[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 171 (Wednesday, November 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11494-S11495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. 
        Tester):
  S. 2791. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to grant 
economy-related contract extensions of certain timber contracts between 
the Secretary of the Interior and timber purchasers, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by my 
colleagues Senators Ron Wyden, Max Baucus, and Jon Tester, as I 
introduce the Forest Harvest Opportunity Act. This legislation will 
provide a very simple, yet critical, solution to a significant problem 
currently facing timber communities across the country.
  As we all know, rural communities across the country have been hit 
particularly hard by our current economic recession. The unemployment 
rate for rural counties is far greater than the national average; it 
surpasses 20 percent in many of the rural communities in my own home 
state. As my colleagues have heard me mention on numerous occasions, 
many of our rural communities have been doubly hurt by the current 
economic recession because they depend on harvests from federally-owned 
forest land as a major component of their economies. These communities 
have already been struggling because timber harvests on our Federal 
land have been declining, but they are facing even worse situations 
today because the collapse of the housing market has caused a 
precipitous drop in timber prices.
  For some of our forestry companies, this creates an even worse 
situation: the contracts they have to harvest timber on Federal land 
are now worthless. Many of these contracts were signed with the Forest 
Service or the Bureau of Land Management before the recession, when 
timber prices were still high. However, because of the decline in 
timber prices, harvesting today would cost forest companies more than 
the wood is worth and could cause ruinous problems for some of these 
companies.
  The solution is simple common sense: allow companies to apply for 
additional time to harvest wood they have contracted for in times of 
unique economic circumstances. This simple change would allow these 
companies to delay the harvest until the price of timber had returned 
to a point that enabled the forest companies to earn a profit on the 
harvest. This change is not a novel idea. In fact, the Forest Service 
has rules in place allowing to do exactly that. Unfortunately, the 
Bureau of Land Management does not have similar rules in place. So, 
based simply on which agency a company has a contract with--and in 
Oregon Forest Service and BLM lands can be side-by-side--these 
companies may be forced to harvest timber at a loss or walk away from a 
contract they have won after a fair bidding process.
  The Forest Harvest Opportunity Act provides a simple solution and 
allows these companies--and only companies who have contracts right now 
during the current recession--to petition for and receive an extension 
so they can harvest when timber prices return to a normal rate. This 
bill is a simple solution to address an important problem. Enacting 
this legislation would provide significant economic help for 
communities that are already among the hardest-hit by this economic 
downturn. I look forward to working with my colleagues for its passage.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2791

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Harvest Opportunity 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Economy-related contract extension.--The term 
     ``economy-related contract extension'' means the addition of 
     3 years to the expiration date of a qualifying contract for 
     the right to cut and remove timber.
       (2) Qualifying contract.--The term ``qualifying contract'' 
     means a contract, executed on or before December 31, 2008, 
     for the sale of timber from land administered by the Bureau 
     of Land Management--
       (A) for which there is unharvested volume remaining;
       (B) for which, not later than 90 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the timber purchaser makes a written 
     request to the Secretary for an economy-related contract 
     extension; and

[[Page S11495]]

       (C) that has not been terminated prior to the request for 
     an economy-related contract extension under section 3(a).
       (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
     Land Management.
       (4) Timber purchaser.--The term ``timber purchaser'' means 
     the party to the qualifying contract for the sale of timber 
     from land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

     SEC. 3. ECONOMY-RELATED CONTRACT EXTENSIONS.

       (a) Request.--Not later than 30 days after a timber 
     purchaser requests an economy-related contract extension of a 
     qualifying contract between the Secretary and the timber 
     purchaser, the Secretary shall modify the qualifying contract 
     to add 3 years to the contract expiration date.
       (b) Waiver of Claims as of Extension.--The timber purchaser 
     shall waive any and all claims the timber purchaser has 
     against the United States involving the qualifying contract 
     that exist on the date that the Secretary modifies the 
     qualifying contract under subsection (a).
       (c) Claims Prior to Date of Extension.--Nothing in this Act 
     affects any claim by the United States against any timber 
     purchaser, including claims that arose under a qualifying 
     contract before the date on which the Secretary extends the 
     contract expiration date under subsection (a).
                                 ______