Idaho Wilderness Hearings

Statement:

CO. Mr. Hitchcock. My name is Richard Hitchcock. I own and operate Gem State Lumber Co. Gem States operates a sawmill in Julietta, Idaho, which directly employs 55 people. And our mill is a major employer in Julietta. Our continuing operation depends on a reliable supply timber from the Clearwater National Forest. Currently, about 40 percent of the wood we convert comes from the Clearwater National Forest. Gem State Lumber strongly supports the IFIC proposal for additions to the wilderness system and the release of nonselected areas for return to the forest-planning process. Rather than focus on the details of the industry proposal in the Clearwater National Forest, I would like to address one specific issue—road funding. Proponents of huge wilderness withdrawals would like the public to believe that roadless-area development constitutes a taxpayer subsidy and roadbuilding where costs exceed the value of timber harvested, violates congressional intent. Both contentions are pure fiction. The Forest Service uses two basic road funding methods: (1) purchase credit and (2) congressionally appropriated funds—so called hard money. Most Forest Service permanent roads are built with purchaser credit. Purchasers build roads to Forest Service specifications in exchange for credit toward the purchase of the timber after paying cash for statutory base rates and regeneration costs. Purchaser credit is compensation for providing the Government with a permanent asset at a cost estimated by the Government. Often actual costs exceed Forest Service estimates. This extra road construction cost is borne by the purchaser. A deficit sale purchased at appraised price has no effective road credits. And the purchaser constructs the road at his own expense. If there's any subsidizing going on, it's the timber purchaser subsidizing the Federal Government's acquisition of an asset. Hard money roads are paid for with appropriated funds. Applicable statutes and legislative history show the intent of Congress is twofold. First, to create road systems with standards exceeding those needed for immediate timber harvest in order to satisfy environmental, safety, recreational, long-term management, and other needs. Second, to insure that forest do not unduly rely on purchaser credit and, in the process, reduce county government revenue from timber receipts. Congress recognizes that roadbuilding is directly tied to environmental issues and the Federal Government's obligations to county treasuries. This road funding issue takes on special significance on the Clearwater Forest where less than a third of the forest is roaded. Prompt resolution of the wilderness issue is the first step toward selection of those areas in the forest that will be roaded and become part of a stable timberland base.