John Doolittle: “in October 1987, BLM sold 3.8 million board feet of timber within the Elkhorn Ridge area in Mendocino County near…”

“in October 1987, BLM sold 3.8 million board feet of timber within the Elkhorn Ridge area in Mendocino County near Laytonville, CA. As the result of a lawsuit filed with the Federal district court in 1989 by the Sierra Club, the BLM reassessed the impacts of the sale on the area's wild and scenic river corridor, northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and the at-risk coho salmon, currently petitioned for Federal listing. The Elkhorn Ridge sale site lies within the South Fork Eel River Management Area, which has been identified as a tier 1 key watershed in the President's Northwest forest plan. The BLM signed a record of decision on May 27, 1994, stopping the harvest of the timber sale. Eel River Sawmills filed a claim under the Contract Disputes Act for resolution of the Elkhorn Ridge timber sale contract, seeking damages of $2.4 million. The BLM's preferred option in resolving the timber contract is to substitute timber from less environmentally sensitive areas in the region. BLM has identified three suitable sale areas which would be nearly equal in value to the Elkhorn timber sale. BLM's Regional and the Department of the Interior Solicitors have concurred in BLM's determination that such a substitute would be in the public interest and the most suitable resolution to this legal dispute. H.R. 2711 enjoys the support of the interested parties and would authorize such a substitute. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”