o 



151 



the Forest Service must select sale areas that make economic 

 sense, since Section 1(d) of the Contract requires that KPC 

 cannot be placed in "a disadvantageous position with respect t 

 similar enterprises in the Puget Sound region." 



FOREST SKRVICE PT.ANNING PUnrv.f ifi 



The Forest Service Timber Management program of necessity 

 must be geared to meet the volume commitments of each program 

 or division of its planned annual harvest. The planning 

 process and NEPA pr ocess for each himher sal^ rnt-.tino unil- i^ 

 the 59ing reqardlgpp o f the cont-r act tf^rm. t otal rnn<-r;,n<- 

 YQlume, or type of t-imber Sflle . Cutting units are small blocks 

 of timber currently limited by the National Forest Management 

 Act to a normal maximum size of 100 acres. Since the planning 

 and permitting process is the same for each cutting unit, it 

 makes little difference whether volume commitments are met in a 

 large number of smaller volume timber sales or a lesser number 

 of larger volume sales. 



Any potential impact of the larger volumes associated with 

 the KPC agreement on the planning process would occur only if 

 the Forest Service administratively delayed or changed the 

 specific areas to be harvested. The impact of the larger 

 volumes of the KPC long-term sale is integrated into the 

 planning process by using the following steps: 



-17- 



