Ron Wyden

What I'm going to do on my watch is every single day, show up early, go home late.

I think that after, literally, decades in our part of the country, we are on the cusp of some history-making legislation.

But when Mr. Riverwind was quoted in the paper saying there was no science to take the tree, what science was he referring to?

I guess if you're now saying that you're not objecting, that's good.

My understanding is your field staff participated and signed off on the project.

Let's go to you, Mr. Maluski. The legislation calls for restoration of damaged forests and streams and wildlife.

It's not going to help the forests.

The 'Oregon Eastside Forests Restoration, Old Growth Protection, and Jobs Act' is a historic science-based collaboration for positive solutions in our forests.

We applaud you, Senator Wyden, for your leadership in bringing together diverse groups of Oregonians to craft pioneering legislation.

I think you used the word, it plasticizes.

I wanted particularly to express my appreciation for your goodwill and for Boise Cascade.

I have grave concerns about possible unintended consequences for the National Forest System.

Ecological considerations should guide what we do on our national forests, rather than setting logging targets independently of ecological considerations.

Even though Senator Wyden says he will do everything possible to secure funding, neither he nor Presidents Obama control the appropriation process and the probability of funding is unlikely.

Senator Wyden promises to make every effort to achieve funding but he has been in the majority and chairman of this committee for several years and funding is still inadequate, why should things change now?

I think Mr. Webb, who's with us, still makes a valid point, that if you had sufficient funding, No. 1, and an actual way to jumpstart the process of breaking, you know, the gridlock, you wouldn't need legislation.

You would add a significant co-generation program.

We need to reinvest proactively in avoiding those catastrophic fires and putting the communities to work doing that.

The urgency couldn't be greater. Every day we face severe problems in our Eastside forests.

Senator Wyden, we appreciate the work of you and your staff to introduce this bill.

I believe S. 2895 is representative of this.

I thank you again on a Friday afternoon for making sure you drive home with what this discussion really is about, and that's finding, you know, common ground.

Thanks a lot Ron Wyden, appreciate that.

To argue otherwise is nonsense, it defies both what has been documented and what we can see with our own eyes.

Forests don't recognize ownership or political boundaries, and the problems of forest health, insect and disease and catastrophic wild fires do not recognize those boundaries.