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FOREST
CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
U.S.
Timber Program Posts Record Losses
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Forest
Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation
Portal
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Conservation Links
06/12/01
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by Forests.org
A new
report by Taxpayers for Common Sense shows that America's
National
Forests continue to be logged at a substantial financial
loss. The U.S. Forest Service's federal timber
program cost
taxpayers
nearly one half of a billion dollars in 1998 - a 23% jump
from
previous years. This represents a
substantial subsidy to
industrial
logging, which severely ecologically reduces America's
national
forests. Logging roads fragment forest
habitats, cause soil
erosion,
and open up natural forests to excessive and damaging
commercial
log harvests.
Other
startling findings include:
* 105
of 111 forests lost money;
* each
acre logged costs $779 and each job costs $7,730 in taxpayer
money;
* the
national forest that does the most restoration and cuts the
least
made the most money, and the one that cuts the most old-growth
lost
the most.
The
report goes on to make a number of reasonable recommendations to
end
these wasteful subsidies. I would add
to their list that no more
roads
must be constructed in America's roadless forest wildernesses.
It is
up to the Bush administration's justice department to do the
right
thing and protect against litigation the ruling that has been
passed
for this purpose.
Where
is the outrage from so-called "fiscal conservatives" that now
have
the reigns of power in the U.S.?
Apparently corporate welfare
that
flows to political supporters is justifiable.
The U.S.
government
must immediately take action to halt subsidies that
destroy
the country's ecological heritage and damage critical
ecosystem
functions. The author of the study
wraps it up nicely,
"The
Forest Service wastes hundreds of millions of dollars each year,
and
Congress doesn't seem to care... they drink martinis on K Street
with
timber industry lobbyists, instead of trying to eliminate this
outrageous
waste of taxpayer money."
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: U.S. Timber Program Posts Record Losses
Source: Copyright 2001 Environment News Service
Date: June 12, 2001
Byline: Cat Lazaroff
WASHINGTON,
DC, June 12, 2001 (ENS) - Waste in the federal timber
sale
program is at an all time high, even as logging levels have hit
a
record low, according to a new report by Taxpayers for Common
Sense,
a national budget watchdog group. The report found that the
federal
timber program cost taxpayers $407 million dollars more than
it
received for its timber sales in 1998.
Using
the most recent government data and agency figures obtained
though
Freedom of Information requests, the report found that the
U.S.
Forest Service is significantly underestimating the timber
program's
financial losses.
"This
agency has become the perennial financial black hole here in
Washington,"
said Jonathan Oppenheimer, director of the Forest
Campaign
at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "The less they do, the more
they
waste. This financial abuse is starting to spiral out of
control."
Key
findings of the report include:
* 105
of the 111 national forests failed to return as much money as
they
spent managing the timber program
*
Earlier this year, the Forest Service underreported its financial
losses
by more than two thirds
* $779
taxpayer dollars were wasted on every acre logged and $7,730
was
lost on every job created
* The
national forest that does the most restoration and cuts the
fewest
old growth trees made the most money in 1998: the Siuslaw
National
Forest in Oregon, which made $11.5 million
* The
forest that proposed the most old growth logging lost the most
money:
Oregon's Willamette National Forest, which lost almost $30
million
"Accountants
at the Forest Service ignore large expenses included in
typical
accounting procedures," continued Oppenheimer. He cited road
construction
and maintenance costs as expenses that the Forest
Service
attempts to downplay in their accounting practices.
The
timber program lost $407 million in 1998, making it the worst
financial
year ever for the program. The new figures represent a 23
percent
jump from the program's $330 million average loss from 1992-
1997,
which the General Accounting Office had previously reported.
The
Forest Service's timber sale program loses money because revenue
from
timber sales does not cover the costs of timber sale
preparation,
administration, road building and other overhead costs.
The
Forest Service also siphons millions of dollars each year into
timber
trust funds, which do not receive adequate oversight by
Congress
or American taxpayers, charges Taxpayers for Common Sense.
The
biggest money losing forests were in the western states,
including
Alaska, Idaho, California, Montana and Washington. Oregon
topped
the list, losing more than $100 million in 1998.
The
states with the worst performing national forests are also the
states
with congressional delegations that are the most supportive of
the
timber industry, Oppenheimer charged.
"The
Forest Service wastes hundreds of millions of dollars each year,
and
Congress doesn't seem to care," said Oppenheimer. "They drink
martinis
on K Street with timber industry lobbyists, instead of
trying
to eliminate this outrageous waste of taxpayer money."
While
this is not the first report to highlight the costs - both
financial
and environmental - of federal timber subsidies, it is the
first
under the new White House administration. The Bush
administration
and new Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth are
expected
to be far more favorable to timber interests than were
former
President George W. Bush and Forest Service Chief Mike
Dombeck.
Just
last week, in a blow to supporters of roadless forest
protection,
Chief Bosworth gave himself sole authority over all
decisions
about timber harvest and road construction in roadless
areas
of national forests. And President George W. Bush's first
federal
budget would increase the timber sale program by more than
$11
million.
In
contrast, according to the Congressional Budget Office, if money
losing
timber sales were eliminated from the Northern, Rocky
Mountain,
Southwestern, Intermountain and Alaska regions of the
Forest
Service, taxpayers would save about $1.6 billion over the next
10
years.
Taxpayers
for Common Sense also proposes that Congress do the
following:
1.
Expedite the release of financial records for the National
Forests:
The latest numbers were released almost three years after
the
close of fiscal year.
2.
Eliminate timber slush funds: The absence of congressional or
public
oversight for these funds to abuse. These funds are often used
to pay
for overhead costs.
3. Eliminate
commercial timber subsidies and reform the budget
structure:
A disproportionate share of the Forest Service's budget
flows
through the timber sale program, even though the program has
declined
in size.
"Congressional
inaction sets a terrible precedent that the more you
rip off
the taxpayer, the bigger your budget will be," concluded
Oppenheimer.
More
information is available at:
http://www.taxpayer.net/forest
Taxpayers
for Common Sense
651
Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington,
DC 20003
Phone:
1-800-TAXPAYER ext. 132
(202)
546-8500 ext. 132
Fax:
(202) 546-8511
Email:
jonathan@taxpayer.net
Website:
www.taxpayer.net
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