FINAL BILL REPORT

SJM 8023

BYSenators Amondson, Sutherland, Anderson, Barr, Murray, McMullen, von Reichbauer, Lee, Patterson, Johnson, Vognild, DeJarnatt, Patrick, Madsen, Bauer, Sellar, Smith, Saling, Owen, Stratton, West, Moore, Newhouse, Kreidler, McDonald, Warnke and Hayner

Pertaining to forest lands.

Senate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources

House Committe on Natural Resources & Parks

AS PASSED LEGISLATURE

BACKGROUND:

There has been a reduction of United States Forest Service timber harvesting lands, especially on the Olympic Peninsula.  This negatively affects the availability of timber for many mills.

SUMMARY:

There are 17,700,000 acres of commercial forest land in Washington State and 51 percent of this land is publicly owned.  The federal government owns 5.2 million acres.  At the present time 2,337,000 acres of commercial forest land managed by the agencies of the United States government have been withdrawn for parks, wilderness areas, and the protection of various species.

The United States Forest Service has demonstrated that the national forests in Washington have the capacity to provide a benchmark volume of 1.5 billion board feet of timber annually when managed on a sustained yield multiple-use basis.  The Forest Service planning process has not fully considered the needs of communities dependent on timber production.  The historical average timber sale volume from Washington natural forests for the last five years has been 1.2 billion board feet, or 30 million board feet less than the benchmark volume.

The National Forest Management Act plans that are being finalized for Washington national forests propose a further 33 percent reduction in harvest levels.  Proposals before Congress call for the withdrawal of up to an additional 40 percent of federal harvestable timber lands.  These withdrawals are inconsistent with 50 year-old federal government promises made to communities who base their livelihoods on timber from these lands.  The reduction of valuable timber cannot be made up from the sale of additional timber above sustained yield levels from private lands or from state trust lands.

The forest products industry is the second largest employer in the state of Washington.  Approximately 180,000 Washington citizens are dependent on forests for their livelihood.  The Governor's office has estimated that a 43 percent decline in the Forest Service harvest level could result in a worst-case one-time job loss impact of over 18,000 jobs.

The social and economic infrastructures of many rural counties and communities in Washington are highly dependent on the forest products industry.  Timber from federal forest lands has historically contributed more than 20 percent of the raw material for the state's forest products industry, and federal forests supply the majority of raw material to the forest industries in many communities.  The reduction in federal timber harvest will significantly reduce revenues to the state of Washington from virtually all of its major revenue sources:  sales taxes, business and occupation taxes, and timber harvest excise taxes.  Reduction of the federal timber sale receipts and the property tax that support schools and county government will also have a negative economic impact.  Federal, not state decisions, are drastically affecting the timber industry and those jobs associated with it.  The United States Forest Service has been unable to ensure stability in timber supply or a stable long-term management of our nation's forests.

The Legislature requests that:

     (1)Congress recognize its historic commitment to timber processing communities and maintain a harvestable national forest acreage base that will sustain traditional, predictable and historical average annual timber sales levels;

     (2)Congress focus its attention to providing funds and direction to the Forest Service to achieve silviculturally sound management of forest lands, and to fully utilize those lands to produce wood for the nation;

     (3)Congress recognize the investment that communities have made based on the belief that the Forest Service lands would produce a relatively stable timber supply, and that deviations from this historical sales level may cause forest-dependent communities economic and social distress;

     (4)Congress appropriate funds to assist local communities affected by the reduction in historic timber sales, and that these funds be used for economic diversification, modernization of mills, and encouragement of additional wood products manufacturing in Washington;

     (5)Congress, in its commitment to protecting some lands from timber harvesting, also practice innovative forest management on lands not suited to traditional timber harvesting, and use timber management practices on the remaining forest land base which will produce the highest possible timber yields consistent with prudent land management;

     (6)Congress amend the National Forest Management Act planning process to recognize economic needs of people, communities and consumers, and consider their needs along with environmental protection; and

     (7)Congress enact capital gains and other tax legislation specifically related to the timber industry which will encourage, rather than discourage, investment in timber production on private lands.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

     Senate   39    5

     House 70 27 (House amended)

     Senate   38    7 (Senate concurred)