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Wyden calls on Administration
to move quickly
and protect Oregon jobs in Biscuit salvage
Senator's proposal would allow salvage
to begin sooner and give preference to Oregonians for new jobs
created
April 02, 2004
Washington, DC – Saying
that "time is clearly of the essence," U.S. Senator
Ron Wyden today called on the Administration to move quickly
on salvage operations in the Biscuit fire area. In doing so,
Wyden also urged the Administration to give a "strong preference" in
jobs to Oregonians, who bore the brunt of the Biscuit fire.
"I believe the people of my state, who bore the burden
and fears of the Biscuit fire, and who now bear the burden of
a half million acre burn area, should have a strong preference
in receiving the benefits of any job creation coming out of this
disaster. The National Fire Plan (P.L. 108-108) allows the Secretary,
'in order to provide employment and training opportunities to
people in rural communities…to award contracts…to
local, private, non-profit or cooperative entities,' which would
include in this situation local loggers, drivers and processors.
I urge you to exercise your authority to the fullest extent possible
to put thousands of unemployed and under-employed Oregonians
back to work," Wyden wrote.
In order to get salvage operations going as soon as possible
and create these jobs, Wyden also asked Veneman to produce separate
Records of Decision for distinct areas of the Biscuit salvage,
which would allow less controversial salvage operations to move
forward while potential legal challenges in other areas are resolved.
Wyden hopes this approach would allow work to begin more quickly
than if the Forest Service's 518 million board feet draft preferred
alternative proceeds under a single Record of Decision.
"By producing separate Records of Decision, areas that
are less controversial are likely to receive quicker approval
and salvage, and won't be held back by the proposed salvage areas
where the legal issues are in greater doubt," Wyden wrote.
Wyden's proposal was sent to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann
Veneman today.
# # #
NOTE: The full text of Wyden's letter to Secretary Veneman follows:
April 2, 2004
The Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th & Independence SW
Washington, D.C. 20090-6090
Dear Secretary Veneman,
I write today to urge you to help ensure that salvage operations
move forward quickly in the Biscuit fire area in Oregon, and
that the jobs that arise from those operations be given, to the
greatest extent possible, to Oregon workers.
Recent articles appearing in the Eugene
Register-Guard and on the Associated Press wire suggest that
additional jobs arising
from the Biscuit salvage might not materialize in Oregon due
to the flexibility of the modern wood products industry and the
possibility that non-Oregon mills will receive the salvaged wood.
I believe the people of my state, who bore the burden and fears
of the Biscuit fire, and who now bear the burden of a half million
acre burn area, should have a strong preference in receiving
the benefits of any job creation coming out of this disaster.
The National Fire Plan (P.L. 108-108) allows the Secretary, "in
order to provide employment and training opportunities to people
in rural communities . . . to award contracts . . . to local,
private, non-profit or cooperative entities," which would
include in this situation local loggers, drivers and processors.
I urge you to exercise your authority to the fullest extent possible
to put thousands of unemployed and under-employed Oregonians
back to work.
Of course, no jobs will result from the Biscuit salvage until
a Record of Decision is approved by the Forest Service, and by
the courts should legal challenges emerge. As you know, in the
course of the debate over the Healthy Forests Restoration Act,
I proposed and fought for a streamlined process to navigate the
administrative and legal challenges sure to be confronted in
any effort to salvage burned timber in the Biscuit Fire area
in Southern Oregon. The legislation I put forward with Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (S.1352) included a demonstration project that would
have allowed the Biscuit salvage effort to go forward under the
expedited administrative and judicial process of our healthy
forest initiative. Our bill would have moved the Biscuit salvage
forward more quickly, without affecting the scientific process,
public participation, or environmental protection.
You will recall that the Administration rejected my proposal
on the Biscuit salvage during our negotiations over the Healthy
Forest Restoration Act, even while simultaneously embracing those
same administrative and judicial procedure changes as critical
to moving the nation forward on fire prevention and forest health
issues. In my opinion, the Forest Service is now compounding
this earlier mistake by seemingly ignoring the many legal challenges
to come and the inevitable delay that will result from the current
preferred alternative for salvage in the Biscuit fire.
Your 518 million board feet draft preferred alternative will
inevitably draw legal challenges, and hundreds, if not thousands,
of jobs will be put on hold. Therefore, I am also writing today
to propose a path that can put my constituents back to work more
quickly without trampling the environment or denying citizens
their right to challenge the government in a court of law.
Specifically, I am writing to urge you to produce separate Records
of Decision for the different categories of areas contained in
your Biscuit salvage proposal. You will find there is Federal
precedent for creating separate records of decision (Department
of Energy (DOE) final EIS) for the interim management of nuclear
materials (DOE/EIS-0220, October 20, 1995) at the Savannah River
Site in Aiken, South Carolina). By producing separate Records
of Decision, areas that are less controversial are likely to
receive quicker approval and salvage, and won't be held back
by the proposed salvage areas where the legal issues are in greater
doubt.
While there are a variety of ways to accomplish this, one option
would be to prepare separate Records of Decision for:
I urge the Forest Service to immediately adjust its course so
as to avoid gridlock wherever possible, protect sensitive areas,
and ensure that Oregonians get the jobs that are created. Multiple
Records of Decision may result in salvage and restoration jobs
moving forward more quickly, and exercising your authority to
direct jobs to local loggers and mills will ensure that those
jobs go to the people most affected and most in need.