Political Quotes

“this is an amendment to strike the so-called Taylor amendment. The Taylor amendment is a timber lobbyist's dream. It deals with salvage sales, and under its definition the salvage amendment will salvage our forests. Among the phrases in the amendment's definition of salvage are the following: the removal of associated trees imminently susceptible to fire, insect attack. The Bureau of Land Management noted in a recent memo, quote, the definition of salvage timber sale is too broad; speaking of the Taylor amendment it is too broad, and is more or less a license for unregulated timber harvest. What does this amendment do? It almost doubles the cutting of timber from our national forests over the amount cut last year. At the same time it suspends all environmental laws protecting the preservation of our forests. On the question of how much will this cost the government, Mr. Chairman, the sky is the limit. As stated in the amendment, the language of the amendment itself, quote, salvage timber sales undertaken pursuant to this section shall not be precluded because the costs of such activities are likely to exceed the revenues derived from such activities. This could mean the government is required to unload much of the new timber even if it has to give it away. These sales are called deficit timber sales, money losers which are most frequently salvaged timber sales.”