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                                    ENGROSSED HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4001

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State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By 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

Read first time 01/18/93.  Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.

Requesting a Northwest forest summit.

          TO THE HONORABLE BILL CLINTON, 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, A severe forest management crisis exists in the Pacific Northwest affecting the lives of thousands of timber workers, families, and communities; and

          WHEREAS, There is a fundamental need to protect old growth forest ecosystems through comprehensive forest management of federal lands; and

          WHEREAS, A solution to the forest management crisis must include a perspective that economic needs and ecosystem protection are compatible; and

          WHEREAS, The Clinton administration has demonstrated a willingness to bring key parties together in a forest summit and has sought input from many different parties on how, when, and where such a summit might be conducted; and

          WHEREAS, Washington officials have offered to host this critical policy summit and to provide logistical support, including tours of forest areas and distressed timber communities; and

          WHEREAS, There have been successful conflict resolution efforts in the past in Washington state regarding natural resource disputes by combining summits led by elected officials with more extended consensus efforts among a broad range of interested parties; and

          WHEREAS, While the need is great to invest sufficient time to derive a lasting solution, many families in rural communities are in desperate need of early relief from the hardships this conflict has imposed on them;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that you will pursue with all due speed the holding of a forest summit in the Pacific Northwest, with the overall goal of seeking long-term solutions to conflicts between fish and wildlife protection and timber harvesting.  We further ask that the ideas and suggestions solicited from officials in the state of Washington be considered in making the important decisions about the conduct of the summit.

          We respectfully ask that the following be adopted as guiding principles for the forest summit:

          (1) All stakeholders should have a part in the summit process;

          (2) Elected leaders should be the core of the process and should be accountable for final decisions;

          (3) Information presented at the summit and used by summit participants should be based on the best scientific knowledge available; and

          (4) While as great a consensus as possible should be sought at the summit, no one group should have veto power over summit recommendations.

          Finally, we ask that the subjects covered by the summit process include the following:

          (1) Assistance and retraining for timber workers and their families;

          (2) Restoration of forests and salmonid stocks and habitat;

          (3) Appropriate amount of preservation of old growth forest stands;

          (4) Sustainable timber supply and production;

          (5) Recovery areas for endangered or threatened species;

          (6) Incentives for private landowners;

          (7) The possibility of a federal/state/tribal partnership on ecosystem and landscape management;

          (8) Economic development and diversification;

          (9) Local government revenue; and

          (10) Resolution of litigation.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted, to the Honorable Bill Clinton, 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.

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