Robert Smith: “For all the talk of a postindustrial service economy, Mr. President, people's most basic needs are still food and…”

“For all the talk of a postindustrial service economy, Mr. President, people's most basic needs are still food and shelter. Let me offer some facts and figures to help put things in perspective. Eleven of Oregon's thirty-six counties had double-digit unemployment in March, including Grant County with a rate of nearly 20 percent, Lake County at 15 percent, Wallowa County at 14.4 percent. It is about to get much worse. For example, Mr. President, people do not like the way a clearcut looks, but nature has a way of clearcutting, too. It is called a forest fire. We have them very commonly in my part of the world, and yet even the salvage of burnt timber is not being allowed to be harvested in my State now. That makes no sense. And 122 mills have shut down in Oregon since 1990. Timber receipts to Grant County for roads and schools declined from a high of $12.4 million in 1992--$12.4 million--to $1.9 million in 1997. What are we saying about schools? What are we saying about roads? The amount of timber harvested from our public lands has been reduced by approximately 80 percent. Under the President's Northwest Forest Plan, only 3 million of the 24 million acres--or 12 percent of the available acreage--is open for sustainable timber production. All this despite the fact that tree growth rates exceed harvest rates by 85 to 90 percent.”