HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 HJM 4001

             As Reported By House Committee On:

                  Natural Resources & Parks

Brief Description:  Requesting a Northwest forest summit.

Sponsors:  Representatives Kessler, Jones, Riley, Basich, Kremen, R. Meyers, Sheldon, Holm, Johanson, Finkbeiner, Campbell, Linville, Jacobsen, Quall, Chappell, Rayburn, Leonard, Fuhrman, Cothern, Long, Brumsickle, Thibaudeau, Springer, Miller, Morton, Wood, Ogden, Morris and Locke.

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Natural Resources & Parks, February 5, 1993, DPA.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES & PARKS

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  Signed by 11 members:  Representatives Pruitt, Chair; R. Johnson, Vice Chair; Morton, Ranking Minority Member; Stevens, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Dunshee; Linville; Schoesler; Sheldon; Thomas; Valle; and Wolfe.

Staff:  Linda Byers (786-7129) and Tim Burke (786-7103).

Background:  During the 1992 Presidential election campaign, then-candidate Bill Clinton proposed holding a "forest summit" in the Pacific Northwest as a way to obtain long-term solutions to the ongoing conflicts between fish and wildlife protection and timber harvesting.

Summary of Amended Bill:  The President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the Senate and House are requested to pursue, with all due speed, the holding of a Northwest forest summit, with the overall goal of seeking long-term solutions to conflicts between fish and wildlife protection and timber harvesting.  Furthermore, they are requested to solicit the opinions of Washington State officials in making important decisions about the conduct of the summit, to adopt specified guiding principles for the conducting of the summit, and to include specified subjects in the summit. 

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The measure as amended is brought into conformity with the style normally used for memorials; does not contain the original measure's recommended outline for federal legislation; and, unlike the original measure, recommends guiding principles and subjects for the summit.  The original measure also contains a request, not included in the measure as amended, that members of Congress refrain from introducing new legislation dealing with forest management issues, pending the outcome of the summit.  

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  The forest summit is an excellent approach for solving the Northwest's very difficult conflicts between the protection of fish and wildlife and the harvesting of timber.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  Kip Kelley, Washington Public Employees Association (Pro);  Representative Lynn Kessler, 24th District (Pro);  Jim Pissot, National Audubon Society (Pro);  Anne Robison, League of Women Voters of Washington (Pro);  Jennifer Belcher, Commissioner of Public Lands (Pro);  Dan Coyne, Simpson Lumber Co. (Pro);  and Steve Gano, Plum Creek (Pro).