H-3909.1          _______________________________________________

                             HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4033

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

By Representatives Hargrove, Basich, Riley, Beck, Sheldon, Jones, Bowman, Morton, Morris, Brumsickle, P. Johnson, Dorn, Rasmussen, J. Kohl, Kremen, Fuhrman, Wynne, Ogden, O'Brien, H. Myers and Paris

Read first time 01/20/92.  Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.Requesting Congress and the President to enact the Forests and Families Protection Act.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

     WHEREAS, For fifty years, labor unions have advocated forestry methods that incorporate environmental values in the form of sustained-use and multiple-use forestry and setting aside timber land in wilderness areas and parks, so that forests can be vital elements in the everyday lives of communities; and

     WHEREAS, In the Pacific Northwest, timber is a primary industry, and hundreds of communities are timber-dependent; and

     WHEREAS, In the Pacific Northwest, workers directly employed by timber companies are woodworkers and truckers, workers in sawmills and plywood mills; and

     WHEREAS, In the Pacific Northwest, the timber industry supports secondary employment in the service and public sectors, employees whose jobs depend on timber sales; and

     WHEREAS, Workers in other parts of the country depend on the raw materials from the Pacific Northwest; workers in furniture, paper, and building materials manufacturing, as well as the building trades; and

     WHEREAS, Pacific Northwest timber makes up more than thirty percent of all the timber used in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, Job losses would erode the tax bases of hundreds of Pacific Northwest communities, jeopardizing public and service sector employment and the delivery of vital social services; and

     WHEREAS, The issue of timber harvesting and protection of species habitat is much broader than the spotted owl and the Pacific Northwest; and

     WHEREAS, The timber industry is a fifty-seven billion dollar industry, employing six hundred twenty-seven thousand workers in every region of the United States and providing seventy percent of the United States' building construction materials; and

     WHEREAS, A failure to find a solution to the issues of the spotted owl and old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest leaves larger issues unaddressed and the door open for continued controversy and economic disruption in nearly every part of the country; and

     WHEREAS, Halting timber harvest in order to protect the owl, the federal government may lose two hundred twenty-nine million dollars a year in timber sales receipts; and

     WHEREAS, The issue is not whether species like the spotted owl deserve protection but rather to find solutions that protect species and protect jobs and communities; and

     WHEREAS, A long-term solution requires a balance between environmental needs and the economic well-being of working families and communities across the country; and

     WHEREAS, Labor unions representing Northwest timber workers have joined with the timber industry to offer a balanced, comprehensive, and fair approach to the forest management crisis in the Northwest, under the title Forests and Families Protection Act, H.R. 2463; and

     WHEREAS, The Forest and Families Protection Act is the only proposal that deals with all of the components of the present problem:  (1) Old-growth reserves; (2) spotted owl protection; (3) timber program stability; and (4) worker assistance and economic adjustment measures;

     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress and the President of the United States enact the Forests and Families Protection Act, H.R. 2463.

     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.