[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H9968-H9969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ELKHORN TIMBER SUBSTITUTION

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2711) to provide for the substitution of timber for the 
canceled Elkhorn Ridge Timber Sale.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 2711

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SUBSTITUTION OF TIMBER FOR CANCELED TIMBER SALE.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding the provisions of the Act 
     of July 31, 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), and the 
     requirements of section 5402.0-6 of title 43, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
     the Bureau of Land Management, is authorized to substitute, 
     without competition, a contract for timber identified for 
     harvest located on public lands administered by the Bureau of 
     Land Management in the State of California of comparable 
     value for the following terminated timber contract: Elkhorn 
     Ridge Timber Sale, Contract No. CA-050-TS-88-01.
       (b) Disclaimer.--Nothing in this section shall be construed 
     as changing any law or policy of the Federal Government 
     beyond the timber sale substitution specified in this 
     section.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Doolittle] and the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Miller] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle].

[[Page H9969]]

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. DOOLITTLE asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, in October 1987, BLM sold 3.8 million 
board feet of timber within the Elkhorn Ridge area in Mendocino County 
near Laytonville, CA. As the result of a lawsuit filed with the Federal 
district court in 1989 by the Sierra Club, the BLM reassessed the 
impacts of the sale on the area's wild and scenic river corridor, 
northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and the at-risk coho salmon, 
currently petitioned for Federal listing.
  The Elkhorn Ridge sale site lies within the South Fork Eel River 
Management Area, which has been identified as a tier 1 key watershed in 
the President's Northwest forest plan.
  The BLM signed a record of decision on May 27, 1994, stopping the 
harvest of the timber sale. Eel River Sawmills filed a claim under the 
Contract Disputes Act for resolution of the Elkhorn Ridge timber sale 
contract, seeking damages of $2.4 million.
  The BLM's preferred option in resolving the timber contract is to 
substitute timber from less environmentally sensitive areas in the 
region. BLM has identified three suitable sale areas which would be 
nearly equal in value to the Elkhorn timber sale. BLM's Regional and 
the Department of the Interior Solicitors have concurred in BLM's 
determination that such a substitute would be in the public interest 
and the most suitable resolution to this legal dispute.
  H.R. 2711 enjoys the support of the interested parties and would 
authorize such a substitute.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2711 would implement a settlement agreement reached 
between Eel River Sawmills, Inc., and the Department of the Interior 
regarding the Elkhorn Ridge Timber sale.
  We have no objection to this measure. Enactment of the bill will 
replace an environmentally destructive timber sale with one that is 
consistent with the President's forest plan. In addition, H.R. 2711 
will negate the need to go to court to deal with the damage claim 
resulting in the canceling of the Elkhorn timber sale. The 
administration testified that they support the bill and believe it is 
in the best interests of the Government and the taxpayers to reach this 
agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Riggs], the author of this legislation.
  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my very good friend, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle], for yielding me time, and a 
fellow member of the Gang of 7, least they forget too soon around here. 
I also want to thank other members of the Committee on Natural 
Resources, including the ranking minority member, the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Miller], for their support of the immediately preceding 
bill as well as this particular legislation. Both of these bills are 
very important to my congressional district.
  The conveyance of the Gasquet Mountain School property will help a 
very small rural and remote community in Del Norte County, the most 
northern county in my congressional district. It will help a 
financially strapped school district by providing them with a facility 
for permanent use. It will also provide a rural community with a 
meeting location for other community activities, although again the 
principal purpose of conveying this property is to provide the Gasquet 
School District with an additional permanent facility on land that has 
been previously owned by the Federal Government and managed by the U.S. 
Forest Service.
  The Elkhorn timber sale substitution is an equitable resolution of a 
longstanding dispute between the Bureau of Land Management and a 
private timber company, the Eel River Sawmills, which is one of the 
largest and most important private employers in Humboldt County, the 
largest county in my congressional district.
  This is, I think, sort of an example of how we might resolve disputed 
timber sales when, after the Federal Government has entered into a 
contractual obligation to sell timber harvesting rights or timber land 
to a private concern, environmental objections are raised.
  Again, we believe that this bill does in fact substitute timber of 
equal value for the canceled Elkhorn Ridge timber sale. It should make 
the Eel River Sawmills, which was the successful bidder on the Elkhorn 
Ridge timber sale, financially whole, and it will provide them with a 
timber supply with which they can continue to operate their mill and 
continue to employ their work force, which, again, represents a 
significant private employer in my congressional district.
  So I want to thank the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle], and 
again thank the minority members of the Committee on Natural Resources 
for their bipartisan leadership and support of these two measures, H.R. 
2709, conveyance of the Gasquet County school property, and I want to 
ask for their support for H.R. 2711, the bill pending before the House, 
the Elkhorn Ridge timber sales substitution, and urge passage of the 
legislation.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2711.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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