[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 98 (Friday, July 11, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP FOREST RECOVERY AND ECONOMIC STABILITY ACT OF 
                                  1997

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Herger] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, this week marks a monumental breakthrough 
for resolving conflict over forest management in our national forests. 
By passing the Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery and Economic 
Stability Act of 1997, we sent a message to America that local 
compromise and community consensus is the new way of doing business on 
environmental issues. For more than 15 years environmentalists and 
members of the forest products industry have waged war over managing 
western forests.
  In 1993, Bill Coates, Plumas County supervisor from Quincy, CA, took 
up the challenge of breaking the gridlock over forest management. He 
did so by arranging a meeting with environmental attorney Michael 
Jackson and Sierra Pacific Industries forester Tom Nelson. They met in 
the library because they knew they wouldn't yell at each other. QLG is 
now a coalition of 41 local environmentalists, forest products industry 
representatives, public officials, and concerned citizens who meet each 
month at the Quincy Library to discuss ways to improve local forest 
health. This program has been endorsed by local environmental 
organizations including the Plumas Audubon Society, the Friends of the 
Plumas Wilderness, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the Shasta-Tehama 
Bioregional Council. At the heart of their discussions is the 
overriding threat that fire will destroy the forests before any action 
can be taken. Nationwide, last year more than 5.8 million acres burned 
with total fire suppression costs close to $1 billion. The group turned 
to the best science available, including the recently released Sierra 
Nevada ecosystem project [SNEP] report which defines, among other 
things, the elements of a healthy forest. H.R. 858 takes the first 
vital step toward conflict resolution of environmental issues across 
the Nation by implementing the QLG proposal as a 5-year pilot project 
on three of northern California's national forests.
  This legislation passed with a recorded vote of 429 to 1. It is 
fitting that a plan born from consensus would, in the end, pass the 
House of Representatives with a strong consensus vote. The QLG plan 
represents an entirely new approach to managing our Federal forests. We 
now have a local group bringing local solutions to Washington instead 
of Washington forcing solutions on local communities. I want to thank 
everyone who played a part in making this happen. This could never have 
happened without all 41 members of the Quincy Library Group; especially 
Bill Coates, Tom Nelson, Michael B. Jackson, and Linda Blum. This is 
truly their legislation. I want to salute them and their efforts. This 
is the way government should function. I also want to thank Don Young, 
Helen Chenoweth, David Dreier, Bob Smith, Speaker Gingrich, Tom DeLay 
and the entire leadership, Jim Saxton, Wayne Gilchrest, Tom Campbell, 
Sherry Boehlert, Vic Fazio, Peter DeFazio, George Miller, and every one 
of the 429 Members of Congress who supported this legislation. I would 
also like to thank the committee staff whose understanding and 
dedication brought this legislation to fruition.
  Particularly I would like to thank Duane Gibson, Bill Simmons, Anne 
Heissenbuttle, Lloyd Jones, Liz Megginson, Dave Tenny and from my own 
staff John Magill, Fran Peace, Rich Nolan, Steve Thompson, Dallas 
Scholes, Dave Meurer, Dave Oleander, Mike Digiordano, Patsy Atkins, 
Kathy Summers, Donna Burton, Lemoine Sharpe, Ron Shinn, Katy-Duke 
Chamberlin, Annette Gatten, Lisa Strohman, and George Morris. This is a 
great victory. We have finally shown that compromise and bipartisan 
effort does pay off. Again, thank you for your support and for helping 
us save the environment in northern California. I hope this bill will 
move expeditiously through the Senate and eventually be signed into 
law. I would also encourage that we take the momentum from this bill 
and use our new-found ability to compromise in a way that makes this 
Congress a success for America.

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