77 



percent of its available land base. 



The small businesses that deal with the CNF, owning little or no timber land of their own, 

 have been able to make up most of the decline from private timber sources. However, this may 

 prove to be a short term solution. Imagine the difficulty of operating a small sawmill when the 

 largest landowner in your area, the Forest Service, is an unreliable supplier. Making long range 

 decisions about the growth and operation of your business becomes a roll of the dice. 



There is also the question of new forest industry coming to the East Tennessee region. At 

 last summer's 2 1 st Century Jobs Initiative, forestry was selected as an industry that could provide 

 new job opportunities in the region. However, in the course of the discussion, one CNF 

 representative admitted that the uncertain timber supply form the National Forest was likely to 

 discourage new forest industry from moving to East Tennessee. 



Some have observed that tomism might serve as a replacement for timber industry jobs. I 

 would only point out that tourism's average annual wage is approximately $9000. while forestry 

 related jobs average about $17,000. 



Finally, how much did ten years of appeals and litigation cost taxpayers? If the Forest 

 Service knows, they aren't telling. However, considering the thousands of man hours expended by 

 the CNF staff while they prepared to defend their decisions, the cost must be substantial. 

 Again, in view of competing needs, was money spent in litigation the best use of taxpayer dollars? 

 I would argue, it was not. 



In the final analysis, only the special interest environmental groups stood to gain from the 

 appeal, but in the end they lost too. However, the Court's opinion is unlikely to dissuade these 

 groups from fiiture litigation. 



(2) Project-Level Appeals 



When looking at project-level appeals, two things quickly become evident. The majority 

 are often brought by one appellant, and the majority apply to timber sales. This fijrther supports our 

 contention that the process is being misused by a few whose goal is to stop timber harvesting on the 

 National Forest. Let me cite examples: 



