    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [April 2, 1993]
    [Pages 385-386]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 385]]

    Remarks on Opening the Forest Conference in Portland, Oregon
    April 2, 1993

        Good morning. I want to thank every one of you who are in the room
    today and also all of those who are outside--and there are certainly
    many who have come here--for caring enough to be here. We're here to
    discuss issues whose seriousness demands that we respect each other's
    concerns, each other's experiences, and each other's views. Together we
    can move beyond confrontation to build a consensus on a balanced policy
    to preserve jobs and to protect our environment.
        I want to say a special word of thanks to Governor Roberts and Mayor
    Katz for hosting this conference, and Governors Lowry, Wilson, and
    Andrus for attending.
        As you can see, the Vice President and I are here with
    representatives from our administration who deal every day with
    virtually every issue which will be discussed. With us here today are
    the Interior Secretary, Bruce Babbitt; the Agriculture Secretary, Mike
    Espy; Labor Secretary Bob Reich, all of whom have been meeting with
    people here in the Northwest in recent weeks. We also have the Commerce
    Secretary, Ron Brown; Environmental Protection Administrator Carol
    Browner; the Deputy Budget Director, Alice Rivlin; and our Science and
    Technology Adviser, Dr. John Gibbons.
        We're all here to listen and to learn from you. We're here to
    discuss issues about which people feel strongly, believe deeply, and
    often disagree vehemently. That's because the issues are important and
    are related and intrinsic to the very existence of the people who live
    here in the Pacific Northwest.
        We're discussing how people earn their livelihoods. We're discussing
    the air, the water, the forests that are important to your lives. And
    we're addressing the values that are at the core of those lives. From
    the trailblazers and the pioneers to the trapper and the hunters, the
    loggers and the mill workers, the people of the Northwest have earned
    their livings from the land and have lived in awe of the power, the
    majesty, and the beauty of the forests, the rivers, and the streams.
        Coming from a State, as I do, that was also settled by pioneers and
    which is still 53 percent timberland--we have an important timber
    industry and people who appreciate the beauty and the intrinsic value of
    our woodlands--I've often felt at home here in the Northwest. I'll never
    forget the people I've met here over the last year-and-a-half whose
    lives have been touched by the issues that we're here to discuss. I
    remember the timber industry workers with whom I spoke at a town hall
    meeting in Seattle last July who invited me to come to their communities
    and learn about their problems.
        I remember the families from the timber industry whom I met last
    September in Max Groesbeck's backyard in Eugene, Oregon. I was moved
    beyond words by the stories that people told me there and by their
    determination to fight for their communities and their companies and
    their families.
        I was also inspired by Frank Henderson, who had lost his job as a
    timber worker and gone through retraining to learn thermoplastic welding
    and now owns a plastics welding business of his own. He was a guest of
    mine at the Inaugural, and I'm glad to have him here with us today.
        And I remember Elizabeth Bailey of Hayfork, California. She's 11
    years old and she was one of the girls and boys who visited me at the
    White House a few Saturdays ago to participate in our televised townhall
    meeting for children. Her parents, Willie and Nadine Bailey, have had to
    close their timber business because, in the past, politics seemed to
    matter more than people or the environment. And I'm glad that Nadine
    Bailey, a dedicated spokesperson for loggers, is also here with us
    today.
        As I've spoken with people who work in the timber industry I've been
    impressed by their love of the land. As one worker told me at our
    meeting in the Groesbecks' backyard, ``I care about Oregon a lot, the
    beauty of the country.''
        We're fortunate to have people with us today who bring not only a
    variety of experiences but a variety of views to the questions before
    the conference: How can we achieve a balanced and comprehensive policy
    that recognizes the importance of the forests and timber to the economy
    and jobs of this region? And how can we preserve our precious old-growth
    forests which are

    [[Page 386]]

    part of our national heritage and that, once destroyed, can never be
    replaced?
        For too long, the National Government has done more to confuse the
    issues than to clarify them. In the absence of real leadership, at least
    six different Federal Agencies have hooked their horses to different
    sides of the cart, and then they've wondered why the cart wouldn't move
    forward. To make things worse, the rhetoric from Washington has often
    exaggerated and exacerbated the tensions between those who speak about
    the economy and those who speak about the environment.
        Not surprisingly, these issues have very often ended up in court
    while the economy, the environment, and the people have all suffered.
    That's why it's so important that the people here today are meeting in a
    conference room, not a courtroom. Whatever your views, everyone who will
    speak today comes from the Northwest and will have to live with the
    results of whatever decisions we all make.
        We're here to begin a process that will help ensure that you will be
    able to work together in your communities, for the good of your
    businesses, your jobs, and your natural environment. The process we
    begin today will not be easy. Its outcome cannot possibly make everyone
    happy. Perhaps it won't make anyone completely happy. But the worst
    thing we can do is nothing. As we begin this process, the most important
    thing we can do is to admit, all of us to each other, that there are no
    simple or easy answers.
        This is not about choosing between jobs and the environment but
    about recognizing the importance of both and recognizing that virtually
    everyone here and everyone in this region cares about both. After all,
    nobody appreciates the natural environment more than the working people
    who depend upon it for fishing, for boating, for teaching their children
    to respect the land, the rivers, and the forests. And most
    environmentalists are working people and business people themselves, and
    understand that only an economically secure America can have the
    strength and confidence necessary to preserve our land, our water and
    our forests, as you can see in how badly they're despoiled in nations
    that are not economically secure.
        A healthy economy and a healthy environment are not at odds with
    each other. They are essential to each other. Here in the Northwest, as
    in my own home State, people understand that healthy forests are
    important for a healthy forest-based economy; understand that if we
    destroy our old growth forest, we'll lose jobs in salmon fishing and
    tourism and, eventually, in the timber industry as well. We'll destroy
    recreational opportunities in hunting and fishing for all and eventually
    make our communities less attractive.
        We all understand these things. Let's not be afraid to acknowledge
    them and to recognize the simple but powerful truth that we come here
    today less as adversaries than as neighbors and coworkers. Let's
    confront problems, not people.
        Today I ask all of you to speak from your hearts, and I ask you to
    listen and strive to understand the stories of your neighbors. We're all
    here because we want a healthy economic environment and a healthy
    natural environment, because we want to end the divisions here in the
    Northwest and the deadlock in Washington.
        If we commit today to move forward together, we can arrive at a
    balanced solution and put the stalemate behind us. Together, we can make
    a new start.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:38 a.m. at the Oregon Convention Center.
    In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Barbara Roberts of Oregon, Mayor
    Vera Katz of Portland, Gov. Mike Lowry of Washington, Gov. Pete Wilson
    of California, and Gov. Cecil D. Andrus of Idaho.