

 available that are working very well in some places, but there are 

 of course some barriers to the accomplishment of those kinds of 

 programs. One is typically the involved private industry, and the 

 lack of consistent programs to provide areas to work in and is a 

 very serious problem. Local communities and local goal setting 

 needs to be dramatically involved much more in this process, and 

 that needs to be picked up and done. 



There is failure to resolve issues so the policies and programs 

 can be carried forward. And an excellent example of that is the fail- 

 ure to move forward with the California Spotted Owl issue. The re- 

 vised draft environmental impact statement that was to be put out 

 for public review to get on with this issue was pulled back by the 

 Administration, and it simply puts another barrier in the way of 

 getting on down the road with these kinds of programs. 



In addition, some of these treatment programs contribute jobs 

 and contribute to the economic viability of the communities and the 

 counties, and that's really important. Just to demonstrate what you 

 see a lot of and some of the opportunities, you have some photos 

 before you. 



Photo 1 shows a typical conifer stand resulting from logging back 

 in the early 1900's. The introduction of prescribed fire into a stand 

 like this would be extremely risky. You would probably lose much 

 of it and it might not be acceptable. 



Photo 2 shows a similar stand that has been mechanically treat- 

 ed that's very fire resistant and healthy.. 



Photo 3 shows a mechanically thinned conifer stand that was 

 backfired through to contain the August/September 1996 Ackerson 

 Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National 

 Park. As a result they were able to save the City and County of 

 San Francisco Recreation Facility. Most of that stand survived that 

 fire as hot as it was. You wouldn't introduce prescribed fire into 

 that stand under the same kind of conditions that burned there. 



And Photo 4 shows an unthinned stand that burned in that same 

 fire as a result of the fuel loading that was present, and none of 

 the trees, including very large trees, survived that. And that's typi- 

 cal. 



That concludes my remarks and I'll be happy to answer your 

 questions. 



Chairman Hansen. Thank you very much. 



[Prepared statement of Blaine L. Cornell may be found at the 

 end of hearing.] 



Chairman Hansen. The gentlelady from Idaho. 



Mrs. Chenoweth. Mr. Chairman, I have some graphs that I 

 would like to use as I ask Dr. Neuenschwander some questions. 

 May I have your permission for that? 



Chairman Hansen. Absolutely. 



Mrs. Chenoweth. Thank you. 



