[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 2, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    GOOD STEWARDSHIP FOR OUR FORESTS

                                 ______


                           HON. LARRY LaROCCO

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 2, 1994

  Mr. LaROCCO. Mr. Speaker, tonight I am introducing the Stewardship 
End-Result Contracts Demonstration Act.
  This legislation simply extends for 1 year a program that was 
authorized by Congress in 1992 for fiscal year 1993 [P.L. 102-381]. It 
allows the Forest Service to use all or a portion of the receipts from 
timber salvaged in an ecosystem management project to offset the costs 
of the various treatments which are prescribed as a part of that 
project. These treatments usually include such things as wildlife 
habitat enhancements, reforestation, watershed, and recreation 
improvements.
  The authorized program, which was included as bill language in the 
fiscal year 1993 appropriations act, identifies the Dixie, Kaibab, 
Coconino, Idaho Panhandle, and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit as 
eligible forests.
  A number of projects have been planned and several contracts have 
been awarded. However, most of the proposed projects were still in the 
planning or NEPA process at the end of the 1993 fiscal year. In 
deference to general concerns of the authorizing committees regarding 
authorization on an appropriations bill, the appropriations committee 
did not include the bill language in fiscal year 1994. However, the 
statement of the managers, included in the conference report--103-299--
expresses the committee's expectation that the program as authorized in 
fiscal year 1993 would be continued in fiscal year 1994.
  However, it was the determination of the Forest Service, as expressed 
in a directive--November 23, 1993--to the regions, that only those 
projects already under contract on October 1, 1993 could be continued. 
And, projects without a contract award would have to wait for 
additional authorization.
  That is the purpose of this legislation. We have asked the Forest 
Service to supply a list of projects that could be completed through 
the NEPA process and be advertised and awarded this year. As a result, 
we have three projects which fit that criteria.
  The project with which I am most familiar is in my congressional 
district. It is in the Priest Lake Ranger District, on the Idaho 
National Forest. It is a very small project and, in total, includes 
only about 400 acres. But what makes it important is the process 
through which it evolved.
  It has been developed by the district ranger in cooperation with both 
local environmental and private sector interests and with other 
involved citizens. I believe it could be an important model, not only 
for ecosystem management but for public involvement and cooperation.
  The stewardship, or Land Management Service contract, provides a tool 
to achieve ecosystem management. At our recent committee oversight 
hearings, I asked the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, Jim Lyons, 
about the concept. He was supportive of the demonstration program and 
indicated that the administration is looking closely at the concept in 
terms of future policy directions.
  I believe the Congress should look closely at this approach as well. 
The experience gained from these first demonstrations will help us 
examine fully the issues involved in ecosystem management, and 
structure, perhaps, a broader and more comprehensive demonstration 
program.

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