appeals on the Forest Service timber sales program in 1994 illus- 

 trates this point. 



In 1994, 1.2 billion board feet of timber — over a quarter of the 

 total volume prepared by the agency for sale — was lost or delayed 

 due to appeals in litigation. The direct costs of these appeals to the 

 Forest Service was nearly $54 million. 



The more startling figure, however, is the value of foregone tim- 

 ber sale receipts associated with these appeals. According to the 

 Forest Service data, the agency lost as much as $185 million in 

 foregone timber sales revenue. Combined with direct expenses, 

 these numbers brought the total cost of appeals to the timber pro- 

 gram in 1994 to $239 million, nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. 

 Mr. Chairman and members, this is a fiscal tragedy. 



Litigation is also taking a tremendous toll on the environment. 

 Presently, management of 24 million acres of forest covering 22 na- 

 tional forests in two regions in the Pacific Northwest and Califor- 

 nia falls under the jurisdiction of a single Federal District Court 

 Judge because of lawsuits brought by the Sierra Club, National Au- 

 dubon Society, and others. Of this 24 million acres, the Court has 

 allowed active management on only 3 million acres or 12 percent 

 of these forests. 



Tragically, the remaining 88 percent of the forest that has been 

 set aside for no management, especially in northern California, has 

 been choked by overgrowth, killed by disease and insects, and 

 placed in jeopardy of total destruction by catastrophic wildfire. 



Conventional science advocates managing these forests to pre- 

 vent unnatural mortality and reduce fire risk have been stymied by 

 well-funded environmental litigants who openly oppose all logging 

 on Federal lands and have been joined with their judicial counter- 

 parts. 



Mr. Chairman and members, it is time to take forest manage- 

 ment out of the hands of litigants and put it back into the hands 

 of professional managers where it belongs. Today, you will hear a 

 number of recommendations as to how this might be done. I urge 

 the Subcommittee to act immediately on these suggestions so that 

 we can quickly return to the business of managing our forests in 

 an environmentally and fiscally responsible way. 



Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the record 

 testimony from the California Cattlemen's Association as an exten- 

 sion of my own remarks. 



Mr. Hansen. Without objection. 



Mr. Herger. Thank you. 



[California Cattlemen's Association statement may be found at 

 end of hearing.] 



Mr. Hansen. And thank you for your excellent remarks. Some of 

 the things you brought up we find very disturbing. Just the idea 

 that a major so-called moderate organization would call for such a 

 radical thing as banning the timber. Do you have any questions for 

 our colleague, Mr. Allard? Wally, do you want to join us up here? 

 We would be happy to have you on this dais if you would like to 

 join us. 



Mr. Herger. I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. I do have a prior 

 commitment, but I appreciate the opportunity. I may join you a lit- 

 tle later. 



