WASHINGTON, D.C.: Congressman Wally Herger (RRio Oso) has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives which would expedite the process of harvesting salvage timber in burned areas of the National Forest System.

“We need to move expeditiously in harvesting sal vageable timber in burned areas of our National Forests,” Herger said. “We have people whose livelihoods depend on the burned timber being harvested in a timely manner. Unlike regular timber sales, burned timber will rot and become worthless if not harvested promptly. My legislation will help to prevent salvage sales from being endlessly appealed by extreme preservationist groups on frivolous and technical grounds.”

“This legislation is intended to prevent unnecessary delays in the salvaging of burned timber,” Herger added.

“The Forest Service will still be required to ensure that the sales proceed in an environmentally safe manner according to the other laws which govern their activities. These sales are too important for us not to be able to move quickly when it is clearly environmentally safe to do so.”

Herger’s bill would exempt salvage harvesting to timber stands on National Forest System lands from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) if the stands are in imminent danger of attack by insects or disease. Preservationist groups have filed suit against the Forest Service on a series of salvage sales in the Klamath National Forest claiming that the Service has not fully met the provisions of the NEPA law. Many timber industry representatives have said that these suits have little or no basis in merit, but were filed simply to delay the sales long enough so that they would decay and become unsalvageable. An estimated 6.4 million board feet of timber in the Klamath will be lost to deterioration during environmental studies that the service will be required to complete to satisfy those who have filed the law suits. This loss could cost local counties tens of thousands of dollars in lost funds for roads and schools according to the Forest Service.

Article extracted from this publication >>  August 11, 1989