The Wyden bill will NOT fix the counties' financial problems; it will NOT meaningfully reduce unemployment; it will NOT protect all the old growth; and it will NOT resolve public conflict over forests.

I think that set of comments by Congressman DeFazio ought to leave people plenty encouraged.

The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act introduced by Senator Tester is a good example of bringing conservation interests and timber interests together.

The Wyden bill excludes the public from participating in the management of their public lands.

Increased logging--especially clearcutting--is incompatible with climate mitigation and other public values.

Most of our industry remains comprised of multi-generational, family-owned companies committed to the long-term future of our communities.

The approach substantially increases the timber going to our mills.

Finally, as Senator Murkowski and I have indicated in past meetings, she and I are going to be working very closely together to find bipartisan, collaborative approaches to addressing these issues on a national level.

I really want to reinforce Senator Wyden's comments when he initiated this, that perhaps the most important thing about this legislation is, for the first time, it begins to define a new pathway forward, a third path, that kinder and…

we can't change our geography. We live where we live.

Any new National Forest policy should recognize the exceptional value of roadless areas and old growth forests.

Our legislation ends the stop-everything approach that has paralyzed forest management.

A well-managed forest produces clean water.

I still think there's benefits to it. It's a pretty simple approach, but I acknowledge the political reality.

Based on guidance from Senator Wyden's staff, to determine how Northern Spotted Owl Critical Habitat would be evaluated in the formulation of the O&C Land Grant Act of 2013.

The Wyden bill undermines the fundamental safeguards provided by our nation's environmental laws.

Chairman Wyden, we appreciate your leadership on this important issue for the State of Oregon.

BLM land managers don't manage these lands anymore. They manage paper, process, and litigation.

I think we did what we were sent here to do, which was try to make good policy in a polarizing time.

Proposals that offer short-term promises of increased timber volumes but don't sustain those into the future do not meet the needs of our industry or the communities.

It's going to be an honor, Senator Murkowski, to continue to sit next to you and Senator Landrieu as we deal with these important issues.

This idea that would neglect, as you and I have talked about, Senator Murkowski, the preventive efforts in the forest, and then you have these massive infernos, and the bureaucracy then raids the prevention fund to put out the fire--that…

I'm very pleased, for example, that there's a Farm Bill finally on the way to the President.

It's time to move away from the extremes, from the swinging pendulum, to find and legislate a reasonable and balanced solution.

The Wyden bill shifts the management emphasis of public forests from public values like clean drinking water, recovery of endangered species, storing carbon, and maintaining quality of life toward an outdated and destructive emphasis on…