Ron Wyden

Now they tend to be resolved with steel pipe and water conservation projects, and that is why, as you noted, the WaterSMART program is such an extraordinary breakthrough in terms of water management.

Just very briefly, Madam Chair, in our part of the world, disputes in the West about taking water from a river used to be resolved with a gun.

Water is of enormous importance to our area, as Dan Keppen, who I will introduce in just a moment, knows.

Recognizing the need for landscape-scale restoration throughout the forests of eastern Oregon is commendable.

We commend Senator Wyden for holding a Congressional hearing and encourage other hearings and forums where the merits of this legislation can be discussed.

We commend Senator Wyden, his staff, and the stakeholders who participated in developing S. 2895.

S. 2895 represents a concerted effort on the part of the timber industry and its political allies.

There are no scientific studies of these non-existent old-growth forests 'restored' by chainsaws.

This bill is the latest in a series of bills that increase logging on our national forests.

I can tell the people of the Pacific Northwest how much sweat equity went into this effort on the part of Dr. Johnson and his spouse, I would note, who was also very much involved in it, and Professor Franklin.

I wrote that a decade ago. A Democratic president didn't really want to sign it, and I got it reauthorized in the last Congress when a Republican president didn't want to sign it.

I think at this point, we have been at it a little over 2 hours. I have had a tradition over the years that when Oregonians make this very long trek to come back here, I think it is very fitting that our guests ought to have the last word.

I mean, that is all about keeping those mills.

I just had a town meeting over in Lakeview, and I think this was the first time when we didn't really hear those kinds of concerns.

I think that much of the conservation community is there. I believe there is a strong critical mass in favor of this legislation.

S. 2895 claims that the increased logging mandated by this bill will somehow mitigate the effects of climate change.

I would think it is the prerogative of a United States Senator to use any kind of process they want to aid them in drafting legislation.

If, as Sen. Wyden's bill directs, there could be a tripling of volume sold from the Eastern Oregon National Forests...

We do not have time to wait. If we wait, we lose the mills. We lose loggers. We lose all of the infrastructure in order to deal with the problem that all of you have correctly identified.

I think I can call that the Shelk spirit because that is exactly the way you have always done it, and we are very appreciative of it.

What I consistently hear is about the endless appeals, the appeal, an appeal, an appeal.

The walk in the woods, almost like a great foreign policy agreement, is how it began.

I think those are valuable points, and I think I want to go to Mr. Shelk to tell us a little bit about how the discussions began.

I continue to have the only bipartisan health reform bill here in the U.S. Senate, and I am still trying to bring people together on that.

I think it is fair to say that it is not the bill any of us would have written, but we believe it is a workable compromise that will improve the health of Oregon's Eastside forests and help to preserve the livelihoods and tax base of our…