Sam Gejdenson: “I rise to object to certain provisions in the conference report on H.R. 1976. While I am deeply concerned about the…”

“I rise to object to certain provisions in the conference report on H.R. 1976. While I am deeply concerned about the effect of cutting $1.4 billion from our natural resource management agencies, several individual items are especially egregious. First and foremost, the conference report contains language which will dramatically increase logging in the Tongass National Forest. This provision may be unfamiliar to Members because it was not in the House bill. It is a backdoor attempt to open the Tongass when scientific evidence and sound forestry management dictate limiting harvests overall and protecting important fish and wildlife habitat. Under this provision, logging would be governed by a 1992 EIS provision, alternative P, which is deemed sufficient to satisfy all requirements of applicable law. By including sufficiency language, this section precludes legal challenges and shuts off public comment. The harvest levels set forth in the EIS are one-third greater than the average over the past decade. Moreover, the Forest Service is directed to develop a management plan for the Tongass which mandates harvest levels at least as high as provided in alternative P. As a result, this measure locks-in unprecedented harvests well beyond fiscal 1996. This measure also makes permanent a provision of H.R. 1944, the fiscal year 1995 rescission package, which prohibits the Forest Service from setting aside any additional wildlife habitat in the Tongass.”