S. Hrg. 103-380
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL
BUSINESS
Y4.SM 1/2: S. HRG. 103-380
Hearing on Public Land Use Inpact o...
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS
SEFTEMBER 4, 1993
KAR 3 0 1334
Printed for the Committee on Small Business
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON ; 1994
For ^ale by the U.S. Govemment Printing Office
Superintendent (if Documents. Congressional Saies Office, Washington, DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-043469-6
S. Hrg. 103-380
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL
BUSINESS
Y4.SM 1/2: S. HRG, 103-380
Hearing on Public Land Use Inpact o...
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS
SEFfEMBER 4, 1993
^ti'i^'th..
KA[? 3 0 133^
Printed for the Committee on Small Business
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON ; 1994
For sale by the U.S. Goveinment Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents. Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402
ISBN 0-16-043469-6
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
DALE BUMPERS, of Arkansas, Chairman
SAM NUNN, of Georgia
CARL LEVIN, of Michigan
TOM HARKIN, of Iowa
JOHN F. KERRY, of Massachusetts
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, of Connecticut
PAUL DAVID WELLSTONE, of Minnesota
HARRIS WOFFORD, of Pennsylvania
HOWELL HEFLIN, of Alabama
FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, of New Jersey
HERB KOHL, of Wisconsin
CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN, of Illinois
LARRY PRESSLER, of South Dakota
MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming
CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri
CONRAD BURNS, Montana
CONNIE MACK, Florida
PAUL COVERDELL, of Georgia
DIRK KEMPTHORNE, of Idaho
ROBERT F. BENNETT, of Utah
JOHN H. CHAFEE, of Rhode Island
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, of Texas
John W. Ball III, Staff Director
Thomas G. Hohenthaner, Minority Staff Director
(II)
CONTENTS
Page
Statements of Senators:
Pressler, Hon. Larry, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota 1
Statements of:
Davis, Frank, director of the Division of Forestry, South Dakota Depart-
ment of Agriculture, representing Governor Walter Dale Miller 3
Sylva, Stanley, resource staff officer, Black Hills National Forest, repre-
senting Secretary Mike Espy, U.S. Department of Agriculture 7
Vitter, Drue, mayor. Hill City, SD 21
Meredith, Dave, president, McLaughlin Sawmill Company, Spearfish, SD.. 25
Perdue, Don, president, Perdues, Inc., Rapid City, SD 50
Honerkamp, Bill, president, Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association . 51
Mann, Larry, government affairs representative, Homestake Mining
Company, Leads, SD 55
Nelson, Larry, president. South Dakota Public Lands Council 58
Brademeyer, Brian, Black Hills Group Sierra Club 63
Satrom, Joseph, Nature Conservancy, South Dakota/North Dakota State
office 80
Fort, Dick, member. Action for the Environment, Rapid City, SD 90
Troxel, Tom, executive secretary. Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coa-
lition 92
Many, Angela, secretary, Black Hills Women in Timber, Hill City, SD 104
Percevich, John, owner and operator, Pactola Pines Marina, Rapid City,
SD 121
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
Daschle, Hon. Tom, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota,
prepared statement 132
Johnson, Hon. Tim, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Dakota,
prepared statement 133
Gladics, Frank M., vice president, Western Forest Industries Association,
prepared statement 135
Winterton, James E., project manager, Belle Fourche Irrigation District,
prepared statment 154
Benson, Leonard, prepared statement 156
Williams, Maurice, general manager. Continental Lumber Co., Inc., pre-
pared statement 158
Stebbin, David, trucking company owner, prepared statement 160
McDermand, Marty, line operator, prepared statement 162
Keiry, William, dairy farmer, prepared statement 164
Logue, Joe, rancher-trapper, prepared statement 166
Brown, Maurice, prepared statement 168
Dennis, Raymond L., county commissioner, prepared statement 170
Willett, Leonard, prepared statement 171
Storla, James, saw mill worker, prepared statement 172
Kellogg, Druse, logger's wife, prepared statement 173
Scott, Larry, material scheduler, prepared statement 174
Oakes, Arthur L., prepared statement 176
Redfern, Richard R., geological-hydrological consultant, prepared state-
ment 177
Miller, Major F., rancher and county commissioner, prepared statement ... 179
Bunge, Wayne R., engineer, prepared statement 180
Brenneisen, Dave, forester and mayor of Fruitdale, prepared statement 182
(HI)
IV
Page
Statements of — Continued
Alexander, Kelsey M., forseter and operations research analyst, prepared
statement 184
Nicholas, Joanne, rancher, prepared statement 187
Raver, Joe and Gladys, ranchers, prepared statement 188
Williams, Rodney, forester, prepared statement 189
Talley, Terri, saw mill worker, prepared statement 192
Hemenway, Tracey, saw mill worker, prepared statement 193
Heiberger, Rodney, saw mill worker, prepared statement 194
White, Ron, forester, prepared statement 196
Pauley, Shane, forester, prepared statement 198
McCoy, James and Alice, childcare providers, prepared statement 200
Smith, Paul K., CPA, prepared statement 201
Miller, Jean, owner, Bald Mountain Mining Company, prepared state-
ment 206
Ruediger, Ron, prepared statement 208
Scandrett, Lila, prepared statement 210
Ballard, Ellen, teacher, prepared statement 212
Krebs, Alice, saw mill worker, prepared statement 214
Melius, Michael, farmer, prepared statement 215
Hilding, Nancy, artist, prepared statement 217
Sauer, Greg, prepared statement 230
Rasmussen, Richard, State director, The Izaak Walton League of Amer-
ica, prepared statement 232
HEARING DATE
September 4, 1993:
Morning session 1
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON
SMALL BUSINESS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1993
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Small Business,
Rapid City, SD
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. at Howard
Johnson Lodge, Hon. Larry Pressler presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LARRY PRESSLER, A U.S.
SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Senator Pressler. Good morning. I want to welcome our wit-
nesses and everyone else in attendance today. I am pleased to have
the opportunity to bring this official U.S. Senate Small Business
Committee hearing to Rapid City.
As you came in this morning, official testimony sheets were
available at the sign-in table. I invite all of you to offer written
comments that will be entered into the permanent Committee
record just as the testimony of today's panelists will be included. If
you want to write down in a summary form some opinion or some
reaction you have today, I will make it a part of the record. Please
give your completed sheets to my staff.
The economy of this region is extremely dependent upon the
Black Hills and the policies that affect the public land in those
Hills. What we are discussing today is so important that it tran-
scends political boundaries. Entire livelihoods will be affected by
government decisions. Republican or Democrat. When it comes to
jobs, the people of South Dakota must come first.
This morning we will examine how changes in forest manage-
ment, including wilderness proposals, could impact small business-
es. The 63 percent of South Dakota public lands owned by the
Forest Service sustain many small businesses, which drive this re-
gion's economy. I believe we have a chart here which shows that.
It's self-explanatory. The timber industry is a good example of
what we're talking about as it depends on public lands for two-
thirds of its lumber.
It is important to point out that the Black Hills National Forest
is different from forests in the pacific northwest. Ponderosa Pine
trees go well here, too well, in fact. Proper forest management pre-
vents forest fires.
The Black Hills have been well managed for many years based
on a multiple use model. In 1983, the first 10-year forest manage-
(1)
ment plan was developed here and is now being revised for the
next 10 years.
However, before we go ahead with a new 10-year plan for the
Black Hills, there is an important dispute that must be settled.
How much timber is in the Hills? Today the Forest Service and
the forest users have significantly different estimates about the
amount of sellable board feet.
Common sense tells me that this data should be agreed upon
before the release of any plan. The number of trees in the Hills ob-
viously will affect the 10-year plan and the future of the Black
Hills. There will be differences of opinion as to how these lands are
managed, but we should all be able to agree on what's out there.
I call for the release of the data the Forest Service used to calcu-
late its timber estimates and how the service arrived at its num-
bers. I think that's something we all deserve to know, because I
know there have been different timber estimates by some of the
local forest people, by some of the local people, and the Forest
Service.
Our public lands have provided a rich and colorful history of
ranching, logging, and mining to which we have added manufactur-
ing, tourism, and recreation more recently. Over the years, a tradi-
tion of small business entrepreneurship has sustained the economy
and the families in this region. In 1992, employment-related
income from the timber industry alone was 76 million. That's on
this chart over here. Thousands of employees in small business
depend on access to the Black Hills to make their livings. If we
close off the Black Hills, we cut off jobs. Tourism, for example, em-
ployed 24,944 people in 1992, certainly due in part to the accessibil-
ity of the national forest. Through all this, we must remember that
these numbers are real people with real jobs and real families
hanging in the balance.
Multiple use related businesses are facing tough economic times.
The possibility of a sizably reduced allowable sale quantity and the
oftentimes frivolous appeals process threaten the future of forest-
related jobs. And let me say that I have been very critical of frivo-
lous appeals, which, as I understand it, the Sierra Club routinely
files. They are very costly for small business men and women. Now
if they have a reason to file appeals, I would not feel it, but I've
become very disillusioned, and my voting record in Congress has
been to change that appeals process. We've had several votes on it.
I'd be happy to send anybody the results of those votes. I have been
on the losing side.
If we fail to reverse this trend of appeals, small business entre-
preneurship will be bulldozed by a small fraction of environmental-
ists— I should say extreme environmentalists, because we're all en-
vironmentalists. But the Sierra Club and extreme environmental-
ists have been, I think, irresponsible in filing appeals on every
single proposed timber sale. And that's just creating havoc with job
creation. Their narrow agenda does not speak for the greater needs
of this area.
Finding the right balance between multiple use and environmen-
tal concerns is not an easy task, but I believe the Black Hills can
continue to be a leader as a model of successful multiple use man-
agement of the our public lands.
Again, I welcome all of you.
Now our first panel consists of Frank Davis, a representative of
the Governor, Walter Dale Miller; Stanley Sylva, a representative
of the Department of Agriculture, and who is a Resource Staff Offi-
cer with the Black Hills National Forest; and Drue Vitter, mayor
of Hill City.
Now this morning I want to move right along. In inviting wit-
nesses, we ask them to summarize their statements to 5 minutes.
We ask them to do that orally. We will place their entire state-
ments in the record. One Committee chairman in Washington says
a brilliant man can condense it down to 3 minutes. I don't know —
not very many Senators are able to do that. But the point is the
entire statement will be in the record, if you can summarize, so we
can move right along and have time for questions. I would appreci-
ate that very much. I have summarized my opening statement.
So I will first call on Frank Davis for a summary of his state-
ment.
STATEMENT OF FRANK DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF
FORESTRY. SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE;
REPRESENTING GOVERNOR WALTER DALE MILLER
Mr. Davis. Thank you very much. Senator.
Senator Pressler. And you're speaking on behalf of the Gover-
nor?
Mr. Davis. Yes. It's a pleasure to be here representing the Gover-
nor. He's tied up at the State Fair and cannot attend. I'm pleased
to discuss the Black Hills forest management situation, the 10-year
plan, and the Sierra wilderness proposal.
Let me give you a short quote. "Throughout the Hills the
number of trees which bear the marks of the thunderbolt is very
remarkable. The woods are frequently set on fire and vast damage
is done. There are many broad belts of country covered with tall
straight trunks of what was only a short time before a splendid
forest of trees, now charred, dead and useless."
Another brief quote, "The very large mass of these pine forests,
dark and rich and beautiful as they are, are yet composed of trees
the very large majority of which are less than 8 inches in diameter.
There is scarcely to be found in the Black Hills a forest of old
trees."
Now these lines were written by Colonel Dodge in 1875, after his
expedition to the Black Hills, which lasted 3 months in 1875, before
any settling. He described the natural condition of the Black Hills
as they looked then. He also tells us how they would look today
had they been left to the natural forces of fire, windstorm, and
bark beetles.
My purpose here in bringing this up is to illustrate that today
we're dealing with a forest in an unnatural condition, a forest no
longer being regulated by natural forces, a forest which now rnust
be managed by the overt acts of man if it is to remain beautiful,
healthy, and productive, because we can no longer allow fire its
free reign in the forest.
Today I am representing Governor Miller, and he is, in effect,
representing our late Governor George Mickelson, who only a
month before his tragic and untimely death spoke to a group of
about 200 pubHc land users in Rapid City. I want to use some ex-
cerpts from what he said at that time here.
"Number one on my list of concerns is continued support on a
local, State, and federal level for multiple use management of our
national forest lands."
He also said, "The mining industry has accepted reasonable reg-
ulation and taxation. But we must guard against those who would
overzealously regulate mining, as well as the timber industry and
the cattle rancher, out of business. Likewise, grazing has been an
important industry here. Responsible grazing can complement effi-
cient management of our forests and grasslands.
But as I speak to you today, the timber industry is in a crisis.
Both in the short and long term, the supply of logs is uncertain.
We have lost at least 80 jobs this year, and I fear we will lose more
in the near future." And we did. "These jobs, too, are some of our
highest paying, full-time, permanent jobs. Unlike mining, these
jobs are not dependent upon a finite resource like gold ore, but on
trees, a renewable resource. You cannot convince me we should be
losing jobs in the timber industry.
The longer-term question is how much timber will be available
from the Black Hills National Forest. There are concerted efforts
underway to curtail timber harvesting not only here but Nation-
wide.
He also said that virtually every benefit we derive from our
forest requires management. He said, "I believe the best and most
cost-effective management is a responsible combination of commer-
cial logging, precommercial thinning and prescribed burning when
and where it can be safely accomplished."
I don't want to skip what he said about the wilderness situation,
so let me get to that, leaving out some of the things I would like to
say. But he says, "I haven't yet mentioned the wilderness areas.
Let me do so briefly. I do not support additional wilderness areas
for two primary reasons. First, the works of man are so prevalent
in the Black Hills there is really no true wilderness left to pre-
serve. And second, because a true wilderness must be natural.
Without the free reign of fire, no wilderness area in the Black Hills
will be natural. But we cannot allow fire to burn unchecked.
Also, I am not convinced wilderness areas will attract additional
tourists to the Black Hills, but I do know they could adversely
affect ranching, timbering, and our most popular forms of recrea-
tion.
On balance, I am convinced that further designation of wilder-
ness areas will harm, rather than help, the economy and will be
detrimental to a healthy forest ecosystem."
Let me summarize quickly with five very brief points about the
wilderness proposal from my standpoint. This is not what Governor
Mickelson said. These words are mine. First, every tree presently
standing in the existing Black Elk Wilderness Area and any future
wilderness area will one day die a natural death. And I think
that's an obvious fact.
No. 2, as described by Custer and Dodge, the most likely agent of
death will be wildfire. I add that the second most likely cause of
death will be an epidemic of bark beetles.
No. 3, wilderness designation in the Black Hills, then, is really a
management option to accept stand replacing catastrophe as the
regulating force in these areas.
No. 4, this management option jeopardizes both public and pri-
vate lands in the vicinity of the wilderness areas since obviously
these agents of massive destruction do not respect artificial bound-
aries. This management option also guarantees the areas will not
forever remain in their present condition to be passed from genera-
tion to generation as some seem to expect.
No. 5, so far as a 10-year forest plan is concerned, I agree with
our late Governor Mickelson and our present Governor Miller. Vir-
tually every acre of the Black Hills National Forest needs some
form of management to keep it in a vigorous, healthy, aesthetically
pleasing, and productive condition. The forest plan should recog-
nize this, and it should be reflected in the size of the timber pro-
gram.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Davis follows:]
Prepared Statement of Frank Davis
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am Frank Davis, State forester
of South Dakota today representing Governor Miller who regrets a previous commit-
ment prevents his attendance. I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss
multiple use management in the Black Hills, the proposed Black Hills National
Forest 10-year plan and the wilderness plan put forth by the Black Hills Group,
Sierra Club.
"Throughout the Hills the number of trees which bear the marks of the thunder-
bolt is very remarkable, and the strongest proof of the violence and frequent recur-
rence of these storms. The woods are frequently set on fire and vast damage done.
There are many broad belts of country covered with the tall straight trunks of what
was only a short time before a splendid forest of trees, now charred, dead, and use-
less."
"The very large mass of these pine forests, dark and rich and beautiful as they
are, are yet composed of trees the very large majority of which are less than 8
inches in diameter. There is scarcely to be found in the Black Hills a forest of old
trees."
The above lines were taken from the book written by Colonel Dodge following his
3-month visit to the Hills in the summer of 1875 prior to any settlement save for a
few miners exploiting the gold discovered by General Custer's expedition in 1874.
His descriptions, then, are of the natural condition of the Black Hills. He tells us
how they looked then and how they would look today had they been left to the natu-
ral forces of fire, windstorm and bark beetles.
Reinforcing Dodge's description are a large number of photographs taken by the
Custer expedition in 1874. These pictures show a much more open forest than the
one we see today following nearly a century of fire suppression and other manage-
ment activities.
My purpose in bringing up this ancient history is to illustrate that today we are
dealing with a forest in an unnatural condition— a forest no longer being regulated
by natural forces. A forest which must now be managed by the overt acts of man if
it is to remain beautiful, healthy and productive because we cannot allow the free
reign of its principle natural regulator— fire. The new forest plan must recognize
this fact.
I am today representing Governor Miller, and he is, in effect, representing our
late Governor George S. Mickelson who only a month before his tragic and untimely
death, spoke to a group of 250 public land users here in Rapid City. Because I know
Governor Miller shares the philosophy and principles expressed by Governor Mick-
elson that day, I now want to share with you some excerpts from that speech.
"Number one on my list of concerns is continued support on a local, State, and
federal level for multiple use management of our National Forest lands. As I see it,
we also need to simplify the appeals process governing timber sales in the Black
Hills National Forest. Reform of a cumbersome appeals process means we can make
good, honest decisions about the future of our forest resources.
The Black Hills that we see today is NOT what early-day visitors encountered.
Nineteenth century accounts describe a forest dominated by fire. A forest with more
openings, more aspen, more chokecherry and other brush. And pine stands more
open than the dense stands that we see today. We see in these old pictures and jour-
nals a landscape with more grass and browse and less timber than exists today.
But I'm here today to tell you why I think multiple use management works for
our diverse Black Hills economy. And, the reason it works is exactly because we
have a checkerboard of federal law governing the historical development of this
region. Our present economic situation absolutely mandates a multiple use resource
management approach if the Black Hills area is to prosper! And I'm here to tell you
we are going to prosper!
Today, in addition to the basic, early natural resource industries of mining, graz-
ing and logging, we have added tourism and recreation as equally important part-
ners in our interlocked resource economy. Mining today, and for many years, has
offered some of the best paying jobs in South Dakota. With the current low price of
gold, and the depletion of some rich ore deposits, the mining industry is at a cross-
roads. There is little we can do about either problem.
The mining industry has accepted reasonable regulation and taxation. But, we
must guard against those who would overzealously regulate mining — as well as the
timber industry and the cattle rancher — out of business. Likewise, grazing has been
an important industry here. Responsible grazing can complement efficient manage-
ment of our forests and grasslands.
But, as I speak to you today, the timber industry is in a crisis. Both in the short-
term and long-term, the supply of logs is uncertain. We have lost at least 80 jobs
this year, and I fear we will lose more in the near future. These jobs, too, are some
of our highest paying, full-time, permanent jobs. Unlike mining, these jobs are not
dependent upon a finite resource like gold ore, but on trees — a renewable resource.
You cannot convince me we should be losing jobs in the timber industry, even for
the best of intentions.
As I said earlier, sawmilling began with the earliest settlers and miners. It contin-
ues today and will continue to the foreseeable future. But at what level?
Five billion board feet of logs have been harvested since the Forest Service began
keeping records in 1898.
How much timber remains today in the National Forest? Five billion board feet.
The same amount we have harvested, and certainly a lot more than was here 100
years ago. Lack of trees to harvest is not the problem.
The longer-term question is how much timber will be available from the National
Forest over the next 10 to 15 years. Not only in South Dakota, but nationally, there
are concerted efforts underway to curtail timber harvesting in National Forests.
I'm particularly concerned about our rural communities in the Black Hills. Recre-
ation in many forms — hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing, camping, winter
sports — are all important to our livelihood. But, equally important is the backbone
of our Black Hills economy, ranching, logging, and mining. These industries provide
permanent, steady income. These industries are compatible with each other and,
with recreation, often enhancing rather than detracting from recreational opportu-
nity.
We must recognize our present Black Hills Ponderosa Pine forest is in an unnatu-
ral condition. It is much thicker than it would be if left to the whims of nature.
When settlement occurred, fire suppression began. Ecologists estimate that, in its
natural state, each average acre burned once every 15 to 20 years. Think about that.
What it means is fires burned about 60,000 acres of the present 1.2 million acre Na-
tional Forest each year! Or looking at the entire Black Hills ecosystem, an average
of at least 100,000 acres burned annually.
Quickly jumping to the present, we see that by eliminating a major natural regu-
lator of forest growth an unnatural, dense pine forest resulted. I say all this to illus-
trate that, while we certainly cannot allow 100,000 acres to burn naturally, we still
must regulate forest density for fire safety and other reasons.
And, the thicker the trees, the less grass under them. Water yield is also very
important. The thicker the pines — the less water. So, timber is important — the
thicker the trees the slower they grow, and the more likely they are to be attacked
and killed by bark beetles or burned in a wildfire.
Virtually every benefit we derive from our forest requires management. I believe
the best and most cost-effective management is a responsible combination of com-
mercial logging, precommercial thinning and prescribed burning when, and where,
it can be safely accomplished.
For all these reasons, I urge the Forest Service to continue to aggressively
manage its lands in the Black Hills by maintaining a strong timber program.
The Forest Service recently embarked upon a new management philosophy called
"Ecosystem Management." I suggest the Black Hills ecosystem needs more; not less,
active vegetation manipulation and control, because we have too many pine trees.
Benign neglect only results in outbreaks of bark beetles and more severe wildfires.
Active management will result in a healthier and safer forest, and a strong econo-
my, which is a win-win situation for everyone.
I haven't yet mentioned wilderness areas. Let me do so briefly. I do not support
additional wilderness areas for two primary reasons: First the works of man are so
prevalent in the Black Hills there is really no true wilderness left to preserve; and
second, because a true wilderness must be natural. Without the free reign of fire, no
wilderness area in the Black Hills will be natural. But we cannot allow fire to burn
unchecked.
Also, I am not convinced wilderness areas will attract additional tourists to the
Black Hills, but I do know they could adversely affect ranching, timbering and our
most popular forms of recreation.
On balance, I am convinced that further designation of wilderness areas will
harm, rather than help, the economy and will be detrimental to a healthy forest
ecosystem.
Multiple use has worked for us — it is working for us and will continue working
for us if we all cooperate to make sure it is working right.
Adding to Governor Mickelson's remarks, let me make a few closing observations:
1. Every tree presently standing in the existing Black Elk Wilderness Area
and any future wilderness area will one day die a natural death. This is fact.
2. As described by Custer and Dodge, the most likely agent of death will be
wildfire. I add that the second most likely cause of death will be an epidemic of
mountain pine beetle.
3. Wilderness designation in the Black Hills, then, is really a management
option to accept stand replacing catastrophe as the regulating force in these
areas.
4. This management option jeopardizes both public and private lands in the
vicinity of the wilderness areas since obviously these agents of massive destruc-
tion do not respect artificial boundaries. This management option also guaran-
tees the areas will not forever remain in their present condition to be passed on
from generation to generation as some seem to expect.
5. So far as the 10-year Forest Plan is concerned, I agree with our late Gover-
nor Mickelson and our present Governor Miller. Virtually every acre of this Na-
tional Forest needs some form of management to keep it in a vigorous, healthy
aesthetically pleasing and productive condition. The Forest Plan should recog-
nize this and it should be reflected in the size of the timber program.
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
Mr. Sylva.
STATEMENT OF STANLEY SYLVA, RESOURCE STAFF OFFICER,
BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST; REPRESENTING SECRETARY
MIKE ESPY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Mr. Sylva. Mr. Chairman, I'm Stanley Sylva here representing
the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service. Thank
you for the opportunity to address the possible effects of the Black
Hills National Forest Management Plan Revision, including wilder-
ness proposals on small business in this area.
The Black Hills National Forest provides commodities such as
timber, minerals, forage, and amenities such as recreation and wil-
derness experiences, wildlife habitat, soil and water resources, and
other environmental benefits. In fiscal year 1992, we returned over
4.1 million dollars to the States and counties from receipts generat-
ed from the sale of timber and other forest activities. Through our
State and Private Forestry Program, we provided $595,000 in feder-
al financial assistance. Also, more than 2,100 jobs were created in
South Dakota and Wyoming from our timber sale program.
The current forest plan was approved by the regional forester in
1983. In accordance with the requirements of the National Forest
8
Management Act, we are in the process of revising that plan.
Based on the results of the forest plan monitoring and on public
input, we have identified six areas where significant changes may
be needed in the plan. These areas are water yield, roadless areas,
locatable minerals, leasable minerals, suitable timber lands and al-
lowable sale quantity on those lands, and biological diversity.
In the revision process, each alternative will be evaluated for its
potential to produce a healthy, productive forest. Social and eco-
nomic consequences will be displayed, and a recommendation will
be made as to which alternative produces the best mix of goods and
services, both commodities and amenities.
I must stress at this point that no decisions have been made re-
garding the alternative to be selected in the forest plan revision. A
draft plan with the recommended alternatives should be published
this winter. After it is released, a 90-day public comment period
will occur. We will then consider all public input and modify the
draft plan as appropriate and publish a fmal forest plan revision
probably sometime next summer.
One of our major programs on the forest is recreation. We use
concessionaires to operate many of our campgrounds. Our four con-
cessionaires took in $160,000 in camping fees in 1992 and paid the
Federal Government $25,000 while still providing quality service to
the user. For 1992, we estimate that recreationists on the forest
contributed over 31 million dollars to the local economies. Based on
available information, we do not anticipate significant changes in
the recreation program due to the revision of the forest plan. If ad-
ditional wilderness is designated, recreation opportunities on those
acres would change from current use.
Another of our major customers on the forest is the local ranch-
er. In 1992, approximately 22,000 animals grazed on the forest.
Most of our permits are issued to small operators that run less
than 150 head of livestock. Revenue the Forest Service received for
permits in 1992 was $168,000. Forty-two thousand went to the coun-
ties. We anticipate that the revision of the forest plan will result in
little change in the current range program on the forest. Minor
changes may occur as we take action to improve some riparian
areas.
Mining is another program on the forest. Larger mines, such as
Homestake, are mostly on private land, but there are some small
business mining companies operating on the forest at this time. An
example is Pacer Corporation on the Custer District.
Not surprisingly, the timber sale program is a significant con-
tributor to economic activity in the region. The dollar value of
timber purchased by small businesses varies from year to year. In
1992, 14 million dollars' worth of timber was harvested from the
Black Hills National Forest. With the exception of one company,
all purchasers are small businesses. Small businesses are presently
given the opportunity to purchase 54 percent of our sales by
volume without competition from large businesses.
Under the preliminary alternatives being considered in the
forest plan revision, the allowable sales quantity could range from
a low of approximately 40 million board feet to a high of around
100 million board feet of sawtimber. By comparison, over the last
decade, an average of 120 million board feet of sawtimber has been
harvested from the forest. In spite of possible short-term price in-
creases as operators try to protect their timber supplies, if the al-
ternative chosen in the forest plan revision results in a lower
amount of timber offered, the receipts to the counties would likely
decrease over the long term as less timber is offered for sale. In
1992, timber receipts to the counties in South Dakota and Wyo-
ming were about 3.4 million dollars.
Management of lands that are components of the National Wil-
derness System is also a program that will be covered in the plan
revision. As Chairman Pressler is aware, the Black Hills is a rela-
tively small forest with much interspersed private ownership. The
only existing wilderness is the Black Elk Wilderness, which covers
9,862 acres. In the plan revision process, we have identified three
additional areas that we believe meet the criteria for designation
as set forth in the Wilderness Act of 1964. These areas cover ap-
proximately 16,500 acres and are being analyzed in depth as part of
the plan revision. Our preliminary findings indicate that if the
three areas were added to the wilderness system, the impact on the
allowable sale quantity over the next 10-year period would be ap-
proximately a 5 percent reduction.
Although not covered by the forest plan, I would also like to
mention several of our other programs that do contribute to the
local economy. We recognize the dependencies of some communities
in the Black Hills and the possible need to diversify some of those
communities. A relatively new program in the Forest Service as a
result of the 1990 Farm Bill is the Rural Community Assistance
program. Over the last 2 years $95,000 was obtained to assist the
communities of Belle Fourche, Custer, Newcastle, and Sundance
with their projects.
Another effect public lands have on small businesses is through
our purchasing and contracting of goods and services. In the years
1988 through 1991, the Black Hills National Forest spent approxi-
mately 88 percent of our procurement dollars with small business-
es, which averaged approximately 5.5 million dollars per year. A
significant amount of business is done with small businesses
through our Job Corps Center in Nemo, SD.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that the employees of the
Black Hills National Forest are also members of the community.
As such, we patronize small business in the communities in which
we live and work, contributing to the direct economic well-being of
those communities.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Sylva follows:]
Prepared Statement of Stanley G. Sylva
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to
address the possible effects of the Black Hills National Forest Management Plan
Revision including wilderness proposals on the small businesses in this area. In my
testimony today I will provide a brief national perspective on the contributions
made by National Forest System lands to the economic vitality of small business
and of the specific contributions made by activities on the Black Hills National
Forest to local business. I will also address how the Forest Plan is to be revised, and
how that might affect local businesses.
The USDA Forest Service includes over 191 million acres of National Forest
System lands and grasslands all across the United States. National Forests provide
commodities such as timber, minerals, and forage, and amenities such as recreation
10
and wilderness experiences, wildlife habitat, soil and water resources, and other en-
vironmental benefits. Over 691 million visits were made to our campgrounds and
recreation areas in Fiscal Year 1992 contributing an estimated $6 billion to local
and rural economies. We provided technical and financial assistance to more than
190,000 State and private landowners. State foresters, local agencies, and American
Indian Tribes. In FY 1992, we cooperated with over 4,285 State, local, and county
governments, private associations, and numerous interest groups, to construct, reha-
bilitate, and improve recreation, wildlife, trails, and research projects. Also, the
Forest Service timber sale program generated almost 94,000 jobs Nationwide last
fiscal year.
The Black Hills National Forest which is located in Western South Dakota and
Eastern Wyoming, contains 1.2 million acres of National Forest System lands with
300,000 acres of private ownership intermixed. In Fiscal Year 1992, we returned
over $4.1 million to the States and counties from receipts generated from the sale of
timber and other forest activities. Through our State and Private Forestry Program,
we provided $595,000 in federal financial assistance. Also, more than 2,100 jobs were
created in South Dakota and Wyoming from our timber sale program.
The current Forest Plan was approved by the regional forester in 1983. In accord-
ance with the requirements of the National Forest Management Act, we are in the
process of revising that plan. Based on the results of Forest Plan monitoring and on
public input, we have identified six areas where significant changes may be needed
in the plan. These areas are water yield, roadless areas, locatable minerals, leasable
minerals, suitable timber lands and the allowable sale quantity on those lands, and
biological diversity. Further, we have developed nine alternative strategies that will
address these areas including an alternative that essentially continues current man-
agement practices. All alternatives comply with direction contained in relevant leg-
islation such as the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the National Forest
Management Act of 1976, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
In the revision process, each alternative will be evaluated for its efficacy in pro-
ducing a healthy, productive forest. Social and economic consequences will be dis-
played, and a recommendation will be made as to which alternative produces the
best mix of goods and services, both commodities and amenities.
I must stress that, at this point, no decisions have been made regarding the alter-
native to be selected in the Forest Plan revision. A draft plan with the recommend-
ed alternative should be published this winter. After it is released, a 90-day public
comment period will occur. We will then consider all public input and modify the
draft plan as appropriate and publish the final Forest Plan revision, probably some
time next summer. Let me now turn to specific program areas, their contribution to
local economies and to changes that might result from the Forest Plan revision.
One of our major programs is recreation. We use concessionaires to operate many
of our campgrounds. Our four concessionaires took in $160,000 in camping fees in
1992 and paid the Federal Government $25,000, while providing quality service to
the public. There are also many small businesses serving the visitor to the Black
Hills, from providing teeshirt sales at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, to horseback
rides in Deadwood, to hot air balloon rides in Custer. For 1992, we estimate that
recreationists on the Forest contributed over $31 million to the local economies.
Based on available information, we do not anticipate significant changes in the
recreation program due to revision of the Forest Plan. However, some revision alter-
natives would increase opportunities for semi-primitive recreation across the Forest.
If additional wilderness is designated, recreation opportunities on those acres would
change from current use.
Another of our major customers is the local rancher who has a grazing permit for
National Forest System lands. In 1992, approximately 22,000 animals grazed on the
Black Hills National Forest. Forty-three percent of our total number of permits are
for less than 50 animals, 40 percent of our permits are for 50-150 animals and only
17 percent are for over 150 animals. All of our permittees are small business men or
women. The revenue the Forest Service received for permits in 1992 was $168,000; of
that, $84,000 went back to the Black Hills National Forest for local range improve-
ments, $42,000 to the counties, and the rest into the Federal treasury. We anticipate
that revision of the Forest Plan will result in little change in the current range pro-
gram on the forest, although modifications in the timber program may affect forage
availability in some instances due to changes in canopy composition. As the canopy
becomes more or less open, the Forest produces more or less forage. Additionally,
minor changes may occur as we take action to improve some riparian areas under
permit.
Mining is another program on the forest. Larger mines, such as Homestake, are
mostly on private land, but there are some small business mining companies operat-
11
ing on National Forest lands. An example is Pacer Corporation on the Custer Dis-
trict. These activities generate little revenue to the government because the 1872
Mining Laws do not provide for royalties from locatable minerals. Even though sev-
eral alternatives for plan revision would increase the number of acres withdrawn
from mineral entry, we anticipate little practical impact from mining activity on
our local economies.
Not surprisingly, the timber sale program is a significant contributor to economic
activity in the region. The dollar value of timber purchased by small businesses
varies from year to year. In 1992, $14,000,000 worth of timber was harvested from
the Black Hills. With the exception of one company, Pope and Talbot, all the pur-
chasers are small businesses. In the timber program, there is a special program for
small businesses, called the "set-aside" program. Congress created a process for the
Forest Service and the Small Business Administration to work together to ensure
that small business be given the opportunity to purchase a fair share of the timber
sold from National Forests. A small business is defined as a business with less than
500 employees. The share for small business is based on the volume purchased and
manufactured by small business since the last "recalculation." The current small
business share is 54 percent, which means that small businesses are presently given
the opportunity to purchase 54 percent of our sales, by volume. A trigger of set-aside
sales occurs when the volume purchased by small business falls below 54 percent.
Under the preliminary alternatives being considered in the plan revision, the al-
lowable sale quantity would range from a low of approximately 40 million board
feet (MMBF) to a high of around 100 MMBF of sawtimber. By comparison, over the
last decade, an average of 120 MMBF of sawtimber has been harvested from the
forest. In spite of possible short-term price increases as operators try to protect
timber supplies, if the alternative chosen in the Forest Plan revision results in a
lower amount of timber offered, the receipts to the counties (25 percent of the total
timber receipts) would likely decrease over the long term as less timber is offered
for sale. In 1992, timber receipts to the counties in South Dakota and Wyoming
were about $3.4 million.
Management of lands that are components of the National Wilderness System is
also a program area that will be covered in the plan revision. As Chairman Pressler
is aware, the Black Hills is a relatively small forest with— much interspersed pri-
vate ownership. The only existing wilderness is the Black Elk Wilderness which
covers 9,862 acres. In the plan revision process, we have identified the three addi-
tional areas that we believe meet the criteria for designation as set forth in the Wil-
derness Act of 1964. These areas cover approximately 16,500 acres and are being
analyzed in depth as part of the plan revision. At least one alternative will recom-
mend all three areas for Wilderness designation. Some will recommend no addition-
al Wilderness. Our preliminary findings indicate that, if all three areas were added
to the wilderness system, the impact on the Allowable Sale Quantity over the next
10-year period would be approximately a 5 percent reduction.
Although not covered by the Forest Plan, I would also like to mention several of
our programs that do contribute to local economic activity. We recognize the de-
pendencies of some communities on the Black Hills National Forest and the possible
need to diversify some of those communities. A relatively new program in the
Forest Service, as a result of the 1990 Farm Bill, is Rural Community Assistance,
designed to help rural communities diversify their economies. In Fiscal Year 1992,
the City of Custer received a $30,000 grant which was used to help develop an old
railroad right-of-way into a hiking and biking trail through town. In Fiscal Year
1993, the City of Custer was awarded a $40,000 grant to assist in paving and devel-
oping their trailhead center in town.
In addition to the grants, the Black Hills National Forest received $15,000 in
Fiscal Year 1992 and $10,000 in Fiscal Year 1993 to assist local communities with
their action plans and specific projects. Two thousand and five hundred dollars were
allocated to Belle Fourche to help with the architectural design of the Center of the
National Visitors Center; $10,000 were provided to Weston County, Wyoming, for
completion of their community action plan and marketing brochure; $2,800 went to
Sundance, WY, to help with the costs of highway information signs and completion
of their action plan; the remaining funds were used for travel and training for local
community representatives, and for administration of the program.
Another effect public lands have on small businesses is through our purchasing
and contracting of goods and services. Our policy is governed by the Federal Acqui-
sition Regulations and is briefly stated as follows: generally, procurements less than
$25,000 are set-aside exclusively for small businesses; generally, construction
projects, trash removal and Architectural and Engineering projects over $25,000 are
open to all bidders, large or small. In the years 1988 to 1991, the Black Hills Nation-
12
al Forest spent approximately 88 percent of their procurement dollars with Small
Businesses which is an average of approximately $5.5 million per year. Along with
this, our region requires that we set-aside 12 percent of the dollars on our Advance
Acquisition Plan for the Small Business Minority Program (commonly known as the
8(a) Program). In 1992, we spent $558,994 and in 1993 we spent $432,090 under this
program. The Black Hills National Forest received the Small Business Administra-
tion's "Agency of the Year" in 1990 and 1992 for our high level of participation with
small businesses. A significant amount of business is done with small businesses
through our Job Corps Center in Nemo, SD.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that the employees of the Black Hills Na-
tional Forests are also members of the community. As such, we patronize small
business in the communities in which we live and work contributing directly to the
economic well being of these communities.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I'll be happy to respond to any ques-
tions from you or the Committee.
13
2709.11,30
Page 1 of 3
FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
Custer, South Dakota
TITLE 2709.11 - SPECIAL USES HANDBOOK
Black Hills Supplement No. 2709.11-93.
Effective
POSTING NOTICE. BH Supplements are numbered consecutively by title and calendar
year. Post by document name. Remove entire document and replace with this
supplement. Retain this transmittal as the first page of this document. This
Is the second BH Supplement to this handbook.
Superseded New
Page Code (Number of Sheets)
30 . 3
Digest:
36.7 - Adds the Land Value Fee Schedule for special use authorization fees that
are based on a percentage of the land value.
ROBERTA A. MOLTZEN
Forest Supervisor
14
BH SUPPLEMENT 2709.11-93-_
Effective
2709.11.30
Page 2 of 3
FSH 2709.11 - SPECIAL USES HANDBOOK
Chapter 30 - Fee Deternilnatlon
36 - Fee System and Schedule
36.1 Fee Based on Sale (Graduated Rate Fee Schedule)
36.2 Communication Site Fee Schedule . (Reserved) .
36.3 Goverrmient Owned Facilities Fee (Granger-Thye) .
36.4 Linear Right-of-way Fee Schedule.
36.5 OrRanization Camp. (Reserved).
36.6 Geological and Geophysical Exploration Fee.
(FSM 2715.13),
36.7 Fee Based on Land Value. Fees based on land values will be determined
using the following schedule. This schedule will be updated annually on
Januarj' 1 using the Implicit Price Deflator Index (IPD index).
LAND VALUE SCHEDULE
(All dollar values in chart are dollars per acre)
BLACK HILLS NATIONAL FOREST
(as of January 1, 1993)
Ranger District
Less Than
10 acres
10 to 1*0
Acres
UO to 300
Acres
Greater than
300 Acres
Bearlodge
$l,000/acre
$ 750/acre
$ 400/acre
$
100/acre
Custer
T5S and noi
T5S and sow
•th
ith
$2,000
$1,500
$1,250
$1,000
$1,000
$ 750
$
$
300
100
Elk Mountain
$1,000
$ 750
$ 400
$
100
Harney
$3,500
$2,000
$1,250
$
300
Nemo
$3,500
, $2,000
$1,250
$
300
Pactola
$3,500
$2,000
$1,250
$
300
Spearfish
$2,000
$1,250
$1,000
$
300
15
BH SUPPLEMENT 2709.11-93-_ 2709.11.30
Effective Page 3 of 3
Percentage of the land value will be:
5% of land value for agricultural Uses
7% of land value for non-agricultural uses.
Fees for reservoirs may be agricultural, municipal or Industrial uses. In
these cases the appropriate rate may be 3» , 5%, or 7% depending on how the
permittee uses the water. This Information must be supplied on the permit
application.
Example: Jane Doe has a special use livestock area authorisation for 15 acres
of National Forest System lands on the Bearlodge Ranger District.
The application has been approved for reissuance in 1994. The fee
will be:
15 acres on Bearlodge x $750/acre - $11,250 x 5% of land value- $562.50.
16
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
LIVESTOCK AREA PERMIT (SPECIAL USE PASTURE) FEES
Q 1. WHEN DID THE CHANGE IN FEES OCCUR?
ANS The Forest Service Policy for the last 20+ years has been to use
the minimum 5% of the land value for most agricultural uses. In
a Regional Office memo to all Forest Supervisors dated August 25.
1992, we were directed to use a rate of 5^ multiplied times the
value of the land described in the permit for livestock use
permits. The 3% rate supported in the letter was no change from
the appropriate rate that should have been charged. The August
letter was meant to provide the market basis for the ^% rate to
be applied to agricultural uses (and, likewise, T% for
non-agricultural uses).
Another memo from the Regional Office to the Black Hills National
Forest Supervisor, dated March I7, 1993. once again directed that
fees for special use pastures shall be based on 3% of land value.
The Black Hills National Forest issued a Forest Supplement, 2720
in April, 1993 requiring fees to be adjusted based upon land
value.
Q 2. WHY DIDN'T THE FEES CHANGE 20 YEARS AGO?
ANS National Policy was in place but it was poorly communicated and
not fully understood at the Forest level. As a result, fees
charged have been much lower that they should have been.
Q 3. HOW WERE THE DISTRICT PER ACRE VALUES DERIVED?
ANS Over 300 market data transactions (comparable sales) that have
occurred in and around the Black Hills were reviewed. Those
sales that were considered reflective of typical land values
within each district were then categorized by land size.
Categories were (1) up to ten acres in size, (2) 10 to ^0 acres,
(3) '•0 to 300 acres and ('4) over 3OO acres.
All transactions considered occurred within the last five years.
No attempt was made to classify individual ownerships as to
highest and best use as the vast majority of the Black Hills land
uses are for rural residential/recreational use or livestock
grazing.
17
Representative land values for each land class by size were then
determined and listed in the land value schedule.
Black Hills National Forest Supplement No. 2709.11 Chapter 30 -
Fee Determination provides a Land Value Schedule for fees based
on land value.
Q l\. HOW ARE FEES CALCULATED?
ANS Fees will be calculated by determining the land value as
described above and multiplying that value times 3% ■
Q 5. IS THE PERMIT FEE BASED ON THE ACRES USED OR THE ACRES PERMITTED?
ANS The fee is based on the acres permitted. Fees could be lowered
by reducing the number of acres permitted. New fencing would be
required however.
Q 6. WHEN WILL THESE FEES TAKE EFFECT?
ANS Fee increases for current permits will become effective January
1995. In addition, fees for those permits that terminated on
December 1992 and were not reissued in a timely manner will
continue with the previous fee rate until January 1995- Fees for
new permits or transfers will be based upon the new rates and
will be effective upon date of permit issuance.
Q 7. WHEN WILL THE PERMITTEES LEARN OF THIS CHANGE?
ANS Each permittee will be notified at least 90 days in adv^lnce of
the next years billing.
District Rangers are encouraged to inform their permittees as
early as possible. Sample letters to the permittees have been
provided.
Q 8 GIVEN THAT THE FOREST SERVICE HAS WAITED 20 YEARS TO IMPLEMENT THIS
POLICY WHAT IS THE RUSH NOW? COULDN'T I HAVE 2-3 YEARS TO FENCE MY
PROPERTY LINE AND REMOVE THE OLD FENCE?
ANS CLAUSE 12, of your permit requires that: "upon abandonment,
termination, revocation, or cancellation of this permit, the
permittee shall remove within a reasonable time all structures
(fences) and improvements except those owned by the United
States. "
18
A reasonable time to remove your fences from National Forest
System land is one year. However, you do not have to build new
fences on your property line until you are ready to. South
Dakota Open Range law SDCL '40-28-5. states you need not fence
your land unless you desire to keep open range cattle from
grazing on your private property.
Permits with a termination date of two years or less or those
that will not be continued will pay current fees.
Q 9. I DON'T BELIEVE THE PROPERTY IN MY AREA IS WORTH SXXX.XX PER ACRE.
COULD I HIRE AN APPRAISER TO ESTABLISH A MORE ACCURATE VALUE?
As long as the appraisal is done by an appraiser selected by a
Forest Service Certified Review Appraiser and according to
instructions issued by the Forest Supervisor this option is
available at the permittee's expense.
Q 10. WHY DOES THE FOREST SERVICE USE ^% OF THE LAND VALUE TO ESTABLISH A
PERMIT FEE?
5J! is the minimum fee for land use that is authorized. These
fees reflect fair market value for the use of National Forest
System lands and improvements, as determined by appraisal or
other sound business management principles. FSM 2715-03
Q 11. ROAD EASEMENTS AND SUMMER HOME LAND USE PERMITS ARE ALSO BASED ON LAND
VALUES AND YET I CAN'T BUILD A ROAD, OR HOME ON MY PERMIT AREA. I CAN
ONLY GRAZE CATTLE. HOW COME I HAVE TO PAY THE SAME AS THESE OTHER
MORE EXCLUSIVE AND VALUABLE LAND USES?
See the answer to question 10. Also each permit authorizes the
specific land use that will take place on National Forest System
land. Only those uses authorized on the face of the permit are
allowed to take place.
19
United States
Department of
Agriculture
Forest Service
Lakewood. Colorado
1992
Rocky Mountain Region
Annual Report
20
AN ECOSYSTEM VIEW OF NATURAL RESOURCES ...
THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS
About 60 percent of the region is forested land. Following decades of sup-
pressed natural fire, many forested ecosystems--their age, density, and species
composition— have reached a mature stage where insect infestation and catas-
trophic fire are the next likely events. Tmiber harvest offers a controllable
alternative to this succession while providing a source of needed wood prod-
ucts. Where appropriate, harvesting can improve the long term health and pro-
ductivity of the forest, simultaneously contributing to other multiple-uses and
forest values.
In 1992, the region produced 344 million board feet of timber from 69,098
acres of national forest. Of the total harvested acres, 90 percent were cut using
selection harvest methods. Clearcutting produced the rest of the volume.
Higher market values contributed to a rise in 1992 timber revenues to $24.2
million. Simultaneously, costs fell $600,000 from the previous year. Perhaps
more importantly, the gap between revenues and costs dropped more than $6
million, to $464,000.
Timber
Timber Sales Offered
(MMBF)
0
I S Year Trend
5 Year Average
About 38 percent of the lands in the region are classified as suitable and avail-
able for livestock grazing. Today as never before, rangeland ecosystems fea-
ture a broad spectrum of resource uses and values. Rangeland management
provides a balanced focus on soil and water quality, biological diversity, aes-
thetics, recreation, cultural resources, noxious weeds, and riparian and upland
habitat for many species of game and non-game fish and wildlife.
Partnerships, many modeled after the Colorado Cattlemen's Association Forest
Service Liaison Cotrunittee, seek to constructively resolve conflicts and
improve multiple-use management goals in rangeland ecosystems. The
Colorado Woolgrowers and several Wyoming agencies are among those cur-
rently developing cooperative resource management partnerships with the
Forest Service.
®
Range
Grazing
(MAUM's)
ua
<f»
y/m
•
I SYeu- Trend
5 Year Average
21
Senator Pressler. Mayor Vitter.
STATEMENT OF DRUE VITTER, MAYOR, HILL CITY, SD
Mr. Vitter. Thank you, Senator.
I represent the mayors of the Black Hills. Overwhelmingly, we
have supported the multiple use program of the Black Hills. We do
not believe that a reduction of timber in the Black Hills will sus-
tain a good, healthy economy. So we propose that the Forest Serv-
ice revise their program and allow us the industry to continue on
in its natural course. They need at least 100 million to 120 million
board feet to cut each year. They refuse to release the figures or
the data that supports this so it can be reviewed by everyone.
Our economy is totally supported by the off-season use of the
multiple forest. We think that our people who live in these commu-
nities have a right to the multiple use program and that according
to the Organic Administration Act of 1897 it was said that no na-
tional forest shall be established except to improve and protect the
forest within its boundaries. It went on to say that it also is a ne-
cessity of the United States citizens that we provide enough timber
for the use of our citizens. Why would we kill the last great indus-
try that is left in the United States?
We cannot in my community replace these jobs, these high-
paying jobs. The support of the communities with jobs in, say, our
tourism industry, does not match up. You cannot replace mini-
mum-wage jobs with high-paying jobs. There is a factor that we are
losing a population of our people because they cannot work. The
reduction of the timber sales has caused these people to almost go
out of business or move to other States to be able to secure work.
Our own fire chief of Hill City has to move to another State in
order to provide his family with the adequate income that he needs
to sustain life. We cannot afford to lose these citizens.
The loss of money in our communities would be significant in its
impact on our school system, which in Hill City alone is subsidized
by the National Forest Service $490,000 a year. If we had to replace
that, Senator, we'd have to go back to the landowners and raise
their taxes. How long could they be able to sustain this if they had
to pay higher taxes without high-paying jobs?
If this industry is killed and we have to buy lumber from foreign
countries, it hurts the economy of the United States. This cannot
be in the interest of western South Dakota or in the west itself We
need to sustain our population. We need a good, healthy economy.
We need to be able to have multiple use of the forest. We cannot
afford to be like the town in Oregon with a population of 9,000
people that was devastated by the Wilderness Act. The town had a
65-year-old pulp mill that supplied 650 jobs. The mill had to shut
down. Three generations of loggers were lost. Their unemployment
rate is now running 15 to 20 percent. There has been an increase
from 11 percent to 25 to 30 percent in their food banks. Where is
the money going to come from to supply these people who cannot
make a decent living? From the United States government?
I propose that the management of the forest can be sustained
and it can be a healthy environment where we can produce timber
and keep our mills running. Because if we go to under 80 million
22
board feet and we have a reduction in 3 years maybe down to 60,
we will definitely lose one of the mills, either Newcastle or Hill
City, which will result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. In the years
to come, if it's lowered even lower than that, we will lose both
mills, which will result in at least 600 lost jobs in the Black Hills
that cannot be replaced. We cannot afford our economy to slump
and sink to these figures. We must protect our national heritage.
If they're going to close off and make total wilderness areas out
of places that are unnecessary, how will the handicapped enjoy the
wilderness in the forest? They will not be able to get in there. You
will defeat the purpose of why the Senate and the Congress estab-
lished the Americans With Disabilities Act, so that there would be
accessibility to all people.
I hope by having this hearing here today that you understand
and will help us — the National Forest Service must include local
government beside county commissioners. They must go to the
local townships, to the mayors, to our city councils, and they must
include us when they start to make revisions in the Forest Service.
We must be included in the economy to see if it fits our plan. Can a
compromise be reached? Can a sustainable economy be there for us
for the future and for our children?
It is great to live in the west. Our spirits will not be broken. We
are in total support of the multiple use program. We will never re-
linquish to total wilderness because it serves no purpose. We think
the difference between devastation by insects or by fire or by sensi-
ble use in grooming of the forest and thinning of the forest makes
a lot more sense than devastation to us. So we do not support total
wilderness in any form in the Black Hills. I understand from the
experts that if you let the pine beetle take over, they could wipe
out whole sections in a short period of time. What purpose would
this serve?
We know that the environment must be addressed, Senator We
know that there are things that must be done. But good manage-
ment of the forest by the Forest Service, sustaining a good cut for
the industry, grooming the forest well, keeping it healthy, then we
will have a healthy economy. Don't let anybody sway you into
thinking that total wilderness will save anything. It will only
wreck our economy in western South Dakota. Governor George
Mickelson was adamant in that. He said he would not allow this to
take place. Governor Walter Dale Miller said the same thing. He is
against this taking place and that a good, healthy sustained cut
should be what the National Forest Service takes into their plan.
Thank you, Chairman, for allowing me to speak.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Vitter follows:]
Prepared Statement of Drue Vitter
My name is Mayor Drue Vitter. I am the mayor of Hill City, SD, population 650.
My city is a rural community which lies in the southern part of Pennington County.
Unfortunately, due to regulations in the 1990 Farm Bill, we as a rural timber de-
pendent community do not qualify for assistance because of the influence the Rapid
City population has on county statistics.
The management of the Black Hills National Forest is extremely important to
local communities. The Organic Act of 1897, established forest reserves for conserva-
tion not preservation. National Forests were set aside to provide for wood products
such as firewood, fencing, building, as well as provide for mining, prospecting, and
23
other domestic purposes. The way the national forest is used has changed with new
technology but the need to use Nation forest land has not diminished. The commu-
nities, counties, and economies surrounding not only the Black Hills National
Forest but all public lands, depend on their survival for the access to these lands for
conservation, recreation, and a way of life.
Forest management was not established for lobs or the environment, but to im-
prove and protect the forest within the boundaries. Science and technology com-
bined has shown that use of public land is compatible with maintaining healthy eco-
systems. The Secretary of Agriculture is directed to develop and administer the re-
newable surface resources of the National Forests, per Act of June 12, 1960 (74 Stat.
215; 16 U.S.C. 528-531) under section #2.
In our ever changing world, there is a need to ensure environmental quality, but
there is also a need to ensure an opportunity to maintain a quality of life, and cus-
toms and cultures of all people.
In the Hill City School District, 90 percent of the property is in federal ownership.
Seventy percent of the tax base is taken off 10 percent of the land in the district. As
a support to the communities within counties that contain National Forest Land the
USFS returns 25 percent of the gross receipts to the county. These receipts are a
substantial contribution to the economy and replace the monies lost in taxes due to
federal ownership. The receipt of over $490,000 supports the Hill City school, which
is primarily a rural community whose citizens earn their living mainly through har-
vest or extraction businesses. Without financial contribution the county landowners
will be asked for an additional percent increase in taxes due to federal neighbors
unfairly deciding not to carry their weight. This is unfair taxation for these resi-
dents.
Hill City is not the only community with this problem. County, Crook County, and
Weston County all have communities similar to Hill City.
With the loss of 90 people on one shift at the Continental Lumber Company as
well as the loss of Little River Lumber Company, we are seeing many of our citizens
leave or spend their work week in Nebraska, Montana or Wyoming. Families should
not have to exist that way to maintain a moderate standard of living, because
people are prejudice against those who make a living by providing products to the
State and national economy. Our families want to continue to live in their home
community. These are good hard working citizens who contribute to the society
through volunteer organizations such as the fire departments and service organiza-
tions. In Hill City, our fire chief is one of these quality citizens who must work in
another State in order to support his family.
Environmentalists cry "diversify the economy, do not be dependent on one indus-
try". We as well as every other community are certainly trying to find industries to
diversify and strengthen local economies, even if the timber program remains con-
stant. Tourism is also mentioned by these anti groups to end the harvest extraction
blues. Tourism helps to diversify an economy but does not provide the stability a
successful community needs to maintain growth. Jobs such as mining, ranching, and
timbering all provide benefits such as retirement, health insurance, and steady good
paying jobs. This money remains in the community and is turned over again and
again, through supermarkets, gas stations, car dealers, pharmacies, doctors, medical
clinics gift shops, restaurants and the list continues on.
Our citizens love to have people visit our community to share in the culture and
beauty of the area, but we also love our residents. We as well as the Forest Service
must continue to explain to our visitors what it is we do and why. Once a wildfire
devastates an area, NO TOURISTS will be coming to enjoy this area for at least 30
years. So why not use well managed logging and thinning under Forest Service su-
pervision.
Keeping people and place as one entity insures the genuineness of what tourists
really come to experience. This goal can be easier said than done when the tourists
who decide to visit, want the scenery to remain as is. But they want to have more
room made for their value system and points of view, than those folks who have
created the very spirit that they came here for.
It is easier said when urban populations want the ornamental parts of historical
lifestyles, but none of the reality checks that produce them, i.e., log homes, but no
saw mills, cowboys but no cows, mining museums but no mines, reasonably priced
food but no inconvenience of slow moving farm equipment or cow manure on the
road.
There are many pressures on federal lands such as the Black Hills National
Forest. We are a Nation with a high standard of intellect and experience. There are
ways of working through these problems without eliminating a rural custom and
24
culture. Both sides should come together as quickly as possible to agree on the mul-
tiple use of our Black Hills National Forest under Act of 1897.
The Black Hills has a very fiery history. Documents show that fire raged through
every acre of forest every 20-25 years. With fire protection, fires have been reduced
dramatically, but with a more dense forest and more people in the area, fires will
still occur and without regular burning or harvest the amount of fuel build up in-
creases the potential of an intense fire if it does start. Our communities are sur-
rounded by National Forest land. If the fire risk is not reduced through good proper
management, our communities are at risk from catastrophic fire. The USFS has
said they will not fight structural fires. Our communities and outlying neighbors
will be at the whim of fire conditions and the solitary protection of small volunteer
fire departments.
Our tourism is based on the beauty of the Black Hills. If Norbeck Wildlife Pre-
serve burns, there will be no one who will then want to come to Hill City to buy a
T-shirt or eat a hamburger, and neither will there be the jobs available for local
residents waiting for the forest to regrow. We cannot replace these timber jobs with
minimum wage jobs and still be economically strong. We cannot take the risk and
let the forest burn. It would take 30 to 60 years to replace Norbeck. Why waste this
reserve when it should be thinned and controlled under the Act of 1897.
Our communities are 85 percent dependent upon national forest land to recharge
aquifers for water for residents and visitors alike. A dense forest can reduce up to
50 percent of the soil moisture affecting run off and productivity of the forest. Our
streams need to be maintained to prevent loss of fishing opportunities and to keep
the wildlife density spread throughout the forest for hunters. The city of Custer has
asked for help from the Forest Service in managing NF land to increase water flow
to their water system. As the BH Sierra Club Environmental group suggested in one
of their appeals that "The City of Custer would be better advised to pray for rain
than to expect any water benefits to be provided by the Forest Service through fur-
ther tree-farming in the Wabash Buckhorn area." Scientists from the State univer-
sity system have verified that tree density will dramatically effect the amount of
precipitation reaching the ground.
Finally the good neighbor policy holds true for whoever owns property. With the
land checkerboarded with private ownership, management is necessary on National
Forest Land to prevent a taking of private land. Insects, fire, disease and wildfire do
not understand political subdivisions. Actions taken by the USFS can seriously
impact private without consultation. Our rural neighbors need the same consider-
ation and respect in the Black Hills Regions that they would receive from neighbors
throughout South Dakota or Wyoming.
In order to maintain both healthy ecosystems and a healthy social structure, the
government must ensure sustainable outputs of all kinds from public land. In order
to achieve this, local government entities must be involved in the economic and eco-
logical assessment of the Federal Land Use Planning if Ecosystem Management is
to exist.
In my opinion, it is not enough to just involve county commissioners, but local
mayors and their councils also. Decisions that have a great impact on local econo-
mies should include all local governments. The USFS should call local governments
to sit at their conference tables when making these decisions that effect all of us.
The Wilderness Act with no management of wildfires or disease control was irre-
sponsible done. Wilderness served no purpose when total destruction is allowed.
Controlled multiple use and correct management is the only proper way to have a
healthy forest as proposed by Dixie Lee Ray, author of Preservation Kills. It is un-
American to allow a few people to withhold information on a Forest Service Plan
and say they will not allow local government to review the Plan.
I want to thank Senator Larry Pressler for allowing me to participate in this
hearing.
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
I have some questions for the record here.
Mr. Sylva, perhaps you cannot answer this, or maybe you could
for the record. I know there are probably superiors of yours who
make some of these decisions, and I don't want to beat up on you,
but what is the reason the Forest Service data on the amount of
timber in the Hills can't be released?
Mr. Sylva. Mr. Chairman, it can and will be as soon as we get
the draft prepared and the analysis of the numbers are concrete so
25
that we can display and discuss those with the public without
having any modifications or changes that could occur between now
and when the draft is completed. Once the draft is done, any and
all publics are encouraged to review the draft plan. And that's
what it is, is a draft.
Senator Pressler. I see. So the basis on which you determine
your numbers also will be released. As I understand it, there's a
dispute over the method of counting, or at least people want to
know how you arrive at your numbers, and that will be explained;
is that correct?
Mr. Sylva. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Pressler. Good.
Now in a designated wilderness area, as I understand it, fires
cannot be fought with mechanized equipment. What's the situation
if there's a fire in a designated wilderness area? What are the
ground rules for that?
Mr. Sylva. Well, normally mechanized equipment is not used.
However, the forest supervisor, the regional forester has discretion
to use equipment like helicopters, which primarily doesn't degrade
the wilderness characteristics to help suppress fires. Normally we
don't use equipment like bulldozers.
Senator Pressler. What is the annual cost of appeals to the
Forest Service? Is it decreasing or increasing?
Mr. Sylva. In 1992, the costs were $84,000 for appeals and litiga-
tion for the Black Hills National Forest. And we're just now really
tracking those costs in detail. So we haven't really gotten a good
trend yet.
Senator Pressler. I have some additional questions about the al-
lowable sale quantity, but I think that falls under my first ques-
tion. I think Mr. Vitter has pointed out very well that 3.3 million
dollars were returned to the counties from Forest Service lands.
You have pointed out the impact on local governments if timber
harvest amounts are reduced, and that will also affect main street
business in those communities.
I do appreciate very much Frank Davis providing the Committee
with testimony from the governor. I tend to agree with the state-
ments of Governor Mickelson and Governor Miller. That has been
my approach. But I am here to listen. So with that, I am going to
thank this panel. Your complete statements will be placed in the
record.
We'll call forward the second panel on the impact on small busi-
ness. Dave Meredith, president, McLaughlin Sawmill; Don Perdue,
president of Perdues, Inc., Rapid City; Bill Honerkamp, president of
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association; Larry Mann, Govern-
ment Affairs representative, Homestake Mining Company; and
Larry Nelson, president of South Dakota Public Lands Council, if
those gentlemen could come forward.
Dave Meredith, why don't you start off.
STATEMENT OF DAVE MEREDITH, PRESIDENT, MCLAUGHLIN
SAWMILL COMPANY, SPEARFISH, SD
Mr. Meredith. Thank you. Senator, for inviting me to speak at
this hearing.
26
Currently at risk in the Black Hills National Forest are about 25
forest products companies involving nearly 1,700 employees. Most
of these companies are small businesses. In the upcoming forest
plan on the Black Hills National Forest, the local timber industry
must have a sustainable yield to survive.
Pressures that preservationists are placing on public lands not
only impact businesses directly involved on public lands but also
those businesses which support the sawmills, ranchers, mining, and
recreation.
Within the past 6 months, like the Senator said, our allowable
cut has gone from an estimated 118 million board feet to 85 million
board feet. We cannot continue to operate under these conditions.
Small businesses especially are impacted by pressures induced
upon the industry because of lack of financial capital to outlast the
artificial restrictions of timber supply due to such things as lengthy
court appeals, budget cuts, et cetera. An artificial shortage of
timber availability drives up the cost paid for timber on the nation-
al forest land.
The U.S. Forest Service timber appraisal systems continue to es-
calate minimum bid prices without consideration to local markets
or artificial pressures which disturb the local timber program, thus
adds further deterrence to small business with restricted cash re-
serves.
Appeals have taken a toll on the Black Hills National Forest. In-
dustry has voiced its concerns, and evident concerns lie in the
backlog of timber sales available for sale. Lack of action is taken to
correct a system that was intended to give the public opportunity
to object to government abuse and not federal policy. And we have
all seen many closures. I think nearly every city in the Black Hills
has lost at least one timber-producing company. And I think each
one of us know who those losses are.
Currently private lands are an option for industry. The Tree
Farm program has encouraged timber production, forest manage-
ment, and resource development on private lands. However, with a
significant cut in volume on U.S. Forest Service land, timber on
private land will be maximized and no longer available.
In order to maintain both a healthy ecosystem and a healthy
social economy, government must insure sustainable outputs from
all lands. In order to achieve this, local government entities must
be involved in the economic assessment of the federal land use if
ecosystem management is to exist.
I have included a few things that would create a positive climate
for small business on the Black Hills National Forest. There needs
to be sustainable timber availability on the Black Hills National
Forest that is not subject to attack by preservationists. There needs
to be assistance available for small business to obtain loans and
bonding, or the U.S. Forest Service must consider changing their
financial requirements for timber sales. Timber sales must be
planned with size sensitivity. Without small sales available, a small
operation cannot consider bidding on U.S. Forest Service timber.
And basically when small business fills government lumber orders,
there are no outlandish cash deposits required. There are no esca-
lation clauses or bonding requirements attached to our agreements.
We simply fill the orders and wait for payment.
27
No good can come of poor communication. Issues must be ad-
dressed and readdressed in order to reach compromises to suit all
citizens involved. Affirmative actions must start in order to insure
the future of small businesses that help keep the social economic
environment stable and the forest ecosystem healthy, thereby
making the Black Hills National Forest a well-managed forest for
future generations.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Meredith follows:]
Prepared Statement of David Meredith
My name is David Meredith. I am the president of McLaughUn Sawmill Company
of Spearfish, SD. We are considered a small business entity. McLaughlin Sawmill
currently employs 30 people directly, and spends $850,000 on the service and supply
industry annually. In addition, we contract with 15 loggers who also spend a consid-
erable amount supporting the service and supply industry in the area. Our sawmill
uses approximately 4 percent of the Annual Cut on USFS land from past years. The
sawmill has been in operation for 35 years.
Currently at risk in the Black Hills are 25 forest products companies involving
nearly 1,700 employees and contractors. Most of these companies are small business-
es. In 1991, the wages and payments from these companies was over $65,000,000 and
the total value of wood products was over 105,000,000. But the key statistic is that
the Black Hills forest product industry depends on the Black Hills National Forest
for two-thirds of their timber supplies. Therefore, any decrease in availability from
the National Forest severely affects the industry.
The pressures preservationists are placing on public land are not only impacting
businesses directly involved on public lands, but also those businesses which support
sawmills, ranchers, miners, and recreationists.
Within the past 6 months, the Black Hills National Forest's timber program's al-
lowable cut has gone from 118 MBF to 85 MBF (Refer to Figure 1) as a result of a
National Forest Service planning service which continues to operate in a vacuum
and administrative budget cuts. The Black Hills National Forest was once one of the
worst offenders concerning the Below Cost issue. With cooperation, it has now
become an extremely profitable forest for the tax payer, as well as a multiple use
forest for wildlife, recreation, water resources, and range. And from this result of
working together? Reduced available volume, intense competition, and diminished
opportunity for the small business owner.
"These pressures are impacting all businesses, but small businesses especially, be-
cause of the lack of financial capital available to outlast the artificial restriction of
timber supply due to court appeals, budget cuts, etc. With an artificial shortage of
timber availability, competition drives up the cost of the prices paid for timber of
national forest land. However, additional pressures have increased the cost of doing
business with the government.
The United States Forest Service currently requires a performance bond that is
good for the life of the contract plus 1 year. Bonding companies are only willing to
issue bonds 1 year at a time, with renewal after reviewing yearly financial state-
ments. This fact alone often eliminates small businesses from even considering bid-
ding on USFS timber.
In comparing a sale that was purchased in 1986, the Minnie Timber Sale, to one
purchased in 1993, the Roost Timber Sale, the figures display a substantial contrast.
(Refer to figure 2.) The difference in cash deposits required for the two sales is
$83,100. The difference in performance bonds required is $68,000. The difference in
payment bonds is shown to be $121,000, hardly an insignificant number. These num-
bers combined gives an increase of $272,000 in required payments before one tree
may be harvested, according to USFS policy.
The United States Forest Service timber appraisal system continues to escalate
minimum bid prices without considering the local markets or the artificial pressures
which are disrupting the timber program. Thus adding further deterrents to small
businesses with restricted cash reserves.
Appeals have finally taken their toll on the Black Hills National Forest. The in-
dustry has continued to voice its concern. This concern is evident in consideration of
the backlog of timber sales that will be available for sale. Environmentalists said
the industry was "Crying wolf," but apparently the administration has never read
that story before and has continued to "bury their heads in the sand," ignoring the
28
impact that appeals will have on the small businesses and local economies. In the
fiscal year 1993, there may be a shortage of up to 20 percent of available timber on
UFSF land due to frivolous appeals and the lack of action taken to correct an ap-
peals process. We need to help end the abuse of a system that was intended to give
the public an opportunity to object to governmental abuses, not federal policy.
Recently there have been many closures and losses to the timber industry in the
Black Hills. Most of them have been family mills which can no longer afford the
cost of doing business with the government or could not respond as quickly as was
needed to the changes caused by a decrease in timber supply and an increase in
financial outputs for timber. Included have been such local businesses as Custer
Lumber, Wood's Sawmill, Northern Hills Forest Products, the ST. Regis Mill, Dick-
son Forest Products, and individuals such as Francis and Gene Potter. And most
recently, the Little River Lumber Company, as well as Hamm's Wood Products have
announced their closures this month. These closures have had a detrimental effect
on local economies. These losses may have been totally unnecessary.
Private lands are currently an option for the industry to turn to. The Tree Farm
program encourages timber production, forest management, and resource develop-
ment on private lands. In addition, small businesses are subsidizing the high cost of
prices paid for timber on federal land by purchasing private timber, where financial
requirements are more reasonable. However, with a significant cut in volume on
Forest Service land, timber on private lands will be maximized and no longer avail-
able. But even then, preservationists continue to misuse the intent of the name Tree
Farm, and in some parts of the country, the preservationists are attacking private
land uses. Neighbors need the same consideration and respect in the Black Hills
Region that they would receive from neighbors throughout South Dakota or Wyo-
ming.
In order to maintain both healthy ecosystems and a healthy socioeconomic struc-
ture, the government must insure sustainable outputs of all kinds from public lands.
In order to achieve this, local government entities must be involved in the economic
and ecological assessment of the Federal Land Use Planning if Ecosystem Manage-
ment is to exist.
Here are some things that would create a positive climate for small businesses
associated with the timber industry.
L There needs to be a sustainable timber availability on the BHNF that is
not subject to attacks by presevationists.
2. There needs to be assistance in obtaining financial loans and bonding, or
else the USFS must consider changing their financial requirements on timber
sales.
3. Sales must be planned with size sensitivity. Without small sales available,
a small operation cannot consider bidding on Forest Service timber.
4. Slash and road deposits need to be re-addressed. Now that the BHNF is out
of the Below Cost issues, the government should consider standing the cost of
slash and road materials rather than the small business timber purchaser
shouldering the whole of those costs thereby reducing these costs.
5. Escalation clauses on timber sales further discriminate against small busi-
nesses, for we cannot adjust to market prices in our completely different mar-
kets from those the USFS uses to appraise timber and prices. Flat rates may
prove to be more suitable to small businesses.
When small businesses fill government lumber orders, there are no outlandish
cash deposits, escalation clauses or bonding requirements attached to our agree-
ments. We simply fill the order and wait for payment.
In conclusion, there exists in the timber industry, especially concerning small
businesses, issues that must be resolved in order to insure the future of a stable
socio-economic environment and a healthy forest ecosystem that make up a well
managed national forest. These issues concern values and questions that can be ad-
dressed and re-addressed to compromise and suit those involved, all that needs to be
done is to commence with affirmative actions.
29
S 2 m LL
74-343 0-94-2
30
FIGURE a_
MINNIE Timber Sale
Award Date: August 19, 1986
Advertised Volume: 3.6 MBF
Bid Rate: $57.30 per MBF
Base Index: 186.71
Cash Deposit: $10,300.00
Performance Bond: $21,000.00
Payment Bond: Approximately $4,000.00 depending
upon harvest rate.
ROOST liinMr Sale
Award Date: May 17, 1993
Advertised Volume: 3.350 MBF
Base Index: 300.79
Bid Rate: $263.28 per MBF
Cash Deposit: $93,400.00
Performance Bond: $89,000.00
Payment Bond: $125,000.00
Difference between cash deposit amounts for these two sales
is $83, 100. 00.
The difference in performance bonds between the two is
$68,000.00.
The difference in payment bond amounts between the two is a
substantial $121,000.00.
31
10
POINTS OF OBJECTION TO CASH DEPOSITS REQUIRED FOR USFS
CONTRACTS:
1. Limits cash flow drastically for smaller operation.
Since the cash deposit is required to be 10% of
advertised value plus 20% of the total bid premium
of the sale, the amount the Company must "tie up"
limits its cash flow capabilities during the timber
contract.
For example: On an $882,000.00 timber sale, the
cash deposit is $93,400.00, which the buyer
must deposit before the contract is awarded.
The $93,400.00 remains with the USFS until the
contract is 25 percent complete, which could
be between one and four years. During that
time, the business does not have the
$93,400.00 with which to operate and generate
new revenues.
2. The cash deposit is earning no interest during the
time period of sale for the depositor. On the other
hand, the USFS is earning interest on the deposit
that is not being returned to the depositor!
POINTS OF OBJECTION TO LETTERS OF CREDIT IN LIEU OF BONDS:
1. If a Bank Letter of Credit is used, the borrowing
power of the company is reduced by the amount of the
outstanding amount on the letter of credit until
such time as the sale is complete.
Banks are reluctant to issue Letters of Credit
because of the time period involved for the timber
sale. Usually Letters of Credit cover one year,
but since the timber sale may go beyond the one
year, the Letters of Credit are having to be for a
longer time period, which enhances the risk for the
bank.
2. Increased difficulty related to acquiring bonding.
Bonding companies issue their bonds based on the
strength of the financial statements of the
business. If a bond is required for a longer time
period than one year, many bonding companies are
refusing to issue bonds. The bonding company is not
willing to take a risk beyond the one year's
financial statements that they have required.
32
United states
Depaitment of
Ae.ricultur&
Foreat
Service
Black Hiiis
National
Fci e&t
Hithway 385 North
RR 2; Box 200
Cu.tef, SD 577"iO
Reply to: 2450 Rooit
Date: May 17, 1993
McLaughlin Sawmill Company
HCR 30, Box 3B
Spearflsh, SD 57783
CERTIFIED MAIL - RETORH RECEIPT REQUESTED
Gentlemen:
This is fornal notification that you are awarded the contract for the tract
of timber known as the Roost Timber Sale Contract #003736.
The or-tinai and two copie::; of the timber'
Bond," Form No. 25, are oucior.ed.
sale contract and the "Performance
Pieaf-e have the or:>£inal of the bond executed, and sit,n the original and one
copy of the contract in accordance with the "Checklist for Signature on Bonds
and Contracts" wh:.ch is enclosed. The original and one carbon of the contract
and bond are to be returned to this office witinn 30 days. This Is a Small
Business Set-Aside Sale and the enclosed Foru 723 must be signed and returned
with the siiined contracts. Upon approval by the Contracting Officer, copies of
each will be returned to you.
You ruuat, within 30 days, furnish a downpayment or provide effective purchaser
credit in the amount of $95,400.00. Cash deposited Dust be in the form cf
cash; bark draft, certified or catihier^'s check, bank or postal isoney oi'der or
company check- or your deposit with bid can be converted to cash. Enclosed i:--. a
Bill for Collection for 093j'*OO.OO. Please enclose psyiaent for the entire
amount or you Kay request that the deposit with bid be transferred to the
rec-uired do^vni'-aywent and the Bill for Col.iecticn and additional cash payment be
reduced to $10,300.00. You will also be able to use effective purchaser credit
to cover this deposit since the transferred in purchaser credit limit in
C4.211ii is $585,347.00.
Contract provisions C6.9 (Option 1) Requirement for- Small Business proces.sinj,
(1/92) and C8.4 PerforL.ance by Other Than Purchaser (1/75) have been added to
this contract.
You are required under C6.3 Plan of Qpei'ation to furnish; prior to betinnin^
operations or within 60 days of this date, a written general plan of operation.
This plan shall set forth planned period.^ for and niethods of road construct j.on,
timber harvest^n^; and coij-leticn of .-.ifoh dj.sposa] , erosion conti-oi measures,
find other contractual operations. Please submit this plan to the designated
Forest Service Representative.
Caring for the Land and Serving People
FS-6200-28 (7-82)
33
Nacional Foresc Black Hills
Sale Name RoosC
2-^00-6, Page 109 (9/73) Cont'd
A23 - LIST OF SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Produces Other Than Logs Subject to Agreement, 12/92
Reserve Trees. 6/91
Individual Trees - Dead Tree Marked, 12/92
Escalation Procedure, 11/82
Unavailable Index, 3/88
Rate Redetermination for Environmental Modification, 4/82
Transfer of Purchaser Credit, 3/83
Deposits, 11/83
Down Payment, 7/91
Advance Deposits, 7/91
Deposits When Payment Guaranteed, 4/82
Refund of Excess Cash. 7/91
Periodic Payment Schedule, 10/91
Letters of Credit for Payment Bond, 9/78
Pa'.-;nencs Mot Received for Timber Cut and Other Charges, 3/93
Other Payments Not Received, 3/93
.Authorization, 2/88
Road Completion Date, 11/85
Use of Roads by Purchaser, 12/76
Prohibitions on Road Use. 6/86
Standard Specifications for Construction of Specified Roads, 10/89
Contract Documents, 6/80
Material Sources, 5/91
Variation in Quantities, 12/79
Physical Change, 12/79
Design Change, 10/86
(Option 2) Road Maintenance, 11/85
Snow Removal, 4/72
Operations, 6/90
Interruption or Delay of Operations, 6/90
Representatives. 7/88
Impro-'eraents . 6/80
Protection of Improvements Not Owned by Forest Service, 1/80
Protection of Property, 6/80
Protection of Cultural Resources, 4/84
Protecrion of Habitat of Endangered Species, 6/78
Protecrion of Disturbed Areas from Establishment of Noxious Weeds,
12/9 2
Plan of Operation, 10/77
Control of Operations, 8/77
Plan of Operation for Road Construction, 6/80
Operating Schedule - Release of Cutting Units, 6/91
Protecrion of Reserve Trees, 6/81
Safetv 6/78
C6.341 Prevention of Oil Spills, 6/81
C2.
112 =
C2.
302«
C2.
352 =
C3.
2
C3.
21
C3.
312
C4.
211=
C4.
220
C4.
220«
C4.
221
C4.
224
C4.
23
C4.
264=
C4.
3
C4.
4
C4.
41
C5.
1
C3,
101 =
C5
12
C5
.123
C5
. 2
C5
.211
C5
.221=
C5
.251=
C5
.253
C5
.254
C5
.41=
C5
.42
C6
.0
C6
.01
C6
.1
C6
2
C6
.22
C6
.221
C6
.24=
C6
.25=
C6
.26=
C6
.3
C6
.3=
C6
.311
C6
.313=
C6
.321=
C6
.33
34
Nacional Forest Black Hills
Sale Name RoosC
2400-6, Page 109 (9/73) Cont'd
A23 - LIST OF SPECIAL PROVISIONS (Continued)
C6.35 Final Acceptance of Specified Roads, 1/80
C6.351 Acceptance of Specified Road, 6/78
C6.353 Removal of Products Other Than Logs, 12/92
06.41= Felling and Bucking, 9/90
C6.42» Skidding and Yarding, 1/78
C6.4235* Skidding and Yarding, 2/88
C6.6>= Erosion Prevention and Control, 11/85
06. 7» Slash Disposal, 11/90
C6.78# Slash Disposal, 6/90
C6.81»= Sample Load Scaling, 1/78
06.813 Scaling 3P Sample, 11/75
06.814 Minimum Requirements for Weight Scales, 12/89
06.82 Product Identification, 9/90
06.821 Presentation for Scaling (Rollway) , 9/82
06.841 Route of Haul, 6/80
06.842 Accountability, 9/83
06.843= Scaling Zones. 4/79
06.85 Scaling Lost Products, 9/78
06.851 Scaling Lost Sample Loads. 12/78
06.9 (Option 1) Requirement for Small Business Processing, 1/92
07. 2 Fire Precautions, 9/92
08.2 Termination. 12/89
08.21 Delay in Reconstruction of Processing Facilities, 6/78
C8.212= Market-Related Contract Term Addition. 9/91
ca.23 Contract Term Extension, 7/91
C8.231 Conditions for Contract Term Extension, 7/91
C8 . 3 Contract Modification, 10/77
C8.4 Performance by Other Than Purchaser, 1/75
08.63 Nondiscrimination in Employment, 6/78
C8.641 Use of Timber. 10/90
C8.71 Tripartite Land Exchange, 2/71
09.1 Lercers of Credit. 6/78
09.11 Failure to Provide Performance Bond, 11/85
09.2 Disputes. 7/80
C9.21 Submission of Claim, 8/79
C9.3 Breach. 6/90
09.4 Failure to Cut. 10/89
09.41 Failure to Execute Contract, 11/85
09.5 Settlement. 10/77
CONTRACT MDDIFICATIO
N DAT£0_£[.2ip3^
35
C~. 220^' - Dovnpayinenc (7/91). Notwichscanding B4.22, Purchaser agrees to -ake
a dovnpaymenc in the amount of S 93 .400 .00 . Only cash or Effective
Purchaser Credit earned on this sale or transferred to this contract pursuant
to CA . 211// may be used to meet this requirement. No other form of payment
is acceptable in meeting this requirement. This payment must be made at the
time the contract is required to be executed and returned by Purchaser, and
may not be applied towards payments under B4.C, transferred to other sales, or
refunded, until stumpage value representing 25 percent of the total bid value
of Che sale has been charged and paid for or shown as cut, removed, and paid for
on Che scacemenc of accounc.
Purchaser's failure to make the downpaymenc by che cime Che contract is required
to be executed and returned by Purchaser in accordance uich C9.41 - Failure to
Execute Contract, constitutes breach of this contract. B9 . 3 does not apply to
C4.220tf - Downpayment. Purchaser shall have three calendar days from the
required date of execution to make the downpayment at the office location
designated by Forest Service. Purchaser shall pay interest on the unpaid
downpayment for the period within the three calendar days in which the downpayment
is late. The rate of interest shall be 6. 5 percent per annum. Failure to
make the downpayment within Chree calendar days of the cine che executed contract
is required Co be returned by Purchaser shall constitute repudiation of this
concracc. In such event, Purchaser and Forest Service agree that Purchaser's bid
guarantee shall be retained to be used for damages under C9.A1 - Failure to
Execute Concracc.
36
C4.264»« - PERIODIC PAYMENT SCHEDULE. (10/91) Purchaser shall make periodic
paymencs for scumpage value as follows:
Periodic Paymenc
Amount Determination Dace
Initial $308,700.00 September 26, 1995
Additional 5661,500.00 September 15, 1996
In the event Purchaser has not paid Che above indicaced amounc(s) , as scumpage
for volume removed, by Che Periodic Paymenc Determination Date(s), Forest
Service shall issue a Bill for Collection for the difference between the
required amount and payments made by Purchaser. If payment(s) fall due on a
date other than a normal billing date, the payment date shall be extended to
coincide with the next timber sale statement of account billing date.
The amount of the periodic payment(s) will be reduced if the payment(s) would
result in the purchaser's credit balance for timber charges exceeding the
current contract value.
Only cash or Effective Purchaser Credit earned on this sale or transferred into
this contract may be used for this purpose. No other form of payment is
acceptable. Such cash will be used to meet subsequent charges on this sale
under the terms of C4.221 - Advance Deposits. Purchaser Credit used to meet
this obligation cannot be transferred to another sale unless replaced by cash.
Periodic Payment Determination Date(s) that have not been reached shall be
adjusted when a Concract Term Adjustment under B8.21 or a Market-related
Contract Term Addition under C8.212w is granted. When a contract is lengthened
as a result of market-related contract term additions any subsequent Periodic
Payment Determination Date(s) shall be delayed one month for each month added
to' the contract's term. Periodic Payment Determination Date(s) will not be
adjusted when the Contract Term Extension is granted under C8.23.
37
CA.221 - Advance Deposits. (7/91) Purchaser agrees to make cash deposits or
establish Purchaser Credit in advance of cutting to meet charges under B4 . 2 .
Forest Service billings for advance cash deposits shall be In such amount that,
together with available Purchaser Credit as described in B4.222. will maintain
an unobligated balance equal to the applicable charges for timber the Forest
Service estimates will be cut In not less than 30 calendar days and not more
than 60 calendar days. This advance cash deposit may be reduced to a smaller
amount by the terms of C4.220» - Downpayment , C4.224 - Deposits When Payment
Guaranteed. C4.254 - Extension Deposits, and/or C4.264« - Periodic Payment
Schedule. With the exception of the requirements of C4.220w - Downpayment,
C4.254 - Extension Deposits, and C4.264» - Periodic Payment Schedule, Purchaser
shall not be required to make advance deposits above those required under this
provision when the credit balance in Timber Sale Account exceeds the charges
for timber estimated to be cut in the next 60 calendar day period.
38
[
-^sr^
BILL FOR COLLECTION
(naf. FSM 6930)
Please pay by money order, bank draft, or check
payable to FOREST SERVICE, USDA.
Mail payment with this statement in the enclosed envelope
to: UNIT COLLECTION OFFICER, FOREST SERVICE.
'"■""•°'-, ''T^
ttoy 17, 1993
Rnrky Mr — Rpplon, ffila No. 3165/i, PO Box 60CO0, Han FroiMiloea, GA 041GO 105^
llcLatjghlin Sawnill Coa^iany
HCR 30, Box 3B
Spearfish, SD 57783
t Any Criing« Of Add
RETAIN IN YOUR
RECORDS. RECEIPT
WILL NOT BE FUR-
NISHED UNLESS
REQUESTED.
3. Datt or Period
5/17/93
Dovmpayment - 10% of the advertised value plus 20 percent
of the total bid premium of the aale to be retained until
stumpage value representing 25% of the total bid value of
the sale has been charged and paid for or shown as cut,
removed, and paid for on the statement of account.
$93,400.00
2450 Sale Contracts and Permits
Roost Timber Sale
NOTE: Ptyminti not rtcilved by the dui ditt if* lubjeet to i LATI PAYMINT
CHAROI It the rate eurrtntly publlihtd by thi Otpertmint of iht Tnaiury
unlets • difftrtnt nte li prticrlbtd by contrtct or iflritfTunt.
^JLJ .HI
12. Remarks
I2r-03
-OS-
A. D«tt Piymtnt Dy«
6/16/Q3
11. TImMr S«l« Contrict f
7. Amount Dua
(iQ3|fi00iCO-
3. FOREST SERVICE ACCOUNTING DATA
mi
OBJ CLASS
870A71
$93,400.00
CQ3,400.00
PrMloui edition of thli fonn it obtoleli.
FS.6S00-891 IIO-BH
39
@
United States
Forest
Black Hills
Highway 385 North
Department of
Service
National
RR 2, Box 200
Agriculture
Forest
Custer, SD 57730-9501
605-673-2251
Reply to: 2450 Roost
Date: June 16, 1993
McLaughlin Savnolll Company
HCR 30 Box 3B
Spearfish, SD 57783
Gentlemen:
As requested by your letter dated June It, 1993, I am approving additionjil time
until July 16, 1993, for you to complete your performance bond requirements for
the Roost Timber Sale Contract #003736. I will execute the contract upon
receipt of an acceptable performance bond.
Sincerely,
RICHARD R. KESSLER
Timber Sale Contracting Officer
cc: Nemo RD
Ms(
Caring for the Land and Serving People
FS-6200-28 (7-82)
40
CUSTOMEK MEMi.
DATE; 06/23/93
f-ROfl: baer's Insurance Agerncy
123 e. Jackson, Suite 3
f-'O fcox S&O
Speavfish, i-0 67/83
rO; McLau'qi-il in i.awmili
HCR 30 bo;. 3b
Spearfish,, 30 57/83
Kh; bOND ktJtCTlOfJ/
Customer; MCL03
F'olicy; CWF' 3 Sbfe 3»i3
Company; Westfield Companies
Class; Commercial Pack #2
ttt Date; Ob/ 13/33
t;.:p Date; o5/ 13/94
Dave ,
hncloseid please rind a copy or the letter we recieved from Westfield
Insurance. They are declining to issue the bond due to the length of
term .
1 have mailed the information to 2 other companies in hopes they will
have a market .
If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call!!
hank^l ! I appreciate your business! !
-Wv—
Kim Niebuhr
Baer's Insurance Agency
tnc losures
41
Westfjeld Companies
INSURANCE SINCE 1848
June 16, 1993
Baer's Insurance Agency
P.O. Box 580
Spearfish, SD 57783
ATTN: Kim Niebuhr
RE: MCLAUGHLIN SAWMILL
Dear Kim:
As discussed in our phone conversation of Tuesday, June 15, 1993 we will
not be in a position to provide a Performance Bond of $89,000.00 and a
Payment Bond of $125,000.00 on the captioned account. While the
financial s are relatively strong, a four year guarantee extends us out
just a little too far. I appreciate you trying to work with us. If we
can be of service to you in any way, shape or form in the future, please
pick up the phone and give us a call.
I gave you a name of a fellow that could possibly place this business for
you. I hope that his name and number have been helpful in your quest to
find a home for this bond.
Regards,
John F. KnipfSrfl
Senior Bond Manager
JFK:mb
cc: Rick Wallet
Bond Department
Ohio Farmers Insurance Co.
Vtestdeld Insurance Co. Westtleld National Insurance Co.
Westfield Lite Insurance Co.
i9i0 Viking Drive. Suite 404
Edina. MN 55435-5320 612-831-6446
FAX (612) 831-4015
42
1 9000-0045
Blic reporting burd«n for this c
eluding the cib« (or r^vi.wlng I
ca n«ed«d. and eoapl«cing and re
clBAce or anr other especc of th
the rXR Secretariat (VR3). Otti
3f Menageaenc and Budg
average 2S al
oilection of mfornacion. Send coaoanc* regarding Chi
of information, including auggeaciona for reducing t
Acquisition Policy. G3A. Waahlngton. DC 20405: and t
3] act (9 000-004 5) . Uaahmgcon. DC Z0503
McLaughlin Scvraill Company
HCR 30, Box 3B
1 (
1 I
Of OHCAIIIIXTI
INDIVIOUM.
(X cosr:JAT:oi.
Soearfish. SD 577R3
1 STA-
t or :»co«PORA
t:oh South Dakota
RETY(XE3) (N
PBMAL 3UR or 80HD
In lieu of surety hereon, I the undersigned prin- I nii--ioi<(s) | thousand(si | hunorcoisi | cehtisi
cipal hereby offer irrevocable Letter of Credit I I 89 I OOP I 00
NO . 9 in the amount of $89,000.00. Said letter of I contract date | contract
credit IS pledged as security for performance and I 5/17/93 I 003736
suOJ
3! Aacrlca I hareinaf t«r call
:oN: tultiliment of the contract designated hereon
h« Principal and Suracy(les). art flrnlr bound to cha Unlced
laa. bind ouraclvaa In aucn aua "jointlr and aarvarally" aa wall aa 'aavcrally' only for tha pur
Joint action or actiona againat any or all of ua. For all othar purpoaaa. aach Suraty blnda I
avarally with tha Principal, for tha payaiant of tha au> ahown oppoaita the naaa of tha Suraty.
oaa of allov-
aalf. jointlr
I no li.it of
lilty la Indlcalad. tha limit of liability la tha full aoount of the penal au«.
ITI0N3;
incipal haa entered Into the contract identified above.
THEREFORE:
*ha above obligation ia void if tha Principal --
IT' Performa and fulfilla all tha undartakinga . covenanta. caraa. cenditlona. and agroaaenta of the contract
ng tha original cars of tha contract and any extenaiona thereof that are granted by the Covernaent. with or
out notice to tha Surety(iea). and during the life of any guaranty required under the contract, and (21 parforaa
fulfilla all the undertakings, covenants, caraa conditiona. and agreaeents of any and all duly authorized aodi-
ions of tha contract chat hereafter are aada. Notice of those aodif ica t ions to tha Suratyliea) are waived,
bl Peye to the Covernaent the full amount of the taxes taposed by the Covernaent, if Che aaid contrac-. la
ct to the nlller Act, (40 U,S,C, 270a-270el, which are collected, deducted, or withheld froa wages paid by
rinclpal In carrying out the conscruccion concract with respect Co which this bond is furnished.
JITNESS:
The Principal and SuretydesI executed t.-,:s perforaance bond and affixed their seali on the above dace.
^^'"'"^"" ! n.. . , :^/., , O U/y^.^^M...M'
1
IS.alll Corporate
N.aeisi 1 1 I.David 0. Meredith ! 2- Patricia R. Meredith ^■
iicie(si 1 President 1 Treasurer *
(typed 1 1
1 Seal
1
INDIVIDUAL SORETYIIESl
Signatures!. 1 | 1. | 2.
1 ISe.lll IS..1)
ITyped ) I I
CORPORATE SURETYIIESI
S] Naa
Ol Add
NC. j :.:a3:i:7y
APPR0VED_/^'^-^"^ /^ tOL<yU^^ DATE 7 /'^i /C/^
RICHARD R. KESSLER, TimBer Sale Contracting Officer
43
i-t^ Pioneer Bank& Trust
(\C _ J wf •/?£ PION££RING NEW WAYS OF BANKING" ' : ' '
Letter of Credit
July 13, 1993
Irrevocable letter of credit number nine (9)
Forest Service, USDA
Black Hills National Forest
Supervisor's Office
RR 2, Box 200
Custer, SD 57730
Gentlemen:
Pioneer Bank & Trust has established an irrevocable letter of credit in
your favor at the request of and for the account of McLaughlin
Sawmill, Inc., to the extent of Eighty-nine thousand dollars ($89,000)
to secure the performance on contract no. 003736.
Said funds are available by presentation of your sight draft(s) which
clearly specify the number of this credit and are drawn in favor of the
secured contract number cited above.
Draft(s) drawn in conformity with the conditions of this credit will be
honored by us if presented at our office on or before 7/1/98.
'.^^^'^''C'i'-^-
John Heimbaugh
Senior Vice-RresideifltD
P.O. BOX 10
7TH & JACKSON
SPEARFISH. SOUTH DAKOTA • PHONE (605) 642-2725 FDIC
44
USOA— ^Ofwt S«rvtc«
PAYMENT BOND
(For Tlmbar Sala Coirtrico, R*4. FSM 6506)
3. PRINCIPAL rNam« AAd Bu««ic« Addnwi
McLaughlin Sawmill Company
St. Onge Star Rt . Box 3B
Spearfish, SD 57783
2. OATV BONO OeCUTE
561053
7/14/93
Ohio Farmers Insurance Co.
4940 Viking Drive, Suite 404
Edina, MN 55435-5320
5. PCNAL SUM OF BONO (Siprtm la Worf and ^Ifurtit
One Hundred Twenty-five thousand and no/lOOths
12^ OOP
». CONTBACT (
003736
CONTRACT OATE
5/17/93
Know AJJ. MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, llut w». the pnndp^ jad «rny abov. nunol. ae h.ld ind flnniy tou.1 . -lo the Umlal Suiea of
Amoio, actlnj thioush the Forejt Senct. UnittU Stite. Depinment of \*ncultuit, hmnaftii oiled -Jie GOTtrnment." in the penu lum of
imount sated iboY», for the piymejo of which mm weU md tmiy to ba imda, w» bind otinelrci, oui hein, eiKulDls. Jdniiiiinnion. jucciuoi
ud laigzu. joimly ud savvally, by theaa pnseata,
lal hu estovd isto or tsuined thit certain cpntnct with the Goveimjii
flck Hi lis Forpc;r Service ( Roos "
laTe"'
THTS BOND U trade wsh the undanDdlng tiat the
chue of tanbn oo iudi tdminutcred by th* USD
NiOQiai Fomt which u idanoflad ibovs.
NOW, THEREFORE, t the prmopml lh»U maJca timely paymemj ta tha Gormmitm, u tmmded In mid comraa. of the imounu due for ttmtxr jnd
other durjM for tlmbd oil jmoi to Mdi payraanu undn uid oonnct ind «ny end ill duly unhornad modiflanoni of aid conoict that miy
henaflH be made, notice of whldi modiflcaaoni to tha auery a batby wnvad, then this obUmtun ihill ba ™id; oihrrwue a ihall remun m ruU
forca ud eCTect,
IT IS UNDERSTOOD AND AGREED that the nutty win mike p.yraait to tha GovenimHit within 30 day j tftB danund therefor by the Co»eni-
mant whesmr tha ptmapal ihaH fail to pafotm unds iny of tha Uitad connm.
rriSFURTHERUNDERSTOOD AND AGREED thai tUj bond coreniilamb«c ,_
day of Lul^: _ , 19 SJ . •«» endhii tha _Il^j;diyof _a^i^ , 19 _aj. or uiy eranaonof met poiod;ina thit u'tha bond
t upder ail coimct for ths penod beg^msg ihe
rvptices a prmoui pi/TBem bond aovemif mid oootnct, tlilj bond also
pud for.
I ail umber cai uodcr ajd conna pnor lo uid period uid noi ytx
THIS BO^a) may b« temiinatBd, but ooty u to any UabOlty Heiwada azisni sabiaqncnx to iha rfecan dau of i«imBai»n. u foUowt;
CI) By the pnncqwl or tin aumy, it any tloi*, 30 dayi aft« tltt GorvnunaDt'a receipt of wnrtes oottca rf tfftrunatwo from the maopal
ox th« surety; ox
(2) By tha rartty, foQowinj the Co»OTunenr' i demand for paymetn Oixlar thia bond or 1117.0 tj»er peymem bond of the ome pnnapal ujd
anvry, 10 dayi after tha GoTeramein'i recepi of wrraen notice of tenniaaaon from iha aizvry.
IN WTTNESS WHEREOF, the abore^wundan partlM bav« czecoted thii marnmetrt aaaar ihew s«voai vaii as of \fm cUte radicated ibo*e. ind ai i
mch. oarpcsaxa party rt» oame ud corporata aeal hav« bo«o hermo aflUad and thoa prawmj bar* been dniy Bf»d by ru uaderajned icprMcnu-
tivi punoant to auihonry of tta gov^ning body.
INOIVIOUAU PRINCIPAL
(WlTNtSSl
PARTMERSMIP
(NAME)
fWlTNESSI
(PARTNER)
(SEAL:
rWITNESS)
uto BY
(PARTNER)
(WITNESS)
IPABTNERl
CORPORATE PRINCIPAL Mrr^,,ghlin sawmill rnmp^ny^.
— c
ATTEST, " \ ''
0. Meredith Pres.
^ ."u.
David
(TITLE)
(TITLE)
SMI
cnBPooA-nr „,D«-r^ Or.io Farmers Insurance Co
^y
ATTEST:
^^.,a>^
[ A-.I.
Larrv
^Zonirud PCA
1
(TITLE)
(TITLE)
; ''"
APPROVAL BY FOREST SERVICE
APPROVED AT ASOFTME
8^ . .^ TITLE
45
USOA • Forcft Service
f
BILL FOR COLLECTION
(H«'. FSM 6530)
Please pay by money order, bank draft, or check
payable to FOREST SERVICE, USDA.
Mail payment with this statement in the enclosed envelope
to: UNIT COLLECTION OFFICER, FOREST SERVICE.
Spparflph, ';n
May 10. 1993
Rocky Mountain Region, Pile No. 31654. P.O. Box 60000. San Franclaco. CA. 9A168-165A
MCLAUGHLIN SAWMILL
HBR 30 BOX 3B
SPEARFISH SD 57783
t Cn«o9« Of Ada«
RETAIN IN YOUR
RECORDS. RECE'PT
WILL NOT BE FUR-
NISHED UNLESS
REQUESTED.
3. Data or Period
5/10/93
Bid Gu»rentea - Roost: Timber Sale
►
$83,100,00
NOTE: Payments
CHARGE at The n
unlets a different t
eceived bv the due date are subject ti
irrently published by the Oepanmen
I prescribed by contract or agreemcn
5/10/93
$83,100.00
13. FOREST SERVICE ACCOUNTING DATA
$83,100.00
Pnvloui odition of this fomi U otHolata.
$83,100.00
FS. 6500-893 {10-61
46
PURCHASER'S RECEIPT- RETAIN FOR YOUR RECORDS '" '■ '•
CASHIER'S CHECK ^e 200367
REMITTgH
KcLaagbHp Sawmill Coopanw
PAYABLE TO
U.S.D.A. rOSBST SBRVICB****
Hay 10, 93 7W76«i.
93100.00
Pioneer Bank &Trust
MEMORAMOUM
jyj BELLE FQURCHE. SD 577T7
~ SpM/f/l/I • flipla aiy
^. ^
47
United States Forest Rocky Box 25127
Department of Service Mountain Lakewood, CO 80225-0127
Agriculture Region Delivery: 740 Sinuns St.
Golden, CO 80401
Reply to: 2420
Date: August 13, 1993
Potential Purchasers of National Forest Timber
and Other Interested Parties :
Several years ago, in consultation with the timber industry, all the
intermountain Regions of the Forest Service implemented the use of transaction
evidence appraisals (TEA) as the principle tool to appraise National Forest
timber offerings. As each Region worked with their respective timber interest
groups, somewhat different processes evolved. Although txmber in competitive
markets has been bid at comparable values, the appraised values of these timber
offerings has varied.
In recent months, the disparity between the appraised value has created some
problems. The Forest Service began receiving criticism from purchasers,
environmental organizations and the public over these differences.
Concurrently, the Forest Service is facing some significant budget limitations,
which demand we search out aind implement all opportunities for additional
savings .
In an effort to be responsive to both the criticism and the need for improved
efficiency. Regions 2, 3 and 4 of the Forest Service agreed to work toward
simplifying and bringing each of their TEA systems into more uniformity. This
was no easy task, since each Region has used their version of TEA successfully
for many years, and their timber industry had come to know it well. However,
through considerable give and take, the mandate for simplicity and efficiency
prevailed, and the three Regions reached agreement on the principles of a more
common TEA proposal .
It is important to us that all interested parties have an understanding of the
agreed upon proposal and take an opportunity to critique it. For this reason,
we have scheduled an information meeting for 9:00 am, Friday, August 27, 1993,
at the new Forest Service offices located at 740 Simms Street in Lakewood. At
this meeting, we will provide information packets about the proposal, cover the
changes this proposal makes from the current TEA process used in the Region and
answer your questions. Then we will ask those of you with comments to return
them to us no later than September 15, 1993. From your comments and those
received by Regions 3 and 4, the three Regions will jointly determine if it is
necessary to modify the proposal. Each Region's objective is to implement the
new proposal for the next scheduled update which, for R-2, is due to be
published November 1, 1993.
We hope you will be able to attend on August 27.
Sincerely,
GLEN E . HETZEL
Director, Renewable Resources
48
NATIONAL KOKEST TIMBER FOR SALE
SALOMAN TIMBER SALE
Notice is hereby given chac che Bearlodge Discrlcc Ranger has advertised in che
Rapid Cicy Journal che Baldman Timber Sale with bids to be opened September 2U .
1993 at 2:00 p m , Spcarriiri 'u:i>tf.LZ Office, 20U North Main Street.
Spearfisn, SD This sale of 1213 gross acres, more or less, is described as
1' . ■• yr. . i< o^^ ., jc ; -ur, s - . ,/ , J , r j'j'.'- S . G'y'-. . j^-c : loni 31. 32 . 5 th ?'/. Th ;i
sale contains an estimated volume of ^,890 MBF (9,686 CCF) of Ponderosa Pine
and other conifer saulogs which are designated for cutting. This is a small
business set-aside sale If no small business concern makes a valid bid, the
Forest Service shall consiaer bias from other bidders. The minimum acceptable
bid for Ponderosd P:r,e anc ocr-cr jcriier sawlogs is SI , 0<46 , 313 . 30 'total sale
value. In adciCLon. tnere i.s -ichm tnt sale area an estimated 2.040 CCF of
Pondero-sa Pirit and otner conifer products otr.er than saulogs which the bidder
may agree to remove. Additional deposits required for slash disposal are S6.72
per MBF and for rock replacement are $3.43 per MBF. Purchaser road credit is
$77,515.00.
Bidding will be on a total sale value basis instead of on a per MBF basis.
The sale package is availaole for review at the Bearlodge District Office and
the Forest Supervisor's Office. NOTE This sale will be sold by sealed bid.
More information, maps of the sale area, and che required bid forms can be
picked up or requested from:
U.S. DA. Forest Service U.S.D.A. Forest Service
Forest Supervisor Bearlodge Ranger District
^
Rt. 2, Box 2,00 P. 0 Box 680
Custer, SD 57730 Sundance, WY 82729
Tele. 673-2251 Tele. 307-283-1361
Cash deposits for this sale
at advertised rates are:
10% of Bid Value = $104,700.00
10% of Bid Value
Performance Bond = $104,700.00
Deposits for
Payment Bond = $130,000.00 Depending upon
harvest rate
Total Dollar
Commitment = $339,400.00
49
NATIONAL FOREST TIMBER FOR SALE
WABASH TIMBER SALE
Notice is hereby given cbac Che Cuscer District Ranger has advertised in the
Rapid City Journal the Uabash Timber Sale with bids Co be opened September 21,
1993 at 2:00 p.m., Black Hills National Forest Supervisor's Office, Highway 16
& 385 North, Cuscer, SD. This sale of 7378 gross acres, more or less, is
described as T.3S., R.3E., Sections 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,
35, 36; T.3S.,R.4E., Sections 18, 19, 20, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34;
T.4S., R.3E., Section 1, 2; T.4S , R.4E., Sections 5, 6, BHM. This sale
concains an estimated volume of 9,460 MBF (20,033 CCF) of Ponderosa Pine and
other conifer sawlogs which are designated for cuccing. This is a small -
business sec-aside sale. If no small business concern makes a valid bid, che
Foresc Service shall consider bids from ocher bidders. The minimum accepcable
bid for Ponderosa Pine and ocher conifer sawlogs is 52,215,910.40 'Cocal sale
value. In addicion, chere is wichin che sale area an escimated 700 CCF of
Ponderosa Pine and ocher conifer products ocher chan sawlogs which che bidder
may agree co remove, Addicional deposits required for slash disposal are $9.15
per MBF and for rock replacement are $0.53 per .MBF. Purchaser road credic is
$239,588.00.
Bidding will be on a total sale value basis instead of on a per MBF basis.
The sale package is available for review at the Custer District Office and the
Forest Supervisor's Office. NOTE . This sale will be sold by sealed bid. More
information, maps of che sale area, and che required bid forms can be picked up
or requesced from.
U.S.D.A. Forest Service U.S.D.A. Foresc Service
Forest Supervisor Custer Ranger District
Re. 2. Box 200 330 Mc. Rushmore Road
Cuscer. SD 57730 . Cuscer, SD 57730
Tele. 673-2251 Tele. 673-4853
Cash deposits required for this sale
at the advertised rates are:
10% of Bid Value = $221,600.00
10% of Bid Value
Performance Bond = $221,600.00
Deposits for
Payment Bond = $130,000.00 Depending upon
harvest rate
Total Dollar
Commitment $573,200.00
50
Senator Pressler. Thank you.
Mr. Perdue.
STATEMENT OF DON PERDUE, PRESIDENT, PERDUES, INC., RAPID
CITY, SD
Mr. Perdue. Thank you for the opportunity to speak before the
Senate Small Business Committee.
Perdue, Incorporated, manufactures promotional bedroom furni-
ture, which we sell throughout the continental United States. Also,
we export to Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The business was
started in Montana in 1970. The plant was added in Kentucky. In
1987, we moved to South Dakota. At that time we had 3 million
dollars in gross sales with about 50 employees. We have grown to
$25 million in sales and we have approximately 220 employees with
a payroll of $5.4 million. We are an in-user of this forest product
that everyone has been taking about. Our delivered price is one of
the lowest in the Nation for furniture of this quality. And by
design, we have one of the highest labor costs. Our employees aver-
age $10 per hour plus fringe benefits, including health insurance. I
mention this because of a corporation desire and obligation to our
employees to supply them a living wage so they can be independent
in their lifestyle.
We are constantly working to obtain the lowest possible price for
raw materials, i.e., particleboard, that is available in the private
competitive market. During the time I have been in business, the
price and availability of raw materials has been reasonably stable
within the normal functions of inflation and market pressures.
Since August 1992, the price of particleboard has increased from
$175 per thousand to $250 per thousand, approximately a 43 per-
cent increase, which is predictable when large quantities of timber
are taken from the market. This forces our need to raise prices. Let
us not forget that a price increase from a manufacturer is a dou-
bling factor to the consumer.
We purchase material from mills throughout the United States,
and our consumption last year was 15 million board feet. In addi-
tion to the price increase, we have also experienced shortages.
Early this summer we were forced to close our plant and send our
employees home for a week, because we were unable to secure
board. Raw material at this time has become somewhat more avail-
able due to the softness in the economy as a result of the conduct
of the Clinton Administration. However, I am cautioned by the
mills that their raw materials are scarce and that I could be put on
an allotment or a rationing basis at any time.
The furniture industry is very competitive, and I cannot compete
with manufacturers from countries with reasonable environmental
concerns if ours become unreasonable. The people who are opposed
to multiple use tell us that jobs lost in the timber industry will be
replaced by employment in tourism. I would hope that if the time
comes when I will have to close the doors because of a lack of raw
materials that one of these people will be available to explain the
advantages of a minimum-wage job to the employees of Perdue
Woodworks.
Thank you.
51
[The prepared statement of Mr. Perdue follows:]
Prepared Statement of Donald R. Perdue
Dear Senator Pressler. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the U.S.
Senate Small Business Committee on September 4, 1993.
Perdues, Inc., manufactures promotional bedroom furniture which we sell
throughout the continental United States; we have also exported to Canada, Mexico,
and Puerto Rico. The business was started in Montana in 1970, a plant was added in
Kentucky, and in 1987 we moved to South Dakota. At that time, we had $3 million
in gross sales with 50 employees. We have grown to $25 million in sales and ap-
proximately 220 employees, with a payroll of $4,600,000. Our delivered price is one
of the lowest in the Nation for furniture of this quality and, by design, we have one
of the highest labor costs. Our employees average $10 per hour plus fringe benefits
including health insurance. I mention this because of the corporation's desire and
obligation to our employees to supply them a living wage so they can be independ-
ent in their lifestyles.
We are consistently working to obtain the lowest possible price for raw materials
(i.e., particle board) that is available in the private competitive market. During the
time I have been in business the price and availability of raw materials has been
reasonably stable, within the normal fluctuation of inflation and market pressures.
Since August 1992, the price of %" particleboard has increased from $175 per thou-
sand to $250 per thousand or approximately 43 percent, which is predictable when
large quantities of timber are taken from the market. This precipitated our need to
raise our prices. Let us not forget that a price increase from a manufacturei be-
comes a doubling factor to the consumer.
We purchase material from mills throughout the United States and our consump-
tion last year was 15 million board feet. In addition to the price increases we have
also experienced shortages and early this summer we were forced to close our plant
and send our employees home for 1 week as we were unable to purchase board. Raw
material, at this time, has become somewhat more available due to a softness in the
economy, as a result of the conduct of the Clinton Administration. However, I am
cautioned by all the mills that their raw materials are scarce and that I could be
put on an allotment basis at any time.
The furniture industry is very competitive and I cannot compete with manufac-
turers from countries with reasonable environmental concerns if ours become un-
reasonable. The people who are opposed to multiple use tell us — that jobs lost in the
timber industry will be replaced by employment in tourism. I would hope that if the
time comes when I will have to close my plant because of lack of raw materials, one
of these people will be available to explain the advantages of a minimum wage job
to the employees of Perdue Woodworks.
Senator Pressler. Well, I thank you very much.
Mr. Honerkamp, Bill, go ahead.
STATEMENT OF BILL HONERKAMP, PRESIDENT, BLACK HILLS,
BADLANDS AND LAKES ASSOCIATION
Mr. Honerkamp. Senator Pressler and staff, my name is Bill
Honerkamp. I speak today as president of South Dakota's Black
Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association. That's a trade association
that is comprised of some 560 small business enterprises in western
South Dakota. Their common bond is recreation, tourism, and vaca-
tion traffic. In other words, other people's fun and recreation, is
our business and livelihood. Our customers will spend about $250
million in the Black Hills this year. And more than 16,000 Black
Hills citizens — you earlier quoted a South Dakota figure — but more
than 16,000 Black Hills citizens are employed in the visitor indus-
try.
The Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association does not sup-
port the Forest Service's recommendations arising from the RARE
II studies, which propose the creation of a Sand Creek Wilderness
along the State line, nor the Beaver Creek Wilderness near Sturgis.
52
The Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association did not support
the seven new wilderness areas proposed for the Black Hills and
Badlands region by the Sierra Club in 1991. And we do not support
the modified Black Hills wilderness draft bill of 1993 that now
seeks nine new wilderness areas within this region.
Our opposition is based on several broad concepts important to
the success and viability of the visitor industry.
This year, we estimate that about 4 million nonresidents are
going to come to the Black Hills to experience our region. Yeah,
they come for conventions in Rapid City and to gamble in Dead-
wood and to go see Reptile Gardens, but mostly they come for these
Black Hills, these mountains, because here they enjoy an impres-
sive array of outdoor natural resources, forests, lakes, streams,
wildlife, minerals, waterfalls, canyons, wonderful scenery. When
you think about it, even Mount Rushmore owes some measure of
its popularity or its success to its setting in the Black Hills. Visi-
tors come to enjoy the public lands of five national parks, two State
parks, two national forests, several wildlife refuges, caves and
public grasslands. They come here to relax and to recreate — that's
re-create — their souls, their minds, their bodies.
The ornery thing about federal wilderness is that it sets up its
exclusionary zones. It sets up preserves for selected outdoorsmen
who have the skills, who have the stamina, and who have the time
to penetrate these tracts, to seek that solitude they crave.
Not many of our customers have the outdoor skills or the equip-
ment to handle, much less enjoy, wilderness. In other words, most
of our visiting guests are city slickers.
Wilderness designation has the effect of posting "keep out" signs
to many types of our customers whose preferred forms of recrea-
tion might include snowmobiling or four-wheeling or gold panning
or trail biking. They're prohibited.
Wilderness areas, as a practical matter, are essentially off-limits
to the handicapped, the elderly, or the infirm.
What we are declaring then, first, is that wilderness is neither
appealing nor usable to many types of tourists. It excludes too
many types of our customers. Alienating whole markets of custom-
ers by creating de facto exclusionary zones, that's just not accepta-
ble.
Second, Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association is a firm be-
liever in the concept of multiple use. Just as we feel recreationa-
lists should not be needlessly denied access to public lands, we feel
that other vocations of grazing, timber, mining, and other interests
need to be accommodated too. We have great confidence in the
ability of our public management agencies to regulate, to control,
and to limit potencially destructive activities. And that confidence
is why this organization supports, with the exception of the wilder-
ness designation, the Forest Management plan that has been de-
vised by the Black Hills National Forest.
And, finally, we believe that you almost have to wink when you
discuss wilderness in the Black Hills. This is not the Big Empty.
Truly wild country is rare here due to years of civilization and set-
tlement. The proponents' proposal says, and I quote, "At fto point
in any of our proposed wilderness areas is a person more than 2.5
53
miles from a road," unquote. Now we're not really sure that they
really mean real wilderness.
Tourist frequently use one particular word, an adjective, to de-
scribe these Black Hills, and the word they use is "intimate." What
they are saying is they enjoy these mountains because they can get
right onto them. The Black Hills have 18 peaks over 7,000 feet
high. You can climb to the summit of every one of them. Our
gorges and canyons are spectacular, and they're accessible. Our
wildlife is plentiful, yet there are no wild bears here to eat our
campers. You can wade or fish every stream and brook in the
Black Hills. Nobody's gotten life-threateningly lost here for dec-
ades.
These Black Hills are friendly mountains. They beg to be hiked,
to be explored, and to be experienced. Outlining wilderness tracts
on a map really does nothing to improve upon that. The propo-
nents claim rising demand for wilderness. I can tell you that it's
not a rising demand among tourists. It's not a rising demand from
within the tourism industry.
More federal wilderness in the Black Hills? No, that wouldn't be
good for tourism or for small business in South Dakota. We urge
Congress to reject these wilderness proposals.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Honerkamp follows:]
Prepared Statement of Bill Honerkamp
Senator Pressler and Committee Staff. My name is Bill Honerkamp and I speak
today as president of South Dakota's Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association.
That is a trade association comprised of some 560 small business enterprises in
western South Dakota. Their common bond is recreation, tourism and vacation traf-
fic. In other words, other people's fun — recreation — is our business and our liveli-
hood. Our customers will spend nearly $250 million with us in 1993. More than
1,600 Black Hills citizens are employed in the visitor industry.
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association does not support the Forest Service's
recommendations arising from the RARE II studies, which propose the creation of a
Sand Creek Wilderness along the State line, nor the Beaver Park (also called Break-
neck) Wilderness southwest of Sturgis.
Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Association did not support the 7 new wilderness
areas proposed for the Black Hills and the Badlands by the Sierra Club in 1991. And
we do not support the modified Black Hills Wilderness draft bill of 1993 that now
seeks 9 new wilderness districts.
This opposition is based on several broad concepts important to the success and
the viability of the visitor industry.
This year, we estimate that more than 4 million nonresidents will travel great
distances to come and experience the Black Hills. They come to conventions in
Rapid City, to gamble in Deadwood and to see Reptile Gardens. But mostly, they
come because of these Black Hills mountains. They come to enjoy an impressive in-
ventory of natural resources like our forests, lakes, streams, wildlife, minerals, wa-
terfalls, canyons and wonderful scenery. Even Mount Rushmore owes a measure of
its popularity to its setting in the spectacular Black Hills. Visitors come to enjoy the
public lands of our five national parks, two State parks, two national forests, our
wildlife refuges, our caves and our grasslands. They come here to relax and to recre-
ate— to re-create — their bodies, minds and souls.
The ornery thing about federal wilderness is that it creates exclusionary zones.
Wilderness sets up exclusive preserves for select outdoors men who have the skills,
and the stamina and the time to penetrate these tracts, and seek the solitude they
crave.
Not very many of our customers have the outdoor skills or equipment to handle —
much less enjoy — wilderness. In other words, most of our visiting guests are "city
slickers."
Wilderness designation has the effect of posting "Keep Out" signs to many types
of our customers whose preferred form of leisure might be snowmobiling, four-
wheeling, gold panning or trail biking.
54
Wilderness areas, as a practical matter, are off-limits to the handicapped, the el-
derly, or the infirm.
What we are declaring, first, is that wilderness is neither appealing nor usable by
many types of tourists. It excludes too many types of our customers. Alienating
whole markets of customers ... by creating de facto exclusionary zones . . . that is
not acceptable.
Second, BHB&L Assn. is a firm believer in the concept of multiple use. Just as we
feel recreationalists should not be needlessly denied the access and use of public
lands, we feel that the vocations of grazing, timber, mining and other interests must
also be accommodated. We do not advocate pillaging the Hills. We have great confi-
dence in the ability of our public management agencies to regulate, control and
limit potentially destructive activities. That confidence is why this organization also
supports implementation of the Forest Management Plan that has been devised by
the Black Hills National Forest.
And finally, we believe that you almost have to wink when you discuss wilderness
in the Black Hills. This is not the Big Empty. Truly wild country is rare here, due
to 20 years of settlement and civilization. The proponents' proposal says, and I
quote: "At no point in any of our proposed wilderness areas is one more than 2.5
miles from a road." Un-quote. We're not really sure they really mean real wilder-
ness.
Tourists frequently use one particular adjective to describe the appeal of the
Black Hills. That word is "intimate." They are saying that they enjoy these moun-
tains because they can get right into them, right onto them. The Black Hills have
18 peaks over 7,000 feet high — and you can climb to the summit of every one. Our
gorges and canyons are spectacular — and totally accessible. Wildlife is plentiful — yet
there are no wild bears to bother campers or hikers. You can wade or fish every
stream and brook. Nobody's gotten life-threateningly lost in the Black Hills for dec-
ades.
These Black Hills are friendly mountains, begging to be hiked, explored, experi-
enced. And outlining wilderness tracts on a map really does nothing to improve
upon that.
More federal wilderness in the Black Hills? No, that won't be good for tourism or
for small business in South Dakota. We urge the Congress to reject these wilderness
proposals.
Senator Pressler. Good. I very much appreciate your taking spe-
cific stands on these wilderness areas and other issues because that
helps me.
Some in the audience may wonder what becomes of these hear-
ings. I'll tell you what I'm going to do with this one. I'm going to
give a speech on the Senate floor next week summarizing what has
been said here and calling my colleagues' attention to the hearing
record, which anybody that wishes may read. Also, I'm going to
mention in my speech on the Senate floor the size of the turnout
here on a Saturday morning. I think that you have voted with your
feet that you're very concerned. There's a great deal of concern
here about what's happening. And I appreciate this because I know
on a Saturday morning there are many better things to do. I've
held many meetings in my day, and this is about as good a turnout
as I've seen on a Saturday morning. So I do appreciate it. But, also,
I'd be willing to send anybody who wants a copy of this speech, if
they just leave their address with us. I'd be happy to send you
some of the voting records on the appeals process issue as well.
Also, I'm going to have a meeting with the Forest Service and
other officials as a result of this hearing.
I didn't mean to interrupt you. Bill. I did appreciate the specific
stands that you took on some of these issues, and they are record-
ed.
Larry Mann, Government Affairs representative of Homestake
Mining Company, Lead, SD.
55
STATEMENT OF LARRY MANN, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
REPRESENTATIVE, HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY, LEAD, SD
Mr. Mann. Thank you, Senator. And I do appreciate the opportu-
nity to testify in front of your Committee.
I would like, first of all, to give you some perceptions that people
may have of the mining industry on both sides and then explain
how that ties into both small business and public lands.
Homestake Mining Company — most people are familiar with ag-
riculture, timber, oil, and gas — produce what we think of as the
stuff of life. And I think unfortunately in these times society has
taken natural resource production for granted. We've lost a sense
that milk comes from cows. And that is something that you can see
being expanded across the Nation is the fact that we lose track of
where these things come from. Also, unfortunately most of the
public familiarity with mining focuses on our shortcomings, like
our comparisons to Summitville, CO, for instance, which even
South Dakota's Secretary of DENR, Robby Roberts, says won't
happen in South Dakota because we've got the kinds of rules and
regulations in place which prevent that.
Acid rock drainage, which while certainly an undesirable situa-
tion in the mining industry, is technically manageable and being
managed now. We hear about the Migratory Bird Act, which we
along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and State Game, Fish
and Parks met early in the spring to resolve those particular issues
and put a process in place to resolve them. Abandoned mine lands,
which is kind of a sexy issue which people talked about for the last
2 years. The South Dakota Mining Association, which includes Ho-
mestake Mining Company, has addressed on our own the issue of
abandoned mine lands in South Dakota and started to get that
process in place. We supported and were fortunate to help pass and
implement an abandoned mine lands law in South Dakota in the
last legislative session, and for whatever reason, we were not sup-
ported by the environmental community.
Our industry also operates in a couple other climates. One, we
believe in very strict regulation with very stringent enforcernent,
and we support that. Unfortunately, we also operate in an environ-
ment which we believe is an orchestrated effort by the environmen-
tal extremists that you mentioned. Senator, to use hyperbole and
unsupported contention to create a sense of environmental hyste-
ria. We don't support that.
Mining in South Dakota is conducted almost exclusively on pri-
vate land. And in Lawrence County, our total permitted mines use
up less than one-half of 1 percent of Lawrence County land mass.
And depending on how you calculate the acres in the Black Hills,
we're one 34 hundredth of the Black Hills. A section of land east of
the Missouri may support one family. A section of mining land in
the Black Hills can support 100 to 150 families. We produce several
thousand direct jobs, many indirect jobs. Most of those indirect jobs
are in the small business community. In 1992, the mining industry
purchased $73 million in services and supplies. Seventy-six percent
of that total, by one State commissioned study, was spent in South
Dakota with South Dakota businesspeople. Most of that $55 mil-
56
lion, in fact, was spent in the northern hills and the Rapid City
area.
Small business is the backbone of our economy, and many small
businesses depend on the mining industry for their survival. The
mining industry, of course, must compete with the market forces
that exist in the free economy, and we're willing to do that. But we
can be driven out of business by several things. We can be over-
taxed, we can be overregulated, or we can be locked out of the op-
portunities to explore and develop America's vast natural re-
sources.
We at Homestake will continue to contribute significant good
faith effort to resolve natural resource conflicts. But unreasonable
mining law reform is an example which prohibits — which may pro-
hibit access and secure tenure on public lands or efforts to lock up
resources by the use of wilderness which does not strictly meet the
federal criteria or manipulation of the forest plan to restrict the
use of public lands to something that will not just cost miners and
loggers, it will cost the taxpayers and will cost the small busines-
speople of the country.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mann follows:]
Prepared Statement of Larry A. Mann
The Homestake Mine in Lead, SD is the oldest continuously operated gold mine in
the world. The geologic structure known as the "Homestake Formation" has been
mined since 1876, 13 years before South Dakota was granted Statehood. Homestake
operates almost exclusively on private land. Approximately 650 acres are occupied
by surface facilities which support underground operations, 651 acres are permitted
for disturbance in connection with the Open Cut surface mine, and roughly 80,000
acres are comprised of timberlands, agricultural property, and other non-mining
lands.
Recently, the cost of producing an ounce of gold exceeded the market price. Be-
tween April 1991 and early 1993, Homestake Mining Company operated at a loss.
Management strategies for profitability required that efforts be focused on control-
ling fixed and variable costs, improving ore grade, eliminating unprofitable produc-
tion and fully utilizing both an experienced workforce and a complex physical plant.
Efforts to address these issues have been successful, and as gold prices increased
during the second quarter of 1993, Homestake returned to profitability.
The future of the Homestake Mine depends largely upon the ability to accomplish
several objectives. Among these are:
Implementing a mine plan which will sustain long-term profitability at low
gold prices.
Replacing ore reserves.
The replacement of ore reserves is essential to continued production. As produc-
tion of gold from an aging mine becomes more difficult, the replacement of econom-
ic reserves becomes more critical. Thus, exploration for future reserves is a high pri-
ority. Exploration is a high risk business which requires a large capital commitment
with no assurance of success. Exploration activities are conducted using geologic in-
formation. Gold mineralization occurs erratically and a substantial portion of future
discovery potential exists on federal lands. In order to insure a prosperous future for
gold mining in the Black Hills, access with secure tenure on public lands is impera-
tive.
Several recent public land issues are of significant concern to Homestake manage-
ment and represent potential threats to the future of mining in South Dakota. All
of these concerns are related to the ongoing debate over the use of public lands.
The first of these issues is reform of the 1872 Mining Law. Mining law reform is
inevitable, and as you know, the U.S. mining industry has participated in good faith
efforts to resolve public land conflicts. The result of those efforts is the Craig bill, S.
775. The Craig bill addresses each of the issues raised by mining critics and still
57
allows the mining industry to operate with some assurance that it will be able to
obtain access to and secure tenure on public lands.
The second threat to continued mining in the Black Hills is the persistent at-
tempt to lock up valuable natural resources by proposals which recommend tens of
thousands of acres of wilderness. Wilderness designations may be appropriate on
certain pristine lands which meet all of the strict criteria necessary to obtain such a
designation. Unfortunately, many proposed wilderness areas in the Black Hills are
simply intended to keep miners, loggers, and recreationists off public lands without
adhering to specific wilderness criteria.
The third issue of concern to natural resource producers is revision of the forest
plan for the Black Hills National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service is faced with the
difficult task of revising the plan for the Black Hills Forest. Nine options are under
consideration by the USFS, several of which seriously restrict natural resource pro-
duction on forest lands. One option, proposed by American Wildlands and others,
seeks to create wilderness areas through manipulation of the forest plan. The "Con-
servation Biology Alternative" does not provide for responsible natural resource
production.
Homestake Mining Company is concerned that legislative action on these propos-
als may:
attempt to "lock up" natural resources
create prescriptive and inflexible regulatory mandates
provide industry opponents with procedures which result in denial of use by
unnecessary delay.
The result of such legislation could fatally affect local small business, which is the
focus of this hearing.
Homestake Mining Company's Black Hills operation employs over 1,200 technical-
ly skilled, well educated, and highly paid people with an annual payroll in excess of
$45 million. Expenditures for services and supplies in 1992 amounted to nearly $33
million. Total industry expenditures for services and supplies exceeded $73 million.
A recent study commissioned by the State of South Dakota reported that the pur-
chase of goods and services by the mining industry has a leakage rate of less than
24 percent outside the State. In other words, 76 percent of the $73 million or $55
million spent by the mining industry went to South Dakota businesses. Much of
that $55 million went to small businesses like RPM in Rapid City or Henry's Safety
Supply in Lead. Many supplies are purchased through South Dakota dealers like
Butler Machinery or Northwest Pipe. Local contractors depend on mining like
Summit Construction, Ainsworth Benning and Donovan Construction. Consultants
like Banner Associates, Inc. and NJS engineering employ hundreds of people who
provide essential services to Homestake and other mining companies.
Large companies like Homestake Mining Company have the option to invest in
exploration and development in other parts of the world like Canada or South
America. Recently, a group of Russian mining engineers toured the Homestake
Mine. Russia has vast resources which are largely undeveloped, incredible opportu-
nities may someday exist there. If natural resource producers are prohibited from
accessing the enormous resources available on public lands, available capital will be
directed out of the U.S. If mining capital leaves the U.S., the burden will be borne
not only by taxpayers, but by the backbone of the American economy which is small
business.
Homestake Mining Company and its vendors and suppliers support reasonable
regulation, a fair return to the taxpayer for resources produced on public lands, de-
velopment practices which respect the environment, and legislation which provides
for the responsible development of America's natural resources.
Homestake steadfastly supports the multiple use concept on public lands and
urges the U.S. Senate to preserve the right of small business, natural resource pro-
ducers, recreationists, and individual citizens to enjoy the benefits public lands
offer. Support for the Craig bill, opposition to wilderness areas which do not strictly
adhere to designation criteria, and implementation of a fully funded Forest Plan
which provides for reasonable production on public lands are steps which are criti-
cally important to the survival of many small businesses in South Dakota.
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
Larry Nelson.
58
STATEMENT OF LARRY NELSON, PRESIDENT, SOUTH DAKOTA
PUBLIC LANDS COUNCIL
Mr. Nelson. Thank you, Senator Pressler, for inviting me as
president of the South Dakota Public Lands Council to this hear-
ing.
We represent ranchers who have permits on BLM land, Black
Hills National Forest, Custer National Forest, and Nebraska Na-
tional Forest here in South Dakota, the Nebraska National Forest
being the National Grasslands.
The 251 permittees in the Black Hills National Forest appreciate
being able to run livestock on the forest, and they need their per-
mits to help make their ranching operations economically viable.
The consequences of reduced livestock grazing in the Black Hills
would include increased risk of fire due to unutilized forage build-
up, reduced vigor of the plant community due to lack of grazing
pressure, and economic loss directly to the rancher and to the com-
munity in which he lives.
We feel that grazing management and timber management in
the Black Hills are interdependent. Without timber harvest, the
understory plants are eventually choked out, leaving very little
forage for livestock or wildlife. Good timber management opens up
the canopy, increases forage available for livestock and wildlife,
and facilitates better livestock distribution. It also promotes good
water management, which is essential for domestic ranch use, live-
stock, and wildlife.
So therefore, we hope the forest plan would maintain and, wher-
ever possible, increase the available forage for livestock.
Just a bit on grazing fees, and I realize that the grazing fees situ-
ation is not going to be settled here in the Black Hills National
Forest Plan, but there's been a lot of controversy over what grazing
fees should be. And they need to be reasonable. They need to be
predictable so that ranchers can maintain long-term financing.
We've seen good cattle prices here in the last few years, but a
number of forecasts are indicating that we're in an increasing
cattle supply and the prices are going to trend downward. And
that's going to affect the rancher's ability to pay. And the bottom
line on fees is that for every dollar the fees go up is a dollar the
rancher doesn't have to spend in the local economy.
On wilderness, we do not favor wilderness designation basically
for two reasons as it relates to livestock grazing in the Black Hills.
In the Black Hills, without timber management, as has been point-
ed out, Ponderosa Pine becomes the dominant species, choking out
the understory and leaves very little forage for livestock or wildlife.
It also restricts the ability of the rancher to use modern tools to
maintain fences and water developments and to use motorized ve-
hicles to reach improvements, check livestock, put out salt and
minerals, and so forth. In addition, no new improvements can be
made that would help facilitate better livestock use of an area.
This combination of potential decreased forage available for live-
stock use and increased operating costs due to these management
limitations would make it very difficult for ranchers over the long
term to continue to operate in any wilderness area. And in some
59
cases my Forest Service board members feel that probably they
wouldn't be able to continue.
So in summary, base ranch units in the Black Hills are closely
tied with their forest permits. They provide winter range for wild-
life, and many people hunt on private property. Without forest
grazing permits, many of these foothills ranchers would no longer
be economically viable. The loss of the grazing permits would accel-
erate the sale of base ranch units, and many would be subdivided.
These units would be lost from agricultural production, and wild-
life habitat and hunting would be lost as well. We feel the Black
Hills Forest Plan must maintain multiple use. A good multiple use
plan, as far as the ranching industry is concerned, should include
increased forage available for livestock as well as wildlife whenever
possible. Permits need to be continued to be issued for 10-year peri-
ods. And these are the actions that we feel are necessary to provide
a stable environment in which the rancher may operate so he can
obtain financing and maintain economic viability. Ranchers will
then be able to remain solid tax-paying citizens, contributing to the
economic health and well-being of the communities around them.
And just to kind of summarize to go along with what these gen-
tlemen have said, this area was settled by miners, loggers, and
ranchers. And that's been the basis of the economy and still is the
basis of our economy, I think, today. And we've added tourism to
that, which is also a big portion of it. And this is the basis of the
economies in the communities here in the Black Hills and in west-
ern South Dakota. And we need all of these various industries
working together to support the communities in this area. These
are our economic bases.
Thank you. I appreciate very much being able to testify.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Nelson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Larry Nelson
Senator Larry Pressler. My name is Larry Nelson and I am president of the South
Dakota Public Lands Council. South Dakota Public Lands Council members have
permits on the Black Hills National Forest, Custer National Forest, Nebraska Na-
tional Forest (National Grasslands) and Bureau of Land Management.
I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this Small Business Committee
Field Hearing concerning the Black Hills National Forest Revision Plan.
GRAZING
The 251 permittees in the Black Hills National Forest appreciate being able to
run livestock on the Forest and need their permits to help make their ranching op-
erations economically viable.
The consequences of reduced livestock grazing in the Black Hills include: in-
creased risk of fire due to unutilized forage buildup; reduced vigor of the plant com-
munity due to lack of grazing pressure; and economic loss to the rancher as well as
the adjacent communities.
Grazing management and timber management in the Black Hills are interdepend-
ent. Without timber harvest, the understory plants are eventually choked out leav-
ing very little forage for livestock or wildlife. Good timber management opens up
the canopy, increases forage available for livestock and wildlife, and facilitates
better livestock distribution. Good timber management also promotes good water
management which is essential for domestic ranch use, livestock and wildlife.
Therefore, the Forest Plan must work to maintain and, wherever possible, in-
crease the available forage for livestock. Allotment goals and management decisions
should be based on range condition and trend, rather than utilization studies which
do not recognize yearly fluctuation in production due to varying precipitation and
temperature. Riparian management must be considered as one part of a complete
allotment management plan, not as a single issue. Livestock should not be excluded
60
from riparian areas unless absolutely no other alternative is available. Grazing
management and riparian management are compatible when ranchers and forest
personnel work together.
GRAZING FEES
There is much controversy over what the federal grazing fee should be. Reasona-
ble and predictable fees are essential for ranchers to maintain long-term financing
for their operations. Cattle prices have been good for the last 5 years, but most fore-
casts indicate an increase in cattle supply in the next few years and a downturn in
prices. This will affect the rancher's ability to pay fees. The bottom line is — every
dollar the fee goes up is a dollar the rancher does not have to spend in the local
economy.
WILDERNESS
Wilderness designation allows for very little management. In the Black Hills,
without timber management, Ponderosa Pine becomes the dominant species, chok-
ing out the understory, leaving very little forage for livestock or wildlife. Wilderness
designation also restricts the ability to use modern tools to maintain fences, water
developments, and to use motorized vehicles to reach improvements, check livestock,
put out salt and minerals, etc. In addition, no new improvements could be imple-
mented to improve proper livestock use of an allotment. This combination of de-
creased forage, increased cost of operation and other management limitations would
make it very difficult and, in many cases, impossible for ranchers to continue to run
cattle in these areas. We do not feel that any sites in the Black Hills really qualify
as wilderness, as most areas already have some roads, fences or water development.
SUMMARY
Base ranch units in the Black Hills are closely tied with their forest permits. Base
ranch units provide winter range for wildlife and many people hunt on private
property. Without forest grazing permits, many foothills ranches would no longer be
viable economic units. Loss of grazing permits would accelerate the sale of base
ranch units and many would be subdivided. These units would be lost from agricul-
tural production and wildlife habitat and hunting would be lost as well. The Black
Hills Forest Plan must maintain multiple use. A good multiple use plan should sta-
bilize and, if possible, increase forage available for livestock as well as wildlife. Per-
mits need to continue to be issued for 10 year periods. These actions are necessary
to provide a stable environment in which the rancher may operate so he can obtain
financing and maintain economic viability. Ranchers will then be able to remain
solid tax-paying citizens, contributing to the economic health and well-being of the
communities around them.
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
I would Hke to ask Dave Meredith or any of the other witnesses
for their comments on the need for assistance in obtaining bonding.
Especially what are the rules on bonding? Also as a spokesman for
timber-related small businesses, what should the allowable sale
quantity, the ASQ, be?
Mr. Meredith. The ASQ needs to be the highest number the
forest will stand. In other words, whatever the Forest Service feels
in their plan. The ASQ needs to be as high as the forest will allow
without endangering anything. Personally, I feel that it should be
somewhere around that 120 million board feet. We have survived
off of that for many, many, many years, and I think we can contin-
ue that if managed properly.
Your other question was?
Senator Pressler. On the bonding issue.
Mr. Meredith. Current financial requirements by the Forest
Service concerning bonding — and this has to do with the turmoil
the forest industry is in right now. Bonding companies are reluc-
tant to issue bonds to sawmills, private loggers, what have you, be-
cause of the turmoil in the forest industry. They're currently re-
61
quiring $5 million in security, and anything below that, they're not
willing to deal with. So small sawmills, rather than buying a bond
to cover performance on a timber sale, are having to put up cash
letters of credit from banks. And that alone is a deterrent to small
business because that limits your borrowing power.
Cash deposits on timber sales are getting way out of hand. I
think I did a comparison on here between a sale in 1986 and one in
1993. They were of the same size. Cash deposits on the 1993 sale
were up something like $89,000 cash deposit. Small businesses can't
afford that. And there needs to be some mechanism or assistance
for us to handle those costs.
Senator Pressler. This question is for Bill Honerkamp — but any
other witness may respond — on the issue of the wilderness areas, I
want to understand what the impact would be on tourism. Some
might say such designations would help tourism of a certain type.
Others would say otherwise. In preparing for this hearing, I read
an editorial in the Rapid City Journal. As I understood it, it said
that we should find a way that we can satisfy environmental con-
cerns and also use some of these lands for other things. That tends
to be where my thinking comes down. However, as I understand it,
use is severely limited in declared wilderness areas. How would
that affect tourism?
Mr. Honerkamp. First of all, we have two wilderness areas in
western South Dakota, Sage Creek out in the Badlands and Black
Elk here in the National Forest. The concept of wilderness has
always seemed to me to be a very extreme form of management or
nonmanagement. And in terms of practical matters, a wilderness
product appeals to a very, very narrow spectrum of consumers. It's
a very, very specialized, superspecialized, opportunity. And while
we are pleased to be able to offer that opportunit}^ via the wilder-
ness areas we have, to be able to create more we do not think
would probably create more customers. In other words, we do not
feel more wilderness equals more customers. Indeed, it may equal
less customers.
Again, there's something very ornery about it. We believe that
some of the areas that have been proposed for wilderness are
indeed very beautiful backcountry. And perhaps we could support
some roadless management or things like that into it. But the Fed-
eral wilderness designation is a very ironclad and very limiting
regulation to propose upon realists.
Senator Pressler. Larry Nelson, you talked a little bit about how
the Ponderosa Pine is different than some other trees in terms of
its effect on grazing. Can you expand a bit more on that?
Mr. Nelson. Well, my National Forest people tell me that up
here in the Black Hills, without timber management, Ponderosa
Pine becomes the dominant species and grows in real close, thick,
dog hair stands, chokes out the understory and thereby choking out
the available forage for livestock and wildlife just because it
doesn't leave any available space for them to grow and shuts out
sunlight, this type of thing.
Senator Pressler. Now, in your judgment, what is the current
condition of the public lands that are included in the grazing per-
mits in western South Dakota?
74-343 0-94-3
62
Mr. Nelson. I operate on BLM lands. BLM lands that I know of
are, I think, in real good condition. I think the grasslands in South
Dakota are in excellent condition, and I think that — I haven't per-
sonally looked at any forest permits, I guess, here in the Black
Hills, but I think that they would be in good condition also.
Senator Pressler. Larry Mann, would you expand on how the
mining industry has addressed reclamation and what we can
expect in the future? I know you covered that in your statement,
but do you want to expand on that issue?
Mr. Mann. Yes, Senator. Let me just speak to that for a few
minutes. In the South Dakota Codified Law, there's a section in the
code that's called the Mine Land Reclamation Act, and it consists
of a 103 separate statutes. Each and every one of the statutes that
have been placed on the books of the laws of South Dakota, with
the exception of one, has had the support and active support of the
mining industry. So we've been strong activists supporting good
regulation. The only statute that we didn't support was one that
was passed in 1992 by public initiative, and we only opposed that
one because we felt that it was — that it contradicted a governor's
commission finding, and so that's the main reason that we didn't
support it.
The reclamation process in South Dakota is a very stringent one.
It is open to public input, public hearings. The decision on a permit
is made by a citizen's board, which is the Board of Minerals and
Environment. And as an example, Senator, the last permit which
Homestake submitted for the open cut expansion weighed 60
pounds. And people — I'm not talking 60 pages. I mean it was a 60-
pound permit. And that wasn't the full permit because there were
questions on that, and additional data was required to complete the
permitting process.
We have to have a reclamation plan in place and approved by
the State before the permit is heard. And we also have to post cash
bonds to insure that the work will be done, should we not be here
to do it. And that reclamation bond is determined by the State and
by State agencies and is not fixed. It's a moving number to reflect
current circumstances. A number of initiatives on the part of
South Dakota government have been awarded by EPA, for in-
stance, for outstanding environmental achievement, and we sup-
port that process fully.
Senator Pressler. Good. I think this panel has done an excellent
job of summarizing their statements and I know they may have ad-
ditional materials for the record.
I'm going to call on panel three. These witnesses will cover the
impact on the environment. Brian Brademeyer of the Black Hills
Group Sierra Club; Joseph Satrom, director of Dakotas Field Office
of The Nature Conservancy, Sioux Falls, SD; Dick Fort, member,
Action for the Environment, Rapid City, SD; Tom Troxel, executive
secretary of Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coalition, Rapid
City, SD; Angie Many, secretary. Black Hills Women in Timber,
Hill City, SD; and John Percevich, owner and operator of the Pac-
tola Pines Marina, Rapid City, SD.
Brian, you're closest, so why don't you begin.
63
STATEMENT OF BRIAN BRADEMEYER, BLACK HILLS GROUP
SIERRA CLUB
Mr. Brademeyer. Thank you, Senator.
The Black Hills Group of the Sierra Club wishes to thank Sena-
tor Pressler and the Senate Small Business Committee for coming
to the Black Hills to hear firsthand how public land decisions are
affecting small businesses. We appreciate this opportunity to
submit our testimony to the United States Senate and will focus on
the two dominant public land management issues in western South
Dakota, the Black Hills Forest Plan Revision and the South Dakota
Wilderness Act. These two issues are, of course, deeply intertwined
due to the legal requirement to review all roadless lands for wilder-
ness designation during forest plan revision.
Regarding the Black Hills Forest Plan Revision, under the cur-
rent plan, the Black Hills are managed neither for multiple use
nor for sustained yield but rather for short-term timber goals. The
Black Hills Forest is far and away the most developed, suburban-
ized, and intensively managed forest in the Forest Service region,
which includes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and
Kansas. With 84 percent of its total acreage devoted to an intensive
logging program, the Black Hills produce over 42 percent of the re-
gion's timber. This intensive timber program is threatening to un-
dermine the ecological health of the Black Hills on which all small
business jobs ultimately depend.
We have extensive concerns regarding what is being proposed for
the forest plan revision and also for what is being omitted from the
revision. A major portion of our concerns relate to the mainte-
nance of viable populations of wildlife species, which in turn reflect
the overall environmental health of the Black Hills. We have par-
ticular concerns for repairing forest interior and all growth habitat
and their associated species. These concerns are documented in
detail in our written testimony. Also, a great concern is declining
amounts of security habitat for big game animals such as deer and
elk. This is aggravated by the extremely high open road density in
the Black Hills and is having significant negative impacts on big
game hunting and associated small businesses.
The timber emphasis is producing rotation ages too short to pro-
vide for much of the beneficial uses associated with our national
forests, such as aesthetics, recreation, wildlife, water quality, and
reduced fire risk. The aggregate effect of all these negative timber
impacts is outweighing the positive contributions to lumber-related
businesses. Timber products are becoming too large and expensive
for small contractors or local mills to bid on. Half the timber-relat-
ed jobs have been lost in the last decade due to mechanization and
increased labor productivity. Most independent contractors have al-
ready been pushed off the public land. These job losses will contin-
ue due to technology changes within the timber industry. Unless
major changes are made in the priorities of the Black Hills Nation-
al Forest, timber concentration in the hands of out-of-State corpo-
rations will continue.
We have repeatedly asked that the important job of the recrea-
tion with its merely related small businesses be included in the
forest plan revision. Recreation is already the dominant economic
64
force on the public lands of western South Dakota, much larger
than timber and grazing combined. Recreation, fish, and wildlife
produce 57 percent of income generated on national forest lands
and 62 percent of jobs. This has occurred despite underfunding of
recreation and wildlife programs and low priority for noncommo-
dity uses on the Black Hills National Forest and Buffalo Gap
Grasslands. The recreation sector is growing rapidly while com-
modity industries are declining and will continue to decline.
Regarding the South Dakota Wilderness Act, over 95 percent of
the wilderness lands in the United States lay west of the hun-
dredth meridian, which roughly bisects the Dakotas. Over 60 per-
cent lie in Alaska. Almost all of the remainder lies in the 1 1 west-
ern States. In surrounding States such as Colorado, Wyoming, Mon-
tana, 4 to 5 percent of total land is in wilderness. The so-called wil-
derness counties in these States have experienced the highest
growth of all nonurban counties, while commodity-based rural
counties stagnate and decline. In South Dakota, we have less than
one acre per square mile, one-sixth of 1 percent. And most of that
lies in the Sage Creek Wilderness Area in the Badlands. Out of the
1.2 million acres of the Black Hills, less than 8,000 are in the single
Black Elk Wilderness Area surrounding Harney Peak, representing
less than two-thirds of 1 percent of forest lands. In the Buffalo Gap
National Grasslands, no acres are in wilderness.
Situated on the eastern boundary of the west, the areas in south-
western South Dakota proposed for wilderness designation are
ideally located to take advantage of the flow of vacationers and re-
creationists heading west to the attractions of the northern Rockies
such as Yellowstone and Glacier. These wilderness designations
can be expected to increase tourism interest in South Dakota with
its result in positive impacts for recreation-oriented small business-
es. Other newer businesses, such as film-making, can also be ex-
pected to benefit from the protection of the beauty of these wild
lands. After all, no tourism bureau ever rushed to print maps of
the newest timber sale areas.
Additional wilderness will benefit tourism, which is South Dako-
ta's growth industry of the future. The South Dakota Wilderness
Act would designate an additional 57,100 acres of Black Hills Na-
tional Forest lands as wilderness, bringing the total up to around 5
percent. In the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, another 74,000
acres are proposed for wilderness, including small portions of Bad-
lands National Park. Five thousand seven hundred and sixty acre
area around Crow Creek is also proposed as a wilderness designat-
ed area.
Again, we thank you, Senator Pressler, for holding this hearing.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Brademeyer follows:]
Prepared Statement of Brian Brademayer
SUMMARY
The Black Hills Group, Sierra Club, wishes to thank Senator Pressler and the
entire Small Business Committee for coming to the Black Hills to hear firsthand
how public land decisions are affecting small businesses. We appreciate this oppor-
tunity to submit our testimony to the United States Senate, and will focus on the
two dominant public land management issues in western South Dakota: the Black
Hills Forest Plan Revision and the South Dakota Wilderness Act. These two issues
65
are, of course, deeply intertwined, due to the legal requirement to review all road-
less lands for wilderness designation during forest plan revision.
BLACK HILLS FOREST PLAN REVISION
The Black Hills are managed neither for multiple-use nor sustained yield, but
rather for short-term timber goals. The Black Hills National Forest is far and away
the most developed, suburbanized, and intensively managed forest in the Forest
Service's Region 2, which includes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska,
and Kansas. With 84 percent of its total acreage devoted to an intensive logging pro-
gram, the Black Hills produce over 42 percent of the region's timber.
This intensive timber program is threatening to undermine the ecological health
of the Black Hills, on which all small business jobs ultimately depend. We have ex-
tensive concerns regarding what is being proposed for the Forest Plan Revision, and
also for what is being omitted from revision. A major portion of our concerns relate
to the maintenance of viable populations of wildlife species, which in turn reflect
the overall environmental health of the Black Hills. We have particular concerns
for riparian, forest interior, and old growth habitat, and their associated species.
Also of great concern is the declining amounts of security habitat for big game
animals such as deer and elk. This is aggravated by the extremely high open road
density in the Black Hills, and is having significant negative impacts on big game
hunting, and the associated small businesses.
The timber emphasis is producing rotation ages too short to provide for much of
the beneficial uses associated with our National Forests, such as aesthetics, recrea-
tion, wildlife, water quality, and reduced fire risk. The aggregate effects of all these
negative timber impacts is outweighing the positive contributions to lumber-related
businesses. Timber projects are becoming too large, and expensive, for small con-
tractors or local mills to bid on. Most independent contractors have already been
pushed off the public land. Unless major changes are made in the priorities on the
Black Hills National Forest, timber concentration in the hands of out-of-State corpo-
rations will continue.
We have repeatedly asked that the important topic of recreation, with its miriad
related small business, be included as a Revision Topic. Recreation is already the
dominant economic force in the public lands of western South Dakota, much larger
than timber and grazing combined (see "National Forest Contributions to Local
Economy" attachment). This has occurred despite underfunding of recreation pro-
grams, and low priority for non-commodity uses on the Black Hills National Forest
and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands.
SOUTH DAKOTA WILDERNESS ACT
Over 95 percent of the wilderness lands in the United States lie west of the 100th
meridian, which roughly bisects the Dakotas. Over 60 percent lie in Alaska. Almost
all the remainder lies in the 11 western States.
In surrounding States, such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, 4 to 5 percent
of total land is in wilderness (see "Where's the Wilderness" attachment). In South
Dakota, we have less than one-acre per square mile, or 0.16 percent, and most of
that lies in the Sage Creek Wilderness Area in the Badlands. Out of the 1.2 million
acres of the Black Hills, less than 8,000 are in the single Black Elk Wilderness Area
surrounding Harney Peak, representing less than % of 1 percent of Forest lands. In
the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, no acres are in wilderness.
Situated on the eastern boundary of "The West", the areas in southwestern South
Dakota proposed for wilderness designation are ideally located to take advantage of
the flow of vacationers and recreationists heading west to the attractions of the
northern Rockies (Yellowstone, Glacier). These designations can be expected to in-
crease tourism interest in South Dakota, with its resultant positive impacts for
recreation-oriented small businesses. Other newer businesses, such as film-making,
can also be expected to benefit from the protection of the beauty of these wild lands.
After all, no Tourism Bureau ever rushed to print maps of the newest timber sale
areas. Wilderness will definitely benefit tourism, which is South Dakota's "indus-
try" of the future.
The South Dakota Wilderness Act would designate an additional 57,100 acres of
Black Hills National Forest as wilderness, bringing the total up to around 5 percent
of forest lands. These areas are, in descending order of size: Pilger Mountain, 12,600
acres; Black Fox, 12,400 acres; Sand Creek, 9,700 acres; Black Elk Additions, 8,200
acres; Stagebarn Canyons, 7,300 acres; and Breakneck, 6,900 acres. Maps and de-
scriptions of these areas are presented in the colored attachment.
66
In the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, another 74,100 acres are proposed for
wilderness, including small portions of Badlands National Park. These areas are:
Indian Creek Badlands, 37,900 acres; Rake Creek Badlands, 16,700 acres; Red Shirt,
9,900 acres; and Cheyenne River, 9,600 acres. The proposed Act also requests that a
5,760 acre area around Crow Peak in the northern Black Hills be designated is a
Wilderness Study Area.
I. BLACK HILLS FOREST PLAN REVISION
The Black Hills Group has been active in forest issues in the Black Hills since its
inception in the early 1970's. The group was instrumental in the establishment of
the Black Elk Wilderness Area surrounding Harney Peak, which is the only wilder-
ness area in the Black Hills. The group sponsors monthly backcountry hiking and/
or cross country skiing outings in the Black Hills, and publishes the definitive map
of the hiking trail system in the Black Elk Wilderness and the surrounding Norbeck
Wildlife Preserve.
The 1983 Forest Plan for the Black Hills was one of the first forest plans formu-
lated under the National Forest Management Act. As such, it had no "models" to
emulate, and little guidance in comprehensive multiple-use planning was then avail-
able. As a result, many public lands issues, such as wildlife, water quality, and
recreation (and particularly non-motorized recreation) have received little manage-
ment emphasis, and totally inadequate levels of funding, since 1983.
The Black Hills Group has extensive concerns regarding Forest Service manage-
ment policies on the Black Hills, and is particularly concerned with the limited
range of alternatives being offered to the public; the major issues not being ad-
dressed at all; and the failure of the Forest Service to adequately review viable wild-
life population issues, wilderness designations, and recreational needs on the Black
Hills National Forest.
A. Forest Plan Alternatives
The Black Hills Group is extremely disturbed at the choice of "alternatives" being
offered for public comment. As the Forest Service is well aware, most of the public
will assume that the ultimate decision is limited to the scope presented in these al-
ternatives. We strongly disagree, since there is nothing remotely resembling our
vision of future forest management presented in any of the alternatives.
The major deficiency of all of the offered alternatives is that they do not meet, or
even describe, the minimum habitat conditions needed for viable wildlife popula-
tions. This has been the major issue in our appeals of the past 18 months, and to
date the Forest has declined to answer our concerns. Without establishing minimum
constraints on the set of all alternatives, development of alternatives such as those
presented to the public is little more than drawing lines on a map.
We contend that none of the offered alternatives is even legal, since viable popu-
lation requirements have not been addressed. The Forest seems to be under the im-
pression that the regional office has upheld their actions over the past 18 months;
again, we strongly disagree. The regional office has upheld that "... these are not
project-level decisions, but are much more appropriately topics for Forest Plan Revi-
sion." We estimate that our recent appeals contain 150-200 such implicit remands
on just the viable populations issue.
We have requested that the Forest review our concerns over wildlife raised in the
Kirk/Runkle, Limestone, Graveyard, Benchmark, Minnesota/ Moonshine, Victoria,
Mallo, Walker, and Wabash/ Buckhorn Appeals. These concerns were directly relat-
ed to Forest Plan management practices and prescriptions, and should be considered
as comments on the Forest Plan Revision. For comments on standards and guide-
lines, we also request that the Forest review our appeal of the Rocky Mountain Re-
gional Guide.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Forest is unwilling or unable to
produce management alternatives that provide for balanced multiple use on the
Black Hills Forest. If the Forest cannot produce acceptable NEPA documentation on
viable populations, we suggest that, as a minimum, you designate 50 percent of the
suitable timber base as "non-scheduled" for the time period covered by the new
Forest Plan.
A well established principle of NEPA is that the Forest Service must analyze al-
ternatives to any proposed action. 42 USC 4332(2)(c)(iii). The standard by which the
adequacy of alternatives is judged is one of reasonableness; an EIS must consider all
reasonable alternatives before arriving at a preferred course of action. Robertson v.
Knebel, 550 F.2d 422, 425 (8th Cir. 1977). While remote or speculative alternatives
need not be addressed, the range of alternatives must be adequate in order to pro-
mote a "reasoned choice". Id. An EIS is rendered inadequate by the existence of a
67
viable, but unexamined alternative. Cities for a Better Henderson v. Hodel, 768 F.2d
1051, 1057 (9th Cir. 1985); see also 40 CFR 1502.14(a) (Agency must rigorously and
objectively evaluate all reasonable alternatives).
The importance of evaluating a sufficient range of alternatives to a reasoned
choice was explained by the District Court for Montana:
This court recognizes the broad scope of an agency's duty to study all reasona-
ble alternatives. Appearing twice in the text of NEPA, the duty is more perva-
sive than the duty to prepare an EIS.
Bob Marshall Alliance v. Watt, 685 F.Supp. 1514, 1521 (D. Mont. 1986) (emphasis
added).
The ultimate decision as to the development of alternatives remains with the
agency. However, NEPA requires that alternatives benefiting all of the resources
that the Forest is required to manage be at least considered during the development
of the EIS. This is especially true here, where we have been requesting an analysis
of additional wilderness for nearly 2 years now.
Our repeated request for an analysis of 25 percent old grovrth plus an additional
25 percent mature, closed-canopy forest is also a reasonable and viable alternative.
We request that such an analysis also be included among the alternatives presented
in the Draft EIS. Such an alternative would clearly include the proposed wilderness
additions within these less intensively managed areas; however, we ask that the
analysis be sufficiently disaggregate and detailed to allow assessment of the wilder-
ness areas on their own merits.
Below, we summarize some of our main concerns and suggestions from our past
revision comments and appeals.
1. Riparian Areas and Wetlands
Riparian habitat is critical to many species, and given the land ownership pattern
in the Black Hills, these areas on the Forest are of critical concern. These areas are
not only highly productive in themselves, but they "boost" the overall productivity
of the adjacent landscape up to a point where species can maintain healthy popula-
tions.
We believe that a major revision in management direction is needed to address
the retention of riparian-upland ecosystems as one landscape unit, instead of the
typical pattern of leaving riparian buffer strips and taking everything else. Riparian
standards should establish a minimum percentage of the linear distance along
streams that must retain large tracts of upland forest; an absolute minimum should
be at least 50 percent. Within the riparian area itself, 70 percent of the forest
should be old growth.
Riparian habitats need to be blended in with old growth and forest interior habi-
tat standards to provide contiguous habitat units. At least 50 percent of riparian
forests should be contiguous with old growth and forest interior habitat.
2. Deer and Elk Cover
The standards for maintaining cover along roads and openings for deer and elk
are completely inadequate to provide quality big game habitat, and must be radical-
ly altered in the new Forest Plan. The security area concept recently developed ap-
pears to provide a better means of measuring big game security. At present, the
minimum threshold level of this security habitat has been suggested as 30 percent
of the landscape.
We believe it is critical that a forest-wide standard establish the minimum level of
30 percent security habitat that has recently been recommended by Montana Forest
Service and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists. This re-
quires that 30 percent of the landscape exist as at least 250 acre blocks of generally
contiguous forest habitat that is at least V2 mile from open roads. This measure pro-
vides a much more meaningful criteria for big game security than does Habitat Ef-
fectiveness or cover levels. This standard would fit in nicely with the retention of
forest interior and old growth habitat, and limitation of total road densities to one
mile per section.
3. Forest Interior Habitat
The Forest needs to implement a conservation strategy to maintain forest interior
habitat; this will be structural stage 4C and 5 stands. It is becoming increasingly
evident that large tracts of forest interior habitat, which are threatened on public
lands, are not only needed to maintain forest interior wildlife, but to prevent exces-
sive predation and brood parasitism on species that can tolerate more open forest
habitats. We suggest that a forest-wide standard should be the retention of a mini-
68
mum threshold level of forest interior habitat across the landscape to retain viable
populations of native plants and animals.
A minimum sized tract should be 500 acres, since this is the size recommended for
the Northern Goshawk nesting stand. It is also the size of habitat block recommend-
ed for the Three-toed Woodpecker. Tentatively, without any rigorous analysis, we
suggest that 25 percent of the forest stands should be the minimum standard for
forest interior habitat. If a similar amount of old growth habitat is retained, this
would provide a total habitat capability of 50 percent for forest interior species and
species that depend upon older forest habitat (a large percentage of the forest wild-
life). This would provide a 10 percent margin over the 40 percent level the Forest
Service suggests is the minimum habitat capability required for population viability.
It. Old Growth Habitat
The Forest needs to implement a reasonable old growth habitat conservation
strategy. Currently, we are aware of only one research paper that has effectively
researched the habitat needs of an old growd;h species. For the Northern Spotted
Owl, they found the minimum percentage of landscape old growth should be 21 per-
cent. Since this is an absolute minimum, we suggest a 25 percent figure.
As noted above, when combined with mature forest interior habitat, the total
habitat capability of old grov^rth species may exceed the 40 percent minimum capa-
bility needed for viability. When old growth and forest interior patches are com-
bined, these habitat patches would also provide the necessary habitat patch size
(over 900 acres) required by the Black-backed Woodpecker.
5. Minimum Rotation Ages
The Forest needs to establish minimal rotation ages that reflect age classes more
compatible with multiple use of the forest. Current silvicultural prescriptions focus-
ing on fiber production also require extensive road systems, extensive disturbances
to wildlife, and extensive habitat fragmentation.
We suggest that rotation ages should be established to enable retention of mini-
mum threshold levels of old growth (25 percent) and dense, mature interior forest
habitat (25 percent). Currently, rotation ages have been developed that have no ra-
tionale for management of wildlife, recreation, water quality and quantity, or reduc-
tion in fire risk.
6. Snag Habitat
We believe that an effective snag retention policy, for wildlife that can utilize
snags in open habitats, needs to be established. We recommend that 10 percent of
all harvest units be retained as unmanaged clumps of forest, with a minimum size
of at least 1 acre. This is the only means by which snags will be preserved over
time. These clumps should be placed where blowdown is not likely.
7. Road Density Levels
An additional forest-wide standard that needs to be implemented is a minimum
threshold level of forest fragmentation allowed by roads. It is irrelevant as to
whether these roads are open or closed. As long as the road lacks dense cover, to
discourage trail use by predators, and as long as the canopy height of cover in old
roads is below the adjacent forest canopy, these roads are creating negative edge
effects.
The total amount of roads within forest habitat needs to be limited to an accepta-
ble level. We suggest 1 mile per section as a maximum. In sensitive wildlife areas,
such as old growth, and mature forest interior habitat, these levels will be even
lower. Overall, tradeoffs could be made so that the total landscape road density is
retained at 1 mile per section.
8. Wildlife Disturbance Levels
The Forest needs to establish minimal levels of disturbance that will be allowed
for wildlife. Elk management guidelines typically include provisions for limitation
of the amount of disturbances allowed per any given time. They also suggest provi-
sion of security areas, or areas for displacement.
As one example, provision of security habitat for the grizzly bear has been recom-
mended by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team as 58 percent of the total land-
scape to enable effective habitat use.
69
9. Recreation
Although the Forest Plan is currently being revised, the Forest Service has re-
fused to consider recreation as a revision topic; instead, the management practices
from the 1983 plan are to be retained for the next 10-15 years. The Black Hills
Group has repeatedly requested that recreation in general, and trail use in particu-
lar, be thoroughly addressed through a comprehensive recreation plan.
Among the topics the Black Hills Group would like to see addressed are: increases
in primitive and semi-primitive non-motorized recreation; increased protection and
enforcement of the Centennial Trail and other trails from mechanized use; expand-
ed maintenance budgets and establishment of recreation staff positions within the
Black Hills Forest Service; and a forest-wide inventory of existing and potential
trails.
No Forest Service planning document contains an inventory of hiking or cross
country skiing trails for the Black Hills; no published analysis of forest-wide trail
use currently exists. Yet the Black Hills are receiving increasing recreation pres-
sure as the area is promoted as a regional tourist destination. This conjunction has
produced a critical "window" for comprehensive recreation planning in the Black
Hills. Left unmanaged, these increasing pressures will soon degrade the quality of
the recreation experiences available throughout the Hills.
The Forest Service must incorporate substantive recreation and trail systems
planning in the ongoing Revision of the Black Hills Forest Plan. We again ask the
Forest Service to consider the requirements of the Multiple Use — Sustained Yield
Act regarding recreation in the Black Hills National Forest. We feel that, given the
dominant timber usage on this Forest, that recreation, and the impacts of timbering
and grazing on recreation, must be included as a Forest Plan Revision Topic.
B. Roadless Area Review
The Black Hills Group of the Sierra Club is extremely concerned with the cava-
lier and pro forma "review" of roadless areas presented in the Analysis of the Man-
agement Situation, Ch. VIII, and as summarized in Alternative C of the Forest Plan
Revision. We find this review cursory, inadequate, and indefensible. This modest re-
quest for an additional 4 to 5 percent wilderness in the Black Hills is both reasona-
ble and viable; under scientifically defensible analyses, it may also be essential for
maintenance of biological diversity in the Black Hills.
As was pointed out to you in a November 15, 1991, letter from our Northern
Plains Office, limiting your review to only previous RARE II identified roadless
areas was found to violate NEPA in California v. Block. Adding areas suggested by
the public does not remove from the Forest its obligation to review all areas for pos-
sible wilderness designation.
By basing your review primarily on the flawed RARE II process which was pre-
pared 16 years ago, you will present interested individuals and groups with the op-
portunity to challenge the revised Plan not only on its merits, but also on the defi-
ciencies of the 1977 RARE II study. Given the dearth of wilderness on the Black
Hills Forest compared to the average of all Forest System lands, cursory review of
new wilderness designations will also allow the plan to be challenged on wilderness,
recreation, wildlife and watershed grounds.
A number of potential roadless areas were presented to you by the Sierra Club,
including Pilger Mountain, Black Fox, Warren Peak, Hell Canyon, and Elk Moun-
tain. The recently completed Homestake land exchange also presents opportunities
in Stagebarn Canyon and Crow Peak. If a comprehensive inventory is conducted, we
believe that the Forest Service would recognize these areas as well as others suita-
ble for wilderness designation.
We are dismayed by the shoddy logic and cursory review used to "disqualify"
Black Fox, Pilger Mountain, and Norbeck from more thorough review. No field re-
connaissance trips were conducted by the ID team in reaching their recommenda-
tions on these areas. We find this totally unacceptable, and ask that these areas be
given proper and thorough consideration in the Forest Plan revision.
Black Fox was "disqualified" due to supposed heavy roading and planned timber
sales (AMS, p. VIII-5). These roads were never identified or documented as to their
technical standards; so far as we are aware, there are no engineered roads in Black
Fox. The other "reason" given for disqualification was four planned timber sales.
We have recognized the 1990 sale on the western limestone plateau, and have ad-
justed our proposal accordingly. Future sales planned for 1993 and 1997 have no
bearing whatsoever on the technical review required under NFMA. Compatibility
with future timber-program goals is not a consideration in the roadless review envi-
70
sioned under Federal law. We calculate that the Black Fox area still retains 9,000
acres even with removal of the area under the 1990 timber sale.
The Pilger Mountain area was "disqualified" due to range improvements and low
standard roads. The range improvements, including pipelines, are compatible with
wilderness, with only clarification of "reasonable access" being required to assure
permittees of their rights and obligations. The "low standard" roads in Pilger were
indeed that, at least until the unnecessary "routine maintenance" was done this
past summer. This vandalism on the part of the Elk Mountain District is outra-
geous, and scarcely indicative of a "thorough review" of roadless areas. These non-
engineered roads can be returned to natural contours, with hand tools if necessary,
but do not at present constitute an obstacle to wilderness designation.
The AMS indicates that the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve was not even included in
the review because an Environmental Impact Statement was prepared in 1989
wherein "an alternative leaving the preserve in an unmanaged State was deter-
mined to be inconsistent with the 1920 law that established this area to protect
game animals and birds and to provide them a breeding place" (AMS p. VIlI-4). The
AMS also blithely admits ". . . Harney Peak was designated by Congress in 1980 as
the Black Elk Wilderness" (AMS p. VIII-I).
Your failure to address the suggested Black Elk Additions in the Norbeck Wildlife
Preserve is in direct violation of 36 CFR 219.17(a)(l)(ii), which states that ". . . (1)
During analysis of the management situation, the following areas shall be subject to
evaluation . . . (ii) Areas contiguous to existing wilderness, primitive areas, or ad-
ministratively proposed wildernesses, regardless of which agency has jurisdiction for
the wilderness or proposed wilderness; . . ." (emphasis added).
The Analysis of the Management Situation dismisses the proposed Norbeck addi-
tions to the existing Black Elk Wilderness with unsound and illogical arguments.
Nothing in the Wilderness Act or the 1920 Norbeck Act indicates that Norbeck is
outside of the review required in 36 CFR 219.17(a).
Aside from the fact the 1989 Norbeck EIS was remanded by the Chief, and the
subsequent decision is now under appeal, the "argument" presented above is entire-
ly without merit. The Norbeck EIS is an amendment to the existing 1983 Forest
Plan; the roadless review is a part of the 1993 Forest Plan Revision. Since the new
plan by definition supersedes the existing plan, the EIS argument is irrelevant.
Also, the fact that an alternative was considered in no way solidifies any conclu-
sions allegedly flowing from that alternative.
The argument that the 1920 law precludes additional wilderness designation in
Norbeck is also logically flawed, since it totally sidesteps the fact that the discussion
is about additions, and that part of Norbeck has already been designated as wilder-
ness, in no apparent conflict with the 1920 law. We have specifically requested the
Forest to provide one single instance in which a wildlife preserve, refuge or sanctu-
ary has been determined to be incompatible with wilderness. In the case of Norbeck,
the Congress has already established the compatibility of wilderness designation
with Norbeck's designation for wildlife preservation, when it established the Black
Elk Wilderness.
The position of the Forest Service that wildlife preserves are incompatible with
wilderness can only produce increasing confrontation with environmental and con-
servation groups, at both the administrative and legal levels. We find it totally in-
comprehensible that the Forest can conclude that wilderness designation would be
harmful to wildlife, while large-scale commercial logging would magically be "bene-
ficial". These claims have been thoroughly refuted in our Norbeck Appeals.
The NFMA also requires a review of Wild and Scenic Rivers in Forest Plan revi-
sions. To date, we have seen no indications of any such review, even though such a
review was one of the conditions of the French Creek agreement. We fully expect
you to involve the public in a thorough review of Wild and Scenic Rivers in the
Black Hills.
The Forest has a responsibility to the public to perform the environmental analy-
ses required by law, including the roadless review. If the agency persists in its ada-
mant refusal to accept this responsibility, it should let another, more responsible
agency manage our public lands.
C. Impact on Timber Jobs
Is increased public involvement in the management of our public lands responsi-
ble for the current timber woes? The simple answer is no, of course not. At least not
in the sense of being a principal cause of the current difficulties within the Black
Hills timber industry. There are four main reasons for the current difficulties
within the local timber industry, as exemplified recently by Custer Lumber, Little
River and Continental Lumber.
71
1. The Black Hills National Forest is being harvested at levels that are not biologi-
cally sustainable, and has been for some years. This has attracted large corporate
timber operators, who have pressed for retaining these excessive harvesting levels to
pay off their investments rapidly. This has led to an expansion of local employment
sufficient to mask the overall downward employment trend within the national
timber industry. As harvesting returns to sustainable levels, the impact on the local
timber workers will be accentuated, since they will feel the full brunt of both indus-
try mechanization and lower overall harvest levels.
2. There is too much milling capacity in the Black Hills for local forest resources
to support. The large, corporate mills moved into the Black Hills in 1982-83, when
the timber harvest level was raised in the 1983 Forest Plan. Currently, there is mill
capacity for 300 million board feet per year, more than triple the amount biological-
ly producible from National Forest lands, and more than double the amount produc-
ible from all local sources. Of course, a shakeout within the industry is the inevita-
ble result, and this is now reaching to the levels of the smaller corporate mills.
3. Mechanization of logging and milling operations is reducing the need for labor.
This is an industry-wide phenomenon, and is eliminating jobs within the timber in-
dustry at the rate of 50 percent per decade (based on the labor required per million
board feet). Since the harvests from the forest cannot be doubled each decade indefi-
nitely, long term loss of jobs within the timber industry is also inevitable.
4. The tendency within the industry is toward bigness. This involves more than
mechanization of the logging and milling operation. It also involves the scale of
timber sales most efficient for such logging methods. These are in the 5-10 million
board foot range, sales on which small operators and local mills cannot possibly bid.
The local mills have virtually dropped out of the timber bidding process over the
past year.
Increased public involvement may play a dovetailing role in this increase in the
size of the timber sales being offered, since the Forest Service can reduce its paper-
work burden through larger sales. However, this is a minor effect compared to tech-
nological and organizational changes within the industry itself.
Local jobs can be retained in the short term only by limiting or prohibiting
mechanized logging and upgrading of milling technology. These jobs would be saved
at the expense of overall industry efficiency, so that such short term gains might
merely offset longterm losses. Since much of the local timber comes from public
lands, however, this tradeoff (jobs vs. industry efficiency) should be given serious
public debate.
The current layoffs at Continental are not due to any shortage of timber coming
off of Forest Service lands. Fiscal 1992 saw 119 million board feet offered for sale, or
about the level projected in the 1983 Forest Plan. Continental's problems arise frorn
its inability to present winning bids for these offerings. This is due to the determi-
nation of Pope & Talbot and Crook & Co. to survive the current shakeout, and to
their greater success at submitting winning bids.
Continental may be at a competitive disadvantage due to its more labor-intensive
operations. Again, on public lands forestry, the question arises as to whether all-
mechanical logging is in the best interests of the local timber industry.
Of course the local loggers and small towns are not responsible for the current
State of affairs, any more than environmentalists are. These workers and communi-
ties may have been deceived by industry promises, they may have been unwilling to
see the handwriting on the wall (e.g., the inevitable job losses due to machine har-
vesting), they may have simply hoped against hope that the jobs would last. They
deserve our sympathy and support, but that doesn't change the fact that major re-
adjustments are inevitable.
They may not find it very palatable to admit, but the changes that environmen-
talists have been requesting on the Black Hills would have produced a longer
stream of timber industry jobs, since forest practices would have been more labor-
intensive and at sustainable levels.
D. Improper Use of Even-Age Management
NFMA clearly requires even-aged management to be used only in exceptional
cases, rather than as the norm. On the Black Hills National Forest, even-aged man-
agement is being routinely applied in situations and under conditions for which is it
clearly not the optimal, or even a desirable, alternative.
On May 12, 1993, Judge Robert Parker ordered a halt to continued even-aged log-
ging in the national forests of east Texas. Judge Parker relied on the express re-
quirement in the NFMA that the Forest Service must insure that even-aged cutting
be "carried out in a manner consistent with the protection of soil, watershed, fish.
72
wildlife, recreation, and aesthetic resources, and the regeneration of the timber re-
source." 16 use 1604(gK3)(F)(v). Judge Parker concluded that:
The NFMA states that the Service can use even-aged logging practices only in
the exceptional circumstances — i.e., only when such is insured to be consistent
with the protection of the forest's natural resources. And this statutory duty
clearly requires protection of the entire biological community — not of one spe-
cies (e.g., the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker) alone. Indeed, the imposition by this
provision of such a broad and stringent duty to protect reflects the truism that
the monoculture created by clear-cutting and resultant even-aged management
techniques is contrary to NFMA-mandated biodiversity. See 16 USC
1604(g)(3)(B).
The Black Hills Forest continues to implement even-aged management as the
rule, rather than the exception. Indeed, these practices are mandated by the silvi-
cultural prescriptions in the Forest Plan. Given the increasingly obvious connection
between excessive even-aged logging and degradation of biodiversity, the public can
reasonably conclude that the 1983 Forest Plan is in violation of the National Forest
Management Act.
II. SOUTH DAKOTA WILDERNESS ACT
In the Wilderness Act of 1964, Congress declared its commitment "to secure for
the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring
resource of Wilderness." Since then, only one wilderness area, the 10,700 acre Black
Elk Wilderness surrounding Harney Peak, has been created in the 1,235,000 acre
Black Hills National Forest. The Sierra Club believes that the expressed will of the
Congress can only be effected in the Black Hills National Forest by expanding the
wilderness system, and that only in this way can the diverse benefits of these glori-
ous public lands be preserved for generations to come.
An expansion of the wilderness system in the Black Hills National Forest is
sorely needed. The Black Hills was the first National Forest established in the
United States. The Forest Service's first timber sale occurred here, providing tim-
bers to the Homestake Mining Company. Mining, grazing, and logging have been
practiced for more than a century. Historical preclusion of homesteading on forested
lands led to the extensive privitization of mountain meadows and open areas, espe-
cially riparian areas. Decades of vigorous fire suppression and extensive logging
have led to denser stands of smaller trees over most of the forest. More recently,
pressures from suburbanization and recreational uses have increased.
The Black Hills National Forest is far and away the most developed, suburban-
ized, and intensively managed forest in the Forest Service's Region II, which in-
cludes Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. Its extensive pri-
vate inholdings and high accessibility to logging have produced the highest road
density in the region. Combined with a near-ideal climate for Ponderosa Pine, an
intensive logging program produces 42 percent of the region's annual timber produc-
tion. Eighty four percent of its total acreage has been declared suitable for logging,
with a current annual harvest of nearly 150 million board feet. This is three times
the volume of the region's second-ranking timber producer, Colorado's San Juan Na-
tional Forest, and twelve times the average timber production of the other 16 forests
in the region.
In short, the Black Hills National Forest is much more developed and intensively
managed than other western National Forests. In 1989, only one National Forest in
the entire country — Oregon's Winema — surpassed the Black Hills in number of
acres logged. Nearly 300,000 acres within the forest boundary are not under Forest
Service control, and are experiencing increasing pressure from ranchers and private
developers. The Black Hills' only existing wilderness area, the Black Elk Wilderness
near Mt. Rushmore, is among the most popular in Region II, yet it comprises less
than 1 percent of Forest lands. Demand for a wilderness experience on the Black
Hills National Forest is fast approaching the maximum physical and social carrying
capacity of the Black Elk Wilderness.
While comparison across forests is made difficult by variations in topography,
soils, climate, and dominant usage, the accompanying table nevertheless gives a
clear indication of the extensive multiple-use pressures on the Black Hills National
Forest (the Bighorn National Forest, which is more typical of Forests in Region II, is
located 200 miles to the west in Wyoming).
73
Black Hills
3ighorn
Size, total acres
Unsuited/excluded logging acres
Percent ot total acres
Wilderness acres
Percent of total acres
Percent of unsuited/excluded acres
Logging
Suitable acres
Percent of total acres
Allowable annual board feet
Annual board feet per acre
Recreation
Trail miles, forest total
Wilderness visitor days (WVD's)
WVD's per wilderness acre
Roads
Road miles, forest total
Road miles per square mile
Road miles per trail mile
1,235,000
1,100,000
197,600
682,000
16
62
10,700
195,500
0.9
17.8
5.4
28.7
1,037,400
418,000
84
38
8,300,000
16,000,000
143
38
258
680
27,000
87,000
2.5
0.4
7,000
1,500
3.6
0.9
27.1
2.2
Given the existing degrees of suburbanization, high road densities, intensive
timber management, and increasing pressures for all types of multiple use on the
Black Hills National Forest, its remaining roadless and isolated areas are in a much
more precarious position than are similar areas in less pressured Forests. If natural
areas are not set aside as wilderness now, the Black Hills National Forest will soon
have no areas of meaningful size remaining in a primitive, natural condition.
The Sierra Club proposes the addition of five new wilderness areas in the Black
Hills National Forest: Pilger Mountain, Breakneck, Black Fox, Stagebarn Canyons
and Sand Creek. We also propose extension of the boundaries of the existing Black
Elk Wilderness, roughly doubling its present size. Although many of these areas
have been damaged in the past, all have returned to an essentially natural condi-
tion; if left to natural processes, their few remaining scars would soon heal. This
proposal would provide the protection necessary for these areas to regain their
primitive State and retain it into the future.
When contemplating this proposal, it may help to remember the immortal words
of the great Sioux spiritual leader, Black Elk:
I looked ahead and saw the mountains there with rock and forest on them,
and from the mountains flashed all colors upward to the heaven. Then I was
standing on the highest mountain of them all and round about beneath me was
the whole hoop of the world, and while I stood there I saw more than I can tell;
I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shape of
all things in the spirit and the shape of all shapes as they must live together
like one being.
In the spirit of Black Elk's vision and the 1964 Wilderness Act, the Black Hills'
last remaining primitive areas must be preserved. The Sierra Club urges the adop-
tion of the South Dakota Wilderness Act in its entirety.
A. Wilderness Issues
Wilderness and controversy are no strangers: the law that established the Nation-
al Wilderness Preservation System in 1964 took 8 years to pass through Congress.
Unfortunately, the basic questions that Congress attempted to settle with that legis-
lation are still debated each time a new wilderness proposal is advanced. Far too
often, we hear the old mjrths that wilderness designation would halt livestock graz-
ing; that untold mineral wealth would be locked up; that recreational access would
be stifled; and that water rights would somehow be usurped.
74
Beginning in 1872 with the creation of Yellowstone National Park, our Nation has
set aside tracts of undeveloped public land in order to preserve the unspoiled rem-
nants of what was once a pristine continent. Formal standards for the designation
and protection of wilderness areas were established in 1964, when Congress passed
the Wilderness Act. The creation of each new wilderness area requires an act of
Congress providing official protection to the area.
Wilderness is a key component of the multiple-use idea, and is specifically recog-
nized as a legitimate use of national forest land in both the Multiple Use — Sus-
tained Yield Act of 1960 and the National Forest Management Act of 1976. Multi-
ple-use is a concept applied generally to the forests, but does not mean — nor has it
ever meant — that every use must be applicable on every acre.
Wilderness areas generally do provide more than one use. Their natural wild
characters serve to protect watersheds; provide wildlife habitat; and provide a scien-
tific database for the study of natural ecosystems. Other uses allowed in wilderness
areas are:
• Non-commercial hunting, fishing, and trapping;
• Hiking, horseback riding, and backcountry camping;
• Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing;
• Canoeing and float boating;
• Guiding, outfitting, and packstock use;
• Control of wildfires, and insect and disease outbreaks;
• Livestock grazing, where previously established; and
• Mining, on valid pre-existing claims.
In order for natural forces to operate free from human interference, and to pre-
serve opportunities for solitude, certain uses are not allowed in wilderness areas:
• Use of mechanized transport (except in emergencies, or medical appliances
such as wheelchairs);
• Roadbuilding and logging (and similar commercial activities, such as ski
lifts);
• Commercial harvesting of plants or animals;
• Competitive events or large organized group activities, such as Volks-
marches;
• Staking of new mining claims or mineral leases; and
• New reservoirs or powerlines (except when authorized by the President).
B. Wilderness uses
With the recent publicity following the Sierra Club's proposed South Dakota Wil-
derness Act, the various Black Hills newspapers are again overflowing with hysteri-
cal letters and anti-wilderness misinformation. When you read that "fire and insect
control are not allowed" in wilderness, be advised that this is not true. When you
read that "grazing will be discontinued", be advised that this is not true. When you
read that "wheelchairs are not allowed", be advised that this is not true.
The following facts about true uses of wilderness are taken from the Forest Serv-
ice Handbook and the Wilderness Act itself.
Fire, Insect, and Disease Management
Wildfire is an important part of natural ecosystems. Fires remove debris, recycle
soil nutrients, and encourage new plant growth. Fires caused by lightning within
designated wilderness areas can be allowed to burn if there is no threat to life and
property. Wilderness, fire management should conform to a fire management plan,
adopted following comments from the public.
Fire suppression techniques must employ the minimum necessary equipment (e.g.,
avoid bulldozers where hand tools are sufficient), and they must prevent unneces-
sary degradation of the land.
Prescribed burning may be permitted to restore and maintain the natural condi-
tion of a fire-dependent ecosystem. This can help perpetuate habitat for certain
threatened and endangered plants or animals.
Insect and disease outbreaks, like fire, are normal events in natural ecosystems.
Our use of the term "infestation" only shows how little we know of these natural
processes. Still, insects and disease may be controlled within designated wilderness
areas, if not to do so would threaten endangered plant or animal species or other
resources outside the wilderness.
75
Livestock Grazing
One of the little-understood provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964 is that live-
stock grazing is allowed in designated wilderness areas. The act's specific language
was further clarified by Congress in the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1980. The com-
mittee report (H.R. 96-17) contains guidelines which the Forest Service has since
incorporated into its wilderness management policy: "The legislative history of this
language is very clear in its intent that livestock grazing, and activities and the nec-
essary facilities to support a livestock grazing program, will be permitted to contin-
ue in National Forest wilderness areas, when such grazing was established prior to
classification of an area as wilderness."
This report specifies that wilderness designation cannot be used as an excuse to
reduce or phase out grazing. Grazing levels may be allowed to increase if there
would be "no adverse impact" on wilderness values; however, no new permits can
be issued. New improvements such as fences and water developments are permissi-
ble, but should be aimed at protecting resources, rather than increasing grazing
levels. Livestock permittees cannot be compelled to use natural materials in the
construction of facilities, if doing so would impose "unreasonable" costs. Mainte-
nance of existing facilities is allowed.
Wilderness designation can benefit a livestock operation by eliminating conflicts
between off-road vehicles and livestock, including vandalism, open gates, and har-
assment and theft of livestock.
Off-road Vehicles
Off-road vehicles (ORVs), which include four-wheel-drive pickup trucks, three- and
four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and trail bikes, are commonly used
in the Black Hills. Off-road vehicle users often ask why their form of recreation is
not allowed within designated wilderness areas. Vehicles are essentially incompati-
ble with wilderness, and conflict with other users. When an ORV intrudes into a
wild place, the solitude sought by the visitor on foot or horseback is lost as the natu-
ral silence is suddenly shattered. Wildlife serenity is similarly disrupted.
Physical resource damage is another reason why ORVs are not permitted in wil-
derness areas. When operated off of established roads, ORVs can destroy fragile
soils, break off delicate rock ledges, erode stream banks at stream crossings, destroy
plants and adversely affect animals, and leave unsightly tire tracks. The damage
from such vehicle use is often irreparable.
Mineral Resources
The leasing, claiming or sale of Federal mineral resources is prohibited in wilder-
ness areas. However, valid existing claims can be developed, as long as the surface
of the land is restored as near as practicable afier mining. A few of the areas in the
Black Hills Wilderness Proposal have had historic mining activity located in or near
them.
Sand Creek is located just northwest of the Tinton area, where active mining still
occurs. The Sand Creek roadless area, however, appears to be outside the area of
heavy mineralization. Only one patented mining claim is located in the area. Some
uranium exploration and mining has occurred in the Pilger Mountain area, al-
though none recently. Pegmatite and high quality limestones are also known to
occur in some of the areas, but these are common in many parts of the Black Hills.
76
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77
Yosemile, Sequoia, Mount
Rainier — followed. By the
second decade of Ihe
Iwentieth century, a few
people began to realize
that our national forests
might also be valuable tor
something more than
timber. Tlie long road to
wilderness preservation
had begun.
1917-Landscape
architect Frank Waugh's
survey of the recreational
potential of national
forests concludes that the
"enticing wildness' ol the
forests has "direct human
value' and should be given
parity with economic
considerations when
determining the forests'
future.
191J-Forest planner
Arthur Carharl recom-
mends that the Trappers
Lake area in Colorado's
White River National
Forest not be devetoped
tor summer homes but be
allowed to remain wild.
Regional office approves
Cartiarfs plan.
1924-Fofestef and noted
ecologist Aldo Leopold,
one of The Wilderness
Society's eight co-
founders, urges the
Acreage
%in
Wilderness
77
0.0003
1,363
0.004
2,420
DOS
7,806
0.03
9,705
0.04
10,341
0.2
12,735
0.03
12,935
0.06
17,046
0.06
18,056
O.OP
19,392
0.09
22,844
0.06
30,316
0.08
33,396
0.1
39,652
0.1
44,043
0.1
59,421
1.0
61,190
0.3
64,973
0.2S
71,311
0.2
74,074
0.2
80,631
0.5
83,174
0.05
102,932
i.«
110,199
0.4
128,486
0.4
142,370
3.5
169,144
0.7
249,064
0.7
460,215
1.3
798,943
1.5
804,525
M
805,456
1.6
1,422,135
4.1
1,643,685
2.1
2,102,587
3.4
2,645,376
4.0
3,089,083
5.0
3,442,165
3.7
4,004,402
7.6
4,258,646
10.0
4,507,421
6.1
6,342,990
6.0
57,638,965
15.7
Where's the
Wilderness?
0 majority of the notion's
wilderness, 60 percent of
the system or S6.S million
acres, is in Alaska.
Most of the rest, 40 percent of the
entire wilderness system, is in the
western states. Thiis, 95.3% of all
the protected wilderness in the
United States is in the 11 western
states or Alaska. Only 4.7% of the
nation's wilderness lies east of the
100th Meridian, and almost half
of that can be found in just two
areos: Everglades National Park in
Florida — the second largest
wilderness area in the lower 48
states — and Minnesota's
Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
The Northeast has the smallest
amount of wilderness. In the 1 1
states from Maine to Maryland,
where nearly one-quorter of the
nation's population resides, there
is o total of only 205,574 acres of
wilderness.
SouTct:
78
PROPOSED BLACK HILLS
WILDERNESS AREAS
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BREAKNECK. The proposed 6.90ii acre Breakneck Wilderness \iKJi is
marked bv rugged terrain covered with dense forest While its "from range
slopes have small watersheds, the power of rushing water is e\ideni m the
spectacular box canyons and waterslides that have formed
The area's njggcdness is matched b> Ihe colomzing forest, where
blackbark and yellowbark pines tower above an underslof> of deciduous
trees and shrubs Spruce have taken root in the upper reaches of the
gulches, where b> midsummer the multi-sloried trees produce a cool dark
climate on the forest floor The few clearings are splendid, although limited
to small parks, rock outcrops and talus slopes
The area's deep valleys and lush forest prmnde excellent winter habitat
for deer and elk Other mammals such as squirrels, porcupines and co\oles
find winter shelter, food and solitude here The dense forest co\er supports
a vanety of nesting birds such as warblers, nuthatches, \ireos. and thrushes
while rocks and cliffs provide aeries for golden eagles, prairie falcons and
turke\ \iilturcs
SAND CREEK. Probabh the most pnsune area remaining in the Black Hills.
the proposed 9.7l)0 acre Sand Creek Wilderness Area is within one of the most
isolated, rugged and lightK logged pans of the Black Kills Containing large, intact
stands of consolidated old-growth forest unmatched anyi^here else in the Black
Hills, the area offers oiiistanding opponumiies for solitude and for pnmiine and
unconfined recreation Its vancly of ecos>slems in rugged and diverse terrain
provides excellent habitat for wildlife and rare plants. especia)l> old-growth species.
The area'*; topograph^ is characterized by a high limestone plateau dissected by
sieep-watlcd canyons While its towering limestone cliffs and majcsUc old-growth
Ponderosa pines are Ihe dominant feahires. panoramic mcws can be had from some
of it-: hills Frequeni st?nds of birch, aspen and other hardwoods compliment the
diverse types of forest understones Sand Creek Canyon n\als neartr* Spearfish
Canyon in splendor
STAGEBARN CANYONS. The proposed 7.300 acre Stagcbam Canyons
Wilderness Area is one of the newest additions to the Black Hills National Forest
Much of the area has recently entered the public domain through the Homestake
land exchange Past private ownership has been largely custodial, rather than
extraction oriented, due to the rugged terrain dominated b\ limestone chffs,
outcrops, and canyons
Although located less than 10 miles from Rapid Cit>. the solitude in its deep
canyons is nearly total Fed by perennial springs onginaling in deep limestone
fissures. South Stagebam Canyon (known locally as Botany Canvon) is a naluraiisi's
dream Its steep cliff waJIs hartwr a senes of protected microclimates that sustain
water-loving plants more usually encountered in moister southern climates These
seeps, spnngs and pools pro\ide habtiai for a wide \3net\ c( m-^e-.i'. :imphibians
and reptiles These in turn provide food sonri,cOor hiiihcr ■. ' r ii> ; M i^ hais
birds, and rodents
PILGER MOUNTAIN. Set in a remote part of the Black Hills, the
proposed 12.600 acre Pilger Mountain Wilderness Area is highly
dissected by canyons draimng south into the Cheyenne River Pilger
Mountain is a prnmineni feature and offers speclarular \isl:is bolh
toward Custer and toward the Pine Ridge in western Nebraska
Vegetauon along the canyons is mainly pine and jumper, while praines,
such as Robinson Flats, dominate the ndgehne
This area is in a region known for its archaeological rock art sites
Ecologicallv. the area would add a unique forest type to the National
Wilderness Preservation System, thanks to the Ponderosa pine and
juniper found in the steep canyons of this distinct "hogsback" range Its
relatively mild winter climate, remoteness, deep sheltering canyons and
good forage provide excellent winter habitat for deer and elk. The area
is also frequented in winter by golden eagles and several species of
hawk
BLACK FOX. The proposed 12.400 acre Black Fox Wilderness Area is located in the upper reaches of the
Rap d Creek watershed The area is well-appointed with spnngs which keep nparian sites dependabl> watered, its
ttxp topograph\ and unkempt forest present challenges to wilderness travelers, while its location offers substantial
opportuniues for solitude Its si/e will permit unconfined pnmitive recreation Cliffs and steep ndges along
Swede Gulch and south Rapid Creek are features of topographic and geologic significance
The forest is perhaps the area's finest feature, hartwring diverse species, ages and stand-densities of trees The
pnncipal species here are Ponderosa pine, white spruce and quaking aspen, much is in an old-growth stage
Despite widespread past logging. mvTiad logs, snags and yellowijark pines suggest the area's once-undisturbed
character.
Topographically. Black Fox features high roUing plateau to the west, dropping abruptly through l.tXM) feet to
form the sleep Swede Gulch flowing eastward through the area's center This proposed wilderness, while no longer
pnstine. nevertheless retains its essentially wild character Given lime, traces of logging will disappear as nature
reclaims disturbed places.
BLACK ELK ADDITION. Expanding the existing Black Elk Wilderness by approximaic!> :
8.2(K) acres, the proposed Black Elk additions contain some of (he most magnificent old-growth
Ponderosa pine forest lo be found ui the Black Hills These ancient pines, in pan, are what make the ~^'^
Black Hills sacred to Native Americans, who con.sidcr the region integral lo their religion While
vast portions of the Black Hills have been altered by human intervention, this remains among the few
places where Naiive Amencans - among other lovers of wilderness -- can achieve the peace, quid.
and solitude they seek
High precipitation in the region, caused by its elevation of nearly a mile above the surrounding
prairie, has resulted in a dense forest growth over much of the proposed additions, which are pnmc
habitat for mountain goals, elk. deer and other old-growth Ponderosa pine forest species
The general topography of bolh Black Elk and the proposed additions consists of rugged
mountains with soanng granite spires, interlaced with pnstine valleys containing spnngs and
permanent creeks The additions also include spectacular rock formations where wild mountain goats
flourish, similar to the nationally famous Needles in adjacent Custer Slate Park, as well as
undeveloped sections of Mt Rushmorc National Memonal
79
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80
Senator Pressler. Thank you.
Mr. Satrom.
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH SATROM, NATURE CONSERVANCY,
SOUTH DAKOTA/NORTH DAKOTA STATE OFFICE
Mr. Satrom. Thank you, Senator.
I am here today representing The Nature Conservancy, an inter-
national organization, a nonprofit that does land conservation
projects throughout the United States and more recently in Cen-
tral and South America. The mission of The Nature Conservancy is
to identify sensitive, rare, endangered plants and animals and nat-
ural communities and to seek methods of protection and conserva-
tion for those species and communities and ecosystems.
In South Dakota, The Conservancy has ten preserves involving a
little over 11,000 acres. We have over 1,050 members and approxi-
mately 25 corporate associates in the State. Nationally, we have
707,000 members and 800 corporate associates and are involved in
the ownership of approximately 1 million acres of land. On many
of those acres, we pay property taxes like all other — like most
other privat ^ owners.
For the information of the Committee, I have provided a list of
our trustees and a list of our preserves in the State. I'd point out
that we do not own land in west river, SD.
The Coixj':^rvancy, as many people know, is committed to carrying
out its conservation mission in a nonadversarial, nonconfronta-
tional, and nonlitigious manner. Our organization believes that a
sustainable economy is dependent on a sustainable environment
and vice versa.
The Black Hills of South Dakota, it's interesting to me as a
North Dakotan, represent in the most dramatic proportions in the
two States the economic forces and the concerns and the conserva-
tion issues and serious environmental questions that really face us
all, but specifically here in South Dakota.
The South Dakota Chapter leadership believes that far more and
better scientifically derived base of information needs to be collect-
ed on the Black Hills in terms of rare plants and animals, natural
communities, and ecosystems. The unfortunate fact is that we do
not really know what the breath of the richness and uniqueness is
of the Hills region. And there's a surprisingly serious lack of infor-
mation even for the purposes of making decisions such as forest
management. We need to know what is here in terms of the biodi-
versity, where it's located, just how sensitive, rare, and endangered
it is for South Dakota and for the Nation. And then we need to
look at policies that will protect that biodiversity to the degree nec-
essary to protect it for the future generations.
Without much better data, every economic development proposal
is subject to the criticism that, oh, you can't or shouldn't do that
because of a purported or unsubstantiated impact on a particular
species or ecosystem. I think good data will serve everyone's long-
term interest. And there are several specific steps we think the
Congress could take that would help us deal with that biological di-
versity issue in the Black Hills.
81
First of all, we support the Black Hills Forest request for
$115,000 in fiscal year 1994 funding to begin a 3-year cooperative
project with us, our organization, and with others, hopefully with
private business in the Black Hills, to realize a more comprehen-
sive data base of information, scientific information, on species in
the Black Hills.
We support the current consideration that Congress is giving to
the National Biological Survey in H.R. 1845.
And last, we'd like the Congress to support funding now for the
South Dakota Biological Diversity Trust that was part of last year's
omnibus water bill. We believe that that trust is the vehicle by
which the State can deal with its long-term needs more effectively.
The Conservancy also supports the Black Hills Forest Revision
Plan's efforts — we anticipate at least — to designate several addi-
tional— or a number of additional special interest and research nat-
ural areas within the forest. There are areas that we know about
that deserve protection. In most cases they're small, but they rep-
resent the true uniqueness of the Black Hills.
Mr. Chairman, I want to compliment you on bringing this type of
Committee hearing to South Dakota.
We're committed as an organization to seeking out a balance.
And I think the diversity of opinion here today represents the need
for seeking that balance. And we look forward to being a resource
whenever we can to support this kind of proceeding for that pur-
pose.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Satrom follows:]
»
82
The
Nature
Conservancy
Dakotas Field Office 701/222-8464
STATEMSMT OF JOSEPH A. SATROH
DIRECTOR, DAKOTAS FIELD OFFICB
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
SEFTEtlBBR 4, 1993
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Joseph Satrom,
and I am the Director of The Nature Consei vancy's field office in the
Dakotas .
Th« Nature Conservancy is an international non-profit land
conservation organization dedicated to the preaervation of biological
diversity. The mission of The Nature Coneervancy is to identify
sensitive, rare and endangered speciea and to protect and maintain
these apeciee, natural communities and ecoeyetesis .
In South Dakota, The Nature Coneervancy has 13 preserves
involving 11,188 acres. Over 1,050 individual South Dakotans and more
than two dozen of the state's businesses are members of the
Coneervancy. Nationally we have 707, 000 members and over 800 Corporate
Associates. We ovm approximately 1 million acres within the United
Statea protecting many of the country's threatened and endangered
Bpecies .
For the information of the Committee, I have attached a list of
our South Dakota preserves and a list of our Board of Trueteea.
Our organization appxeciatee the opportunity to appear here today
to reflect our views on the balance that should and must exist between
economic activity and future growth and protection of our environment.
The Nature Coneervancy is committed to carrying out our
conservation mission in a non- adversarial, non-couf rontational , non-
litigioue manner.
Our organization believes that a sustainable ecor.omy is dependent
on a sustainable environment and vice versa. The Black Hills of South
Dakota repreeent, in dramatic ptuportion, Che economic forces and
concerns and r. Miner vat ion Issues and serious environmental queetiona
and Challenges facing all of us, everywhere on this earth.
The South Dakota Chapter believes that far more and better
ficientif ically-derive.d Information must be collected on rare plants,
animals, natural commvaiities and ecosystemB of the Black Hills and the
entire etote of South Dakota. Despite Che biological diversity,
richness and uniqueness of the Hills region, there is surprisingly
^» North Dakota Chapter Ol.'icr- / 1014 East C«ntrnl Avenue, Bisn>aKk, Ninth Dakota 58501-1936
^^ South Dakota Ch.<ptcr Office / 19fe East Si>lh Street. P.O Box ?ta7. Siou.x Falb. South Dalcol;) 57117-5107
83
Page two
littio comprchenaivo information on what is here, what is sensitive,
rare and endangexed and wher*? fhpse unique species and natural
communities are. *
Without much better data, every economic development proposal is
Eiibjp.ct to the criricigrn that "Oh, ycu can't or Ehouldn't do that. .."
because of the purported unsubstantiated impact on a particular species
or ecosysteni. Good data will serve everyone's long-terra interest.
Several specific tsteps can and must be taken to begin the process
of increasing our knowledge of the biological diversity in the Black
Hills:
The Nature Conservancy supports the Black Hills Forest
staff request for $115,000 in the FYS! budget to begin a 3-
yeac compreheasiva Natural Heritage inventory initiativo.^
Our organisation is coinraltted to a Bubstantlal role in this
3-year initiative.
Wo support ths passage of legislation establishing the
Natural Biological Survey that is currently under
consideration in the Congress (H.R. 1845).
The last Congress, through efforts by the South Dakota
Congressional delegation, authorized the South Dakota
Biological Diversity Trust in the omnibus Vfater bill. We
believe that thia Truat io the vehicle by which the state
can deal with long-term necdo for more effective offorte to
conserve biological diversity.
The Nature Conservancy .<;upporr8 erforts within the Black Hills
National Forest Revision Plan to designate a number of additional
special interest areas and research natural area.^ within the Forest.
We believe that these special areas recognize an irreplaceable natural
resource to the ttate and that the conservation of these areas is a
very aigniticant Step toward protecting overall biodiversity in the
Black Hills.
Mi. Chairman, 1 want, to complimenC the .Senate Small Business
Coramictee for cominc to South Dakota to gain input concerning these
important issues. The diverse opiiions put forth represent the
importance of finding the "balance" that rauct exist between onar need
for economic viability and our need to conserve and enhance the natural
world and the biodiversity that ic key to suetaining this earth.
Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony today.
Joseph A. Satrom
Dakotaa Field Offic<3
The Nature Conservancy
84
0
The Nature Conservancy Preserves in South Dakota
Alumont Prairie
Auior* Prairit
Oovis Prairie
Crystal Springs
Centennial Prairie
Preserve
Hansen Nature
Preserve
Makoce Wa&hie
Prairie
Samuel H. Ordway Jr.
Memorial Prairie
Sioux Prairie
Vermillion Prairie
(62 acres, Deuel County). Turn right off Hwy. 77 north of Dear Lake
at the one-building town of Tunervillc. Travel 7.5 miles east. The
preserve is south of the road.
(30 acres, Brooldngs County). From the Holiday Inn travel 2.7 nules east
on Hwy. 14 (to the trap grounds). Turn right on the gravel road, travel
south 3.5 miles. The preserve is on the east side of the road.
(157 acres, Brown County). From Columbia, travel 8 rrulcs north, then
3 miles west. The preserve is southeast of the intersection.
(1918 acres, Deuel County). Travel one mile north from the town of
Oear LaJce on Hwy. 77, then turn right at the rodeo sign and travel three
miles east on county road, one mile north, one mile cast, one mile north,
then finally one and onr.-half miles east to the parking area on the south
side of the road just before you cross Monighan Crreic.
( 8(X) acres, Brown County) From the intersection of Hwy. 12 and Brown
County 16, travel 7 miles south on 16, Turn left at the Lutheran Church,
go 1/2 mile cast to the preserves southwest comer.
(40 acres, Minnehaha County). From the intcrsecdon of 1 29 and Hwy.
42 (same as Hth Street) travel 9.5 miles west on 42. Turn north on gravel
road 0.5 miles. The preserve is on the cast side of the road.
(7800 acres, McPherson County). From the intersection of Hwys. 10 &
45, travel 9 miles west on Hwy. 10. Look for the kiosk at the trail head on
the south side of the road. Headquarters is one-half mile further west.
(200 acres. Moody County). From the intersection of 1 29 and Hwy. 34,
travel west 1.5 miles on Hwy. 34 to Hwy. 77. Turn north and travel 3.5
miles. The preserve is on the east side of the road.
(22 acres. Clay County). From the SD Hwy. 50 bypass travel 1.2 miles
nonh on Hwy. 19 to Bluff Road. Turn left onto Bluff Road and travel
west for 1 1 .7 curving miles. The preserve is on the north side of the road.
0
85
The
Nature
Conservancy
Dakotas Field Office . 701/222-3464
TRUSTEES
SOUTH DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
1993 OFFICERS
Chair
Joe Carmody
Ao-counlant
Doherty, Carmody and Company
405 South Third Avenue
P.O. Box 523
Sioux Falls, Souih Dakota 57117-0523
(6(t5) 336-83.V) (w) (605) 336-6112 - FAX
Vice -Chair
Mary Jo Wegner
Community Volunteer
5010 South Sunnyntede Circle
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57106
(605) 338-1781 (h)
Secretary
Dr. Darrcil Welk
Retired
Professor, South Dakota State University
Route 4, Box 233
Brookings. South Dakota 57006
(605) 6W 4357 (h)
Treasurer
Paul Schock
Owner, Financial Advisor
Schock Financial Services
209 South Phillips Avenue
P.O. Box 121 1
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57102-1211
(605) 334 4500 (w) (60.5) 336-6221 (h)
^* Xorlli DaVMt Chaplcr Othce / 1014 East Cwiiral Avenue, Bisnufck, North Dakota 58501-193*
%t^ SoMlh Dakota Chapter Office / 196 East Sixth Street, P.O Box 5107, Sioux Falls, SouUi Dakota 571 17-5107
86
TRUSTEES
SOUm DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCV
Dr. Sherwood Berg
Consultant, Forestry and Agriculture
President Emeritus, South Datota Stale Universily
806 Christine Avenue, Suite 301
Brookings, South Dakota 57006-3903
(605) 688-5809 (w) (605) 697-5946 (h)
(605) 688^5822 - FAX
Gary Conradi
Vice President, Corporate Services
Raven Industries, Inc.
205 East Sixth Street
P.O. Box 5107
Sioux Falls South Dakota 57117-5107
(605) 336 2750 (w)
Scott Dunham
Owner, Financial Advisor
South Dalcota Financial Group, Inc.
401 S. Glendale, Suite 101
Sioux Falls, South Dalrota 57105-8208
(605) 331-3951 (w) (605) 362-9901 - FAX
Rohcrt E. Fishback
President
First National Bank in Brookiiig;
P.O. Box 57
Brookings, South Dakota 57006
(605) 692-6294 (w) (605) 692-5273 (h^
Dr. Mark Gabel
Professor
Black Hilb State Univcr^ly
DepttTtment of Biology
Uoiveisity Station Box 9035
Spearfiih, South Dakota 57783
(605) 642-6251 (w) (605) 642-4948 (h)
Bruce Harris
P O. Box 605
Clear Lake, South Dakota 57226 0605
(605) 874-2223 (h)
87
. TKUSTEES
SOUTH DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Helen Hyde Hanynian
Community Volunteer
202 West Prospect Avenue
Apartment 8
Pierre, South Dakota 57501
(605) 224^7745 (h)
Scott Heidepriem
Altomey-at-Law
Johnson, Heidepriem, Miner & Marlow
1720 South Spring
Sioux Falb, South Dakota 57105
(605) 338 4304 (w) (605) 335-6293 (h)
Mr. Everett E. Hoyt
President & Chief Operating Officer
Black Hills Power & Light Company
P.O. Box 1400
Rapid City, South Dakota 57709
(605) 348-1700 (w) (605) .V13-2707 (h)
Mr. Knute Knudson, Jr.
Vice President, Governmental Affairs
Sodak Gaming Supplies Company
405 East Omaha Street
Rapid City, SD 57701
(605) 341-5400 (w) (605) 341-5539 (h)
Ms. Gemma Lockhart
P.O. Box 8044
Rapid City, SD 57709
(605) 348 9979 (w/h) (605) 348 5117 - FAX
Dave Ode
Ecologist
South Dakota Natural Heritage Program
South Dakota Department of Game. Fish & Parks
Division of Wildlife
523 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre. South Dakota 57501-3182
(605) 773-4227 (w) (605) 224-6740 (h)
(6a5) 773 6245 FAX
TRUSTEES
SQUIB DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSnERVANCY
Kfiiih Perldiu HI
Initniclor
Natural Sciences Division
J.E. Salsbucy Building
Sioux Falb Collcgt;
1501 South Prairie Avenue
Sioitt Falls, South Dakota 57105-1699
(605) 331-6753 (w)
Mr. Tom Reave*
President
Component Manufacturing Company
4101 N. 4th Avenue
Sioux Falb, South Dakota S7104
(605) 339-3647 (w) (605) 339-3297 (h)
Steven W. Sanford
Attomey-at-Law
Cadwell, Sanford and Dcibert
P.O. Box 1157
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57101-1157
(605) 336-0828 (w) (605) 332-0846 (h)
Mr. John SturdevanI
Vice President
SAE Warehouse, Inc.
3402 S. Norton Avenue
P.O. Box 948
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57101
(605) 336-0678 (w) (605) 332-4482 (h)
Mr. Scott Zie-ske
Physician Recruiter
Rapid City Regional Hospital
353 Fannont Boulevard
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
(605) 341-8322 (w) (605) 348-7120 (h)
89
TRUSTEES
SOUTH DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Consultants
Les Miller
Real Estate Btoker
Wheatstem Realty
405 North Kiwanis Avenue
Sioux Falls, South Dakala 57104
(605) 336-7775 (w) (605) 332 4481 (h)
George Van del ID
Assistant Director, Division of Wildlife
South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks
523 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre. South Dakoia 57501-3182
(60S) 773-3381 (w)
Revised 6f9i
90
Senator Pressler. Well, I think you were absolutely right.
There's a great diversity of opinion, including diversity of opinion
in our audience, and I think it's good that we get them together.
Dick Fort, member, Action for the Environment, Rapid City.
STATEMENT OF DICK FORT, MEMBER, ACTION FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT, RAPID CITY, SD
Mr. Fort. Thank you. Senator Pressler, for this opportunity to
address you on these issues of use of public land.
Action for the Environment is the organization that sponsored
the initiative and the referendum that were on the ballot last fall.
Of course, these were successful from our point of view. I think
that the results of those votes told us something about the temper
of public opinion in South Dakota. Perhaps it's a little ahead of
some of our politicians in regard to environmental issues. I think it
also made clear that all over the State — it isn't just the people out
here — people care about the Black Hills and how the Black Hills
are going to be used.
Our concern, of course, as an organization has been focused more
on the problems of surface mining and on the problem of importing
of out-of-State garbage and on water issues. Those have been the
focus of our activities. I think my remarks should be addressed to
related subjects.
We have a particular problem I think I would say with surface
mining and the multiple use concept. We are supporters of the
multiple use concept. We think that's sound, and I think that on
the whole we don't have a lot of quarrels with the way it's been
handled in our public land and national forest. But we are very
much dissatisfied with whether surface mining can actually fit into
the multiple use concept. How could you log, how could you graze,
how could you have recreation, how can you fish, how can you
hunt, how can you do all those other things when there's a huge
surface mine that is, in effect, destroying the land? So let it be said
that if we have wonderful laws, I'm afraid that we are not satisfied
with the status of our laws in regard to this. And certainly recla-
mation standards could be greatly, greatly improved. But we do
support multiple use, all the other uses. There should be shared
use here in the Black Hills, but we're not so sure that surface
mining fits comfortably into that picture. So that's a particular
concern of ours.
We are very much concerned right now, Homestake — of course
Homestake is not small business, you understand. They're all over
the world. They just did a $700 million deal buying one of the larg-
est mines in the northern hemisphere. Somehow I don't think they
fit into the picture of small business. But Homestake is — because
they get 13 percent of the profits — promoting, as it were, a new
mine on the rim of Spearfish Canyon. That's certainly a threat to
one of our most incalculably valuable resources in the Northern
Hills.
As Bill Honerkamp said of the tourist industry, this is a big, big
business — it's becoming so in South Dakota. Of course as big busi-
ness, in a sense, it is a combination of many, many, many small
businesses. And it's our big growing industry, really. And so we're
91
very much concerned with this prospect of a threat to what we
think is one of our most valuable tourist resources.
This should be an opportunity too to say something to you, Sena-
tor. I guess we disagree with you on the Craig bill. I know that
there was some maneuvering going on in regard to that, which we
can understand. We need yet some explanations on the political
complexities that may crop up. But that bill is a sham. It is not
meaningful mining reform. The public should not have to pay for
the costs of mining. Pay as you go. That's a good principle. And it
should be applied to the mining industry.
And Larry Mann from Homestake referred to Summitville, CO.
Well, we're paying for that. That's coming out of our tax money,
$30,000 a day. That's public money that is going to clean up a bad
situation in Colorado. We in South Dakota are helping pay for that
problem in Colorado. We are not against mining, but we do think
they should be paying their way. And we strongly question the
1872 law which allows mining companies to take public land,
allows the Forest Service no option to say no, does not have a pro-
vision for setting up funds for reclamation. The Craig bill, does not
address this, and is totally inadequate.
In Congress is another bill, the Rahall-Bumpers bill. We think
that does address the problem, and we certainly would want to in-
dicate that our position is that we should be supporting these
stronger measures to make the mining industry pay their way and
not be supported in their cleanups by public money.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fort follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dick Fort
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before the Senate Small Business Com-
mittee. ACTion for the Environment is a nonpartisan citizens' action group dedicat-
ed to passing and upholding stronger laws to protect our environment from the ef-
fects of gold mining and waste management. Our testimony today will focus on the
need for hardrock mining reform and replacing the 1872 Mining Law.
All across the country, the public is getting billed for the long-term costs of this
latest new gold rush. The most notable example is the $30,000 plus you and I spend
daily to clean up the Summitville heap-leach mess in Colorado.
Here in South Dakota we are realizing the short-term benefits are not worth it.
Foreign-owned companies promised lower taxes in return for carving up the area in
the 1980s. Now a Canadian gold mining company (Wharf Resources) is suing the
local county and school board over its property taxes, while county residents have
watched their local taxes almost double.
State regulators have found acid mine drainage (AMD) at two of our four heap
leach mines (Bond Gold and Brohm), shutting down Bond Gold just 4 years after
receiving its permit. Citizens want the AMD mess moved out of the Spearfish
Canyon watershed and treated. Bond Gold just wants to leave it in place and moni-
tor it "forever".
Traces of cyanide have shown up in monitoring wells at Brohm, who tried to
blame it on sabotage. State officials disagreed; it was Brohm's leaking heap leach
pad. Last year South Dakota's four heap leach mines put over 2,300,000 pounds of
cyanide on less than 1500 acres. We need Federal environmental standards to pro-
tect public and domestic water supplies from cyanide poisoning.
Over 1,000 migratory birds have been killed from open cyanide solution ponds.
Surface mining companies need to be prosecuted because it is the law: a $10,000 fine
per bird. Fines collected could be used to enforce minimum Federal standards for
hardrock mining and reclamation.
Bird mortalities will continue as long as these open ponds exist. All cyanide use
needs to be enclosed in tanks and vats to prevent wildlife deaths and to better pro-
tect water supplies.
92
Lawrence County citizens are angry that Homestake is trying to transfer an in-
valid local permit to another foreign company (Minerva) who wants to mine at the
very rim of Spearfish Canyon. Homestake would get 13 percent net royalties. Citi-
zens also want Homestake to bring back Spearfish Falls in the Canyon which ran
until the 1920s.
Although to date, no gold surface mining has taken place on public lands in South
Dakota, we are still very concerned about the lack of Federal laws to protect public
health.
ACT believes S. 775, which passed the Senate unanimously, is sham reform. Sham
775 allows patenting to continue for the price of the "surface value" of the land.
Somewhat better than the current $5 an acre but far less than the billions worth of
gold that will be removed, mainly by foreign companies. What a public rip off!
Sham 775 2 percent net profits royalty tax is a mockery to the 12.5 percent gross
tax charged for removing oil, coal and gas from Federal lands, and the royalties
charged by other countries and companies.
Better mining law reform exists — H.R. 322 by Representative Nick Rahall
(D-WV). It would eliminate patenting and establish annual rental fees and royalties
(8 percent gross). It would establish and fund a program for abandoned mine clean-
up. Sham 775 mentions such a program but forgets to fund it. It will ultimately cost
an estimated $20 to $50 billion to clean up hardrock mining's poisoned past.
Federal (and State) agencies need to be given the ability to deny risky niining
projects, say no to bad actors, levy adequate violation fines, and enforce minimum
environmental and reclamation standards.
These companies are not small businesses; they operate on budgets of tens and
hundreds of millions of dollars. Multiple use does not exist wherever surface mining
takes place, and usually no use exists after mining. Many times communities are
left with toxic messes to clean up. It is time to end the corporate welfare.
In the last 5 years, ACT has been instrumental in placing five citizens' initiatives
on local and State ballots. Support for stronger mining laws has moved from 22 per-
cent to 60 percent, increasing with each vote before the people. Forty-eight percent
of Lawrence County itself supported an individual mine size regulation last year.
Many State residents have been shocked to find out surface mining contributed only
two-tenths of one percent to the State's economy in 1989.
Conservation of our resources (recycling), and how we extract those resources
from the ground, will continue to grow in importance on this finite planet. Today's
surface mining moves huge amounts of waste for tiny amounts of rnineral, while
leaving dangerous threats to our soil and water. As clean water supplies become an
even more precious resource, pollution from past and present mining will become
less and less acceptable.
ACT asks you to support real hardrock mining reform such as H.R. 322 and end
the public handouts. Thank you.
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
Tom Troxel, executive secretary, Black Hills Regional Multiple
Use Coalition, Rapid City, SD.
STATEMENT OF TOM TROXEL, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, BLACK
HILLS REGIONAL MULTIPLE USE COALITION
Mr. Troxel. Thank you. Senator.
Today we've heard many accounts of small businesses that
depend on the management of our public lands for their very sur-
vival. Clearl> the residents of the Black Hills have benefited enor-
mously from the economic diversity and stability resulting from
public land management. At the same time, we can all be reas-
sured by the fact that the public lands have been well-managed
and are in very good condition.
I'd like to describe several aspects of the environmental health of
our public lands. To talk about the forest for a minute, our forests
are very different today than they were historically. Compared to
the forests of 1874, today's forests are much denser. They cover
many more acres. They're less fragmented. The average age of the
forest is older. Wildfires and mountain pine beetle epidemics occur
93
with far less frequency due in large part to successful forest man-
agement and access. However, these do remain a constant threat.
To look at wildlife for a minute, I think the report card on wild-
life is very positive, and I will review several key species. The
Black Hills has a stable goshawk population. In fact, the South
Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks even allows collection
of goshawk chicks by falconers. Pine martens, which were once ex-
tirpated from the Black Hills, have made such a successful come-
back in the mature forests of today's Black Hills following their re-
introduction was in 1981 and that today a limited trapping season
is planned for 1996.
Elk numbers have increased from 550 in 1980 to 1,200 in 1992.
Deer populations increased from 62,000 in 1980 to 85,000 in 1992,
but there has been a recent decline that raises concerns about
winter range and the effects of a closed canopy forest on forage and
browse. Turkey populations have increased from 8,000 in 1980 to
15,000 in 1992. Breeding bird surveys near Roubaix Lake in Custer
clearly indicates stable populations of Hairy Woodpeckers and Red
Breasted Nuthatches, which are both species of interest in forest
management debates.
One of the few exceptions to this wildlife success is ironically the
Norbeck Wildlife Preserve. There, many species such as the moun-
tain goats, have shrinking populations primarily because of de-
creasing forage.
To talk a minute about range lands, Forest Service monitoring
shows that 29 allotments were reanalyzed between 1984 and 1988.
Of those, 78 percent either stayed the same or showed a significant
increase in the acreage of range in satisfactory condition, and only
14 percent of the ranges showed a decrease in satisfactory condi-
tions.
As you review today's testimony, I believe the following consider-
ations are essential. People are clearly part of the ecosystem, and
we obviously depend on the earth's resources for our survival. And
do we in South Dakota really take any moral high ground by re-
ducing timber harvest or livestock production or mining in this
country only to import those same commodities from other coun-
tries, countries which often don't have the skill, technology, or will-
ingness to do an environmentally sound a job as we do? I think not.
I agree with you that the Black Hills National Forest can be a
national leader in forest management. The present management of
our public lands works and works well. We don't need and we don't
want more wilderness designation. Neither do we need or want the
proposed conservation biology alternative, which would designate
500,000 acres of the Black Hills National Forest in a series of core
areas and corridors where roads are closed, no motorized activity is
allowed, no livestock is permitted, and private land is purchased
for the Federal Government.
We need a commitment to forest health, to ecosystem manage-
ment, and to ecosystem sustainability. But we must remember that
people are part of the ecosystem. We must also remember that non-
management does not inherently provide for ecosystem sustainabil-
ity.
The frivolous appeals of Forest Service decisions must be
stopped. The appeals process is out of control, and despite legisla-
74-343 0-94-4
94
tion nearly a year ago, the administration has still not implement-
ed the regulations to streamline the appeals process. It is not right
that legitimate projects can be delayed for months and months by
frivolous appeals and a 29-cent stamp.
A planning process with strong involvement by local govern-
ments and the public is essential. Everj^hing cannot be maximized,
and trade-offs must be recognized and choices made.
The Forest Service is obligated to ask for public comments. They
must also be willing to listen and to respond. And local govern-
ments must be involved as the Forest Service considers decisions
which will dramatically affect local counties and local communi-
ties.
Just as we must maintain biologic diversity, we must also main-
tain economic diversity. Rather than trying to substitute one seg-
ment of our economy for another, we must focus instead on making
each slice of our economic pie as healthy as possible.
In conclusion, I'd like to read a quote from Aldo Leopold to Sand
County Almanac. He said, "There are two spiritual dangers in not
owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast
comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the
furnace. To avoid the first, one should plant a garden, preferably
where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second,
he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where
there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February
blizzard tosses the trees outside."
Well, fortunately there's not a February blizzard outside today,
but certainly the wisdom in this quote is obvious.
I thank you. Senator, for this opportunity to speak, and I thank
you for your very timely leadership on this vital issue.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Troxel follows:]
Prepared Statement of Tom Troxel
I'm Tom Troxel, executive secretary of the Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coa-
lition. The Black Hills Regional Multiple Use Coalition includes 29 organizations
representing hunters, trappers, snowmobilers, off-road riders, fourwheelers, the
forest products industry, livestock producers, mining interests, irrigators, trailriders,
conservation districts and economic development entities (Attachment 1). The com-
bined members and employees of these organizations easily exceeds 20,000 people
who live, work or play in the Black Hills region of South Dakota and Wyoming.
They have joined this coalition because of their concern about multiple use manage-
ment of the Black Hills National Forest and other public lands in South Dakota and
Wyoming, and also the effects of State and national environmental policy on private
lands management.
The Black Hills region includes a high percentage of Federal lands in national
forests, national grasslands, and national parks and monuments. These lands pro-
vide an economic base which is vital to the continued well-being of the region. Other
panelists have reviewed the thousands of jobs in forest products, mining, livestock,
and recreation businesses which depend on the public lands. Just as in the rest of
America, most of these businesses are small business. In the Black Hills they range
from family ranching operations like the Thompson's north of Spearfish, logging
businesses like the Ballard's in Custer, sawmills like McLaughlin's and Linde's,
snowmobile lodges like Dampier's west of Lead, and many less obvious businesses
like Dale's Tire and Retreading in Rapid City, the Sundance State Bank, Black Hills
Yamaha Harley Davidson in Rapid City, and many, many more.
I've been asked to address the impact of Federal land management on the envi-
ronment. This is very timely and appropriate, because factual discussion of environ-
mental issues has been overwhelmed today by slick campaigns of "Chicken Lit-
tle's— the sky is falling" environmental hysteria, foisted on the American public by
big-business environmental groups with their combined annual budgets which
95
exceed $500 million. This campaign to push an environmental agenda at the ex-
pense of our economy and people now includes as converts the President and Vice-
President of the United States, and frankly threatens the well-being of our country,
but especially threatens the very existence of rural America.
Unquestionably, the public lands of South Dakota have an excellent track record
of management. At the same time, residents of the Black Hills have benefited enor-
mously from the economic diversity and stability resulting from public land man-
agement. This has not been an issue of jobs versus the environment — indeed, the
Black Hills National Forest is an outstanding example of how we can have our pro-
verbial cake and eat it, too!
In assessing environmental effects of management, we must first understand that
our forests and grasslands are naturally in a constant state of change. The Black
Hills in 1993 is far different than in 1874 when General Custer's photographer re-
corded them for posterity. I would like to briefly make some comparisons of several
areas of environmental concern.
Forests
Today's forests are much denser and cover many more acres than in 1874. The
forests are also much less diverse in both age and species distribution. Today's Black
Hills National Forest is dominated by a mature forest of Ponderosa Pine with far
fewer stands of aspen or birch. The average age of the forest is older, and the forests
are also much less fragmented than the forests of the late 1800's.
Catastrophic wildfires and mountain pine beetle epidemics are much less frequent
in today's Black Hills than occurred naturally, due in large part to successful forest
management and access. However, the 6,000 acres of mountain pine beetle infesta-
tion last year west of Hill City, and the recent Galena and Westberry Trails fires
remind us of their constant threat.
Wildlife
Wildlife populations are dynamic, vary with available habitat and are often con-
flicting. Habitat which maximizes one species or group of species will often afford
only poor habitat for other species. With changes in the forests have come changes
to wildlife populations. In the increasingly mature forests of the Black Hills is one
of the few stable goshawk populations in the United States. The SD Department of
Game, Fish and Parks even allows collection of goshawk chicks (called eyas) for fal-
conry purposes. Pine martens, once extirpated in the Black Hills, have made a re-
markable comeback since their reintroduction in 1981; so well, that a limited trap-
ping season is now planned for 1996 by the SD Game, Fish and Parks Department.
Elk numbers have increased from 550 in 1980 to 1,200 in 1992. Deer populations
have increased from 62,000 in 1980 to 85,000 in 1992, but seem to now be declining,
raising concerns about winter range and the closed canopy forest which reduces
forage and browse growth. Turkey populations have increased from 8,000 in 1980 to
15,000 in 1992, and now appear to have stabilized. Mountain lion sightings have in-
creased in the past decade, apparently benefiting from denser forest canopy condi-
tions and adjacent openings from logging and the browse created for deer and ro-
dents. Breeding bird surveys near Roubaix Lake and Custer clearly indicate stable
populations of Hairy Woodpeckers and Red Breasted Nuthatches, both species of in-
terest in forest management debates.
The Norbeck Wildlife Preserve is one area which has decreasing wildlife popula-
tions, most notably the mountain goats, because of decreasing forage. But many
other species of wildlife are also less abundant in Norbeck because of reduced forage
availability beneath the dense forest cover. Ironically, it has been the Black Hills
Group of the Sierra Club that has delayed any management of Norbeck for the past
15 years by their appeals of every Forest Service decision related to Norbeck.
Water
Streamflows have declined from streams in the Black Hills. Streams such as Boul-
der Creek, which ran year-round as recently as the 1930's are now dry by early
spring, due in large part to evapo-transpiration from closed canopy Ponderosa Pine
stands on the forested slopes. Dr. Bob Gartner has conducted research near Pactola
Reservoir which clearly shows the effect of a dense Ponderosa Pine canopy on reduc-
ing the amount of soil moisture.
Rangelands
The 251 livestock permittees on the Black Hills National Forest graze an annual
22,300 animals on their allotments. The monitoring and evaluation of the land man-
96
agement plan by the Forest Service shows that: Of 29 allotments re-analyzed be-
tween 1984 and 1988, 78 percent showed either a significant increase or no signifi-
cant change in the acreage of range in satisfactory condition; only 14 percent of the
range showed a decrease in satisfactory conditions.
People
The final aspect of the environment I will address is people, because people are
clearly an integral part of the ecosystem. Biologic objectives cannot be separated
from the social and economic facets of the ecosystem. Many in the preservationist
community are clearly apologetic for people, believing the human species to be a
cancer in an otherwise perfect ecosystem. But the reality is that we're here, there
are some 5 billion of us, and we depend on the Earth's resources for our very surviv-
al. We in South Dakota need to be cognizant of the effects of our natural resource
use. Do we really take the moral high ground by reducing timber harvest or live-
stock production or mining in this country only to import those same commodities
from other countries, which often don't have the skill, technology or willingness to
do as environmentally sound a job as we do?
The present management of our public lands in South Dakota works and works
well. We do not need or want more wilderness designation or alternatives which
propel a preservationist agenda at the expense of the people in the Black Hills. On
the table right now is a proposal from the Sierra Club to designate 122,000 acres of
the Black Hills National Forest and the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands as wilder-
ness. These areas don't even meet Wilderness Act definitions of "untrammeled by
man" — the areas in the Black Hills National Forest have roads, water develop-
ments, and have been logged, and the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands were all
originally homesteaded — homes were built and fields were plowed, even Crazy John-
son Table where peanuts were planted. Designating these areas wilderness will only
restrict existing access and uses.
Also on the table is a Conservation Biology Alternative proposed by the Fiends of
the Bow from Laramie WY, which goes even further. Under the guise of the "Island
Biogeography Theory", this alternative proposes to designate 500,000 acres of the
Black Hills National Forest in a series of core areas connected by corridors in vvhich
roads are closed, no motorized activity allowed, no livestock are grazed, and private
land is purchased.
The revision of the Black Hills NF Land Management Plan is a critical milestone
for several reasons:
The Black Hills National Forest represents the pinnacle of multiple use man-
agement in the National Forest system.
It is the first land management plan to be revised, and will set precedents for
the remaining 155 plan revisions.
The Black Hills includes a public which strongly supports the current man-
agement, a region which depends heavily on the economic benefits, and a con-
frontational preservationist community intent on implementing a no use
agenda.
In my view the following are essential steps for the Black Hills:
The FS has committed to implement Ecosystem Management. This is not a
new concept, but does provide a new framework through which to gauge land
management of our national forests. We should manage for integrity of ecosys-
tems. We must recognize however that people are part of the ecosystem, and
that non-management does not inherently provide for ecosystem sustainability.
Black Hills ecosystems developed naturally with periodic fires, insect epidemics
and other agents of change which people and communities are no longer willing
to accept. Fortunately, the occurrence of fires and insect epidemics can be mini-
mized and the positive effects mimicked through sound forest management
practices.
A key to management of the forest is the defining of the Desired Future Condi-
tion, that is what do we want the forest to look like, and what opportunities do we
want, and what products should come from the forest in the future.
Perpetual appeals of FS decisions must be stopped. Despite a proposal 2 years
ago, an out-of-control appeals process has still not been changed to prevent the
blocking of legitimate projects.
97
An open planning process with strong involvement by local governments and
the public is essential. The Forest Service is obligated to ask for public com-
ments; they must also be willing to listen and to respond.
Also key to a process that everyone can trust are state-of-the-art resource invento-
ries. Better decisions will flow from better data, one of the few points on which
there is universal agreement. But I would caution that better data doesn't always
result from more data. I would also add that we are supporting the plans of The
Nature Conservancy to inventory the Black Hills for rare species and habitats.
With better data, and more trust in the data, all parties would be able to focus
better on the alternative management strategies available and the true trade-offs
between those strategies.
There continue to be parties that advocate replacing commodity industries
with tourism or recreation. We cannot allow reductions in our economic diversi-
ty; rather than pitting one element of the economy against another, we must
focus on making each segment of our economic pie as healthy as possible.
Clearly management of the forest must be sustainable. We do not manage the
forest just for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren.
Finally, the Black Hills Multiple Use Coalition has prepared and presented
the attached position paper for the revised forest plan (attachment 2). We feel
the minimum levels we have outlined are responsible and realistic, and provide
an environmental and economic balance within the capabilities of the forest.
We have also committed to work with any other group in resolving conflicts
over management of our public lands in the Black Hills region.
In conclusion, I want to thank you for your leadership in holding this hearing.
The public lands of South Dakota are vital to all of us. I am reminded of the follow-
ing quote from Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac:
"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of
supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes
from the furnace. To avoid the first, one should plant a garden, preferably
where there is no grocer to confuse the issue. To avoid the second, he should lay
a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and
let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside."
98
Attachment 1
1993 BHRMUC OFFICERS
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Executive Secretary
Bill Crcsswait
Rick Vallery
Druse Kellogg
Jim Jennings
Tom Troxel
BHRMUC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Assoc of National Grasslands
Bear Ledge Grazing Assoc
Bear Lodge Multiple Use Assoc
Belle Fcurche Irrigation District
BH Forest Resource Assoc
BH Four Wheelers
BH Off-Roaders
BH Timberman's Assoc
BH Women In Timber
Harney Grazing District
Keep South Dakota Green
Northern Hills Comm. Devel.
Off-Road Riders Assoc
Outdoors Unlimited
RC Economic Development Partnership
Sioux Falls Turkey Hunters
SD Association of Cons. Districts
SD Farm Bureau
SD Mining Assoc
SD Public Lands Council
SD Snowmobile Assoc
SD Stockgrowers Assoc
SD Trail Riders
SD Trappers Association
Spearfish Livestock Assoc
Spearfish Pistol and Gun Club
Western SD Fur Harvesters
Wyoming Farm Bureau
Wyoming Stockgrowers Assoc
Chauncey Taylor
Jett Schloredt
Jerry Knapp
Jim Winterton
Conrad Rupert
Mark Voss/Burt Long
Don Armstrong
Donnie Quashnick
Druse Kellogg
Harold Bies
Jack McBride
Craig Johnson
Ross Brown/Bill Potter
Marlene Simons
Bob DeMersseman
Susan Francis
Tim Reich
Rick Vallery
Dan Dorfschmidt
Jim Jennings
Ron Ruediger
TBA
Barb Lampert
Jane Logue
Wes Thompson
Bill Crosswait
Earl Wagner
Larry Bourett
Nels Smith
99
Attachment 2
Black Hills Regional
Multiple Use Coalition
■^ P.O. Box 9496
5 Rapid City, SD 57709
:Ji 605-341-0875
F.AX 605-341-8651
AUGUST 199 3
POSITION PAPER
EVALUATING THE FOREST PLAN REVISION
People and communities, their resource needs and their lifestyles
are an integral part of healthy economic and social environments.
A healthy economy is also necessary for maintaining a healthy
environment and the protections that are necessary for proper
resource management. Our objective is to find a solution to
include BOTH a healthy environment and a healthy economy.
Our expectation is that the Black Hills National Forest Land
Management Plan will continue to recognize the essential
relationship between the providers of America's resources and the
consiimers of those resources, the Forest Service must continue to
provide predictable policy decision in order that people will feel
secure enough today and confident enough tomorrow to invest in
sustainable land management; that the Forest Plan will continue to
foster successful rural communities and lifestyles; and that the
Forest Service will fully incorporate input from local elected
officials in the decision making process.
The following criteria need to be met to maintain multiple use
management and to meet the above expectations:
ECONOMIC IMPACT OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan will provide an equal
or improved contribution to the economy for the Black Hills Region.
The Forest Plan revision must maintain or improve the contribution
to the average annual payroll, and personnel benefits as well as
maintain or improve private property values realized by Black Hills
area residents.
The Forest Service shall involve county governments and affected
private businesses in projected economic impacts of Forest Plan
Management alternatives.
Ranching, hunting, trapping, farming, timber, mining, tourism, and
water yield are assets that create and develop the tax base that is
necessary for community services and infrastructure. Our hospitals,
schools and public safety agencies are supported by businesses who
are using these resources.
100
FOREST HEALTH /BIODIVERSITY OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plcin will not
decrease biodiversity through a decrease in vegetation management.
Current biodiversity is a direct result of aggressive management,
substantiating the fact that management, forest health and
biodiversity coexist.
Biodiversity includes the entire range of plants and einimals.
Annual grasses and forbs must be considered along with perennial
plants in the analysis of biodiversity.
Old growth and set aside areas discriminate against many plants
which provide high quality forage and cover for game and nongame
animals. Because of effective fire control, these plants are
totally dependent upon management actions to survive. Management
can simulate the effects of wildfire and insect infestations in
creating biodiversity objectives while maintaining a heathy forest.
The needs of all wildlife species need to be addressed. Many of
the species that we are now protecting are here because of
historical management. Managing the forest for a variety of
habitats will increase the diversity of wildlife.
GRAZING RESOURCE OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan will maintain or
improve the current level of ADM's as demonstrated to maintain
healthy pleint life.
The decades-long trend of loss of permitted and used grazing
capacity must be stabilized and reversed. Relevant factors
include: economic loss to the interdependent communities, as well
as ranchers directly; increased risk of catastrophic wildfire as
unutilized forage converts to fuel; and reduced health, vigor and
diversity of plant populations deprived of grazing challenge, hoof
action, and nutrient recycling provided by livestock.
Management objectives and decisions should include recognition of
range condition and trend, rather than being based on utilization
standards which fail to recognize yearly variations in production
and are often based on information developed far from the unique
environment of the Black Hills.
Riparian area management must be done holistically. To treat
riparian area concerns as the sole or overriding issue is certain
to produce the distortions and environmental consequences that
inevitably result from single issue management. Livestock should
not be excluded from riparian areas except in very rare cases where
no alternatives are available. Grazing and riparian objectives are
compatible when effective cooperative management and good
communication are present.
101
Effects on private property such as wildlife depredation, fire risk
and reduced stream flow must be addressed by the plan. Landowners
should be compensated when adjacent management affects the
landowner's ability to use or manage private land.
RECREATION RESOURCE OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan must maintain
current levels of motorized and nonmotorized recreational
opportunities in the forest, as well as address the need for
expanding recreational opportunities .
Recreational opportunities and public land access in the Black
Hills National Forest enhance the lives of Black Hills residents
and visitors. Snowmobile, motorized and nonmotorized trails are
needed to meet the needs of visitors and residents. Plans for
expansion may be needed to minimize conflict, congestion and
resource impact.
Roads that are currently open should remain open. Conflicts that
are currently solved with "closures" should be resolved through
public education, by providing better and more accurate signing and
mapping, and more public involvement in the management of
recreational facilities. Road closures should be a last resort.
Road closures severely impact trappers economically, especially
those who make their living from trapping.
The requirements of the disabled and senior citizens must be
considered according to Federal Law. Snowmobiling and motorized
trails provide the only access for many of these people to remote
parts of the forest.
WATER RESODRCE OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan will maintain or
increase strecun flows, surface water availability, community water
needs, and recharge of aquifers.
The Forest Plan Revision must maintain or increase surface water
yield and recharge ground water aquifers to meet the growing needs
of urban communities, agriculture, industry, recreation, fisheries
management and wildlife habitat.
Vegetation management on the Black Hills National Forest
drastically affects stream flow, surface water availability,
community water systems, and the recharge of the Madison and other
aquifers .
The Forest Plan must explicitly recognize State water law to
protect water users from loss due to federal intervention.
The Forest Plan standards and guidelines must reflect the State's
determination of Best Management Practices for water quality.
102
AESTHETICS OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plam will maintain aesthetic
objectives through continued current management.
The lengthening of rotations is not necessary to maintain an uneven
aged forest appearance nor create larger diameter trees. Science,
proper and practical land management and technology can meet the
aesthetic needs of both visitors and residents without reverting to
an approach which injures economic stability.
WILDERNESS OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan will not recommend
additional wilderness.
No additional wilderness is needed or wanted in the Black Hills.
Wilderness excessively reduces access to public lands and
eliminates alternatives for fire reduction and biodiversity.
Areas which have received no management such as those found in the
Norbeck, Sand Creek and Beaver Park Diversity units are negatively
affecting aesthetics, ASQ, AUM's, wildlife habitat and water yield
as well as increasing fire risk.
MINERAL RESOURCE OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan will acknowledge that
mining is an important economic industry to the Black Hills area
eind responsible development should be encouraged and promoted as
one of the multiple uses of the land.
Access and secure tenure for mining claims shall not be diminished.
With diminished access and secure tenure not guaranteed, use of
mining claims by small businesses or individuals will be non-
existent.
State primacy with regards to the regulation of mining should be
promoted .
ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT - The Forest Plan will maintain healthy
ecosystems that include healthy econmic and social components.
Communities, people and their needs must be included as integral
components of healthy ecosystems.
The natural Black Hills Ecosystem was sustained primarily by fire.
It is not possible to return to the natural ecosystem. The best
alternative is to mimic nature's cycles while at the same time
allowing resource utilization from the forest.
Today, efforts must try to duplicate nature's work, only without
destructive wildfire. With more people living in forested areas, a
concerted emphasis must be placed on keeping the forest healthy to
reduce wildfire activity from occurring.
103
FOREST RESOURCES OBJECTIVE - The Forest Plan must insure a reliable
and sustainable harvest quantity of a minimum of 110 MMBF as
demonstrated by the most recent information used by the Black Hills
National Forest.
A healthy forest products industry is necessary as a management
tool to achieve other objectives from the forest such as managing
fuel loading, preventing disease and insect infestations,
minimizing pine encroachment, increasing the availability of water
and forage, and increasing plant and animal diversity.
Management must begin early in the successional stage of the forest
to provide for a continued healthy and productive forest.
Any old growth areas should be managed to reflect condition of old
growth of the Black Hills as shown 100 years ago, not as shown by
the biology of other parts of the Pacific Northwest.
CONCLUSION - "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it" is
valid. Without the measurement of outputs such as visitor deiys,
campsite visits, animal months, or board feet, management becomes
a process without a result. The economy, the environment and the
public would be ill-served by such a situation.
The Forest Plan must clearly state management objectives and
planned level of outputs. Output level ifto^ be sustain<^^^3^ aa^
predictable, and reflect the Forest's corangiv'iiftent to att3injBfte»t .
104
Senator Pressler. Thank you.
Angle Many, secretary of Black Hills Women In Timber, Hill
City, SD.
STATEMENT OF ANGELA MANY, SECRETARY, BLACK HILLS
WOMEN IN TIMBER, HILL CITY, SD
Ms. Many. Thank you and good morning.
My name Is Angle Many, and I'm a founder of Black Hills
Women in Timber. And I've been asked to discuss a little bit the
impacts of logging upon our local environment.
I started researching these impacts back in 1976, the day after
my husband came home and told me that he had a job cutting
trees. I thought that what he was doing was wrong, and I was de-
termined to show that to him. So I spent a lot of time with local
people and in libraries, and what I found out, of course, is that log-
gers are doing a good job out in the forest. My research backfired
or I wouldn't be sitting here in this position.
I learned that we had more trees in this country than we had
100 years ago. I learned that many wildlife species that were near
extinction at the turn of the century are now flourishing. I learned
that wood is the most environmentally safe and cost-effective build-
ing material that we have. And through forest management, we've
reduced the number of trees lost in this country by about 90 per-
cent from about 5 million acres a year — or excuse me, from about
50 million acres a year down to 5 million acres a year. We've also
dramatically reduced the number of trees that we're losing to
insect and disease infestations.
And one of the figures that really caught my attention, the
amount of land that is harvested in the National Forest System
every year is about one-half of 1 percent. That's all the land that
we're talking about, one-half of 1 percent. And that figure holds
pretty true in the Black Hills National Forest also.
One of the things I realized from research was that our forests
are managed. If they're not managed by man, who would then get
to use the resource and would stabilize wildlife population, then
they're managed by nature, and nature often uses destructive ca-
tastrophes for management.
You know. Chairman Pressler, that the Black Hills is a beautiful
area, and I'm sure that you're familiar with this book. Yellow Ore,
Yellow Hair, Yellow Pine. Almost every picture in here — and we
do have some blowups here — shows that the forest has increased
substantially in the amount of trees and the health of the forest^ in
the last hundred years, and this has been done at a time that we've
taken 5 billion board feet of timber out for the needs of American
citizens. These pictures of the Castle Creek area, in particular,
show the dramatic growth of the Black Hills National Forest in a
hundred years.
We are experiencing in this country constant land withdrawals,
land taken out of the timber base, land taken out of different bases
in our country. Right now we have 170 million acres in the nation-
al park system and the wilderness systems alone. That makes it
vital that we continue to manage our national forests in ways that
will maximize the production of goods, the economic stability of
105
communities, and the motorized recreational needs of our citizens.
For a hundred years the Forest Service has been able to meet these
needs and still insure that we have a healthy and perpetual forest.
I do not believe that we should change the direction of that man-
agement.
I do not agree with wilderness expansion here in the Hills or ac-
tually anjrwhere in the country because now we're not preserving
pristine areas. It's become a land grab. It's been extended to areas
that have been logged and mined and grazed and roaded. Wilder-
ness areas pose a threat to themselves and to the surrounding
public and private lands. These lands are by law left to natural
processes, and nature tends to renew forest through catastrophic
methods.
The Black Hills are historically managed through wildfire and
by the mountain pine beetle, and there's absolutely no reason to
believe that natural management in wilderness areas would spare
our forests or our local residents from these catastrophes. These
processes do not recognize property lines. They destroy animal
habitat.
Also, expansion of the wilderness system would mean a tragic
loss in the amount of timber available for our products, not just for
our generation but for all of those to come. The growing of trees for
timber is a long-term commitment. The seedlings of today will be
lumber for my great grandchildren. Any land that we set aside
today reduces the amount of timber and lumber available for those
who follow us. I don't believe that we have the right to say that
our descendants cannot have affordable shelter and daily newspa-
pers and abundant forests because we were shortsighted and we set
aside land in this generation.
I ask that the Members of this Committee put the needs of indi-
viduals, small businesses, and our forest environment ahead of
those who would have us padlock Federal lands so that the healthy
and the wealthy can hike in solitude. When wilderness lands burn
or its trees die from infestation, these people are going to go else-
where for their recreation. Those of us who have made the Black
Hills our home will be left here to deal with the aftermath.
You know, of course, that right now the Forest Service is facing
the monumental task of revising the forest plan. This document af-
fects almost every person in the area. Because we can select cut
here, many visitors to the area are unaware that there's even any
logging going on in the Hills. Logging has been used, however, to
create the beautiful forest that we have today. And because of this,
I'm very disturbed by indications that our plan might reduce the
amount of timber to be harvested. This is not a national park cre-
ated solely for the enjoyment of people and for the protection of
wildlife. It's not a wilderness area created for solitude and natural-
ness. It's a national forest created for a continuous supply of
timber and for a perpetual forest and dedicated to community sta-
bility. Yet it seems that like many of our national forests, it's being
managed more and more as an old growth preserve, a nonmotor-
ized recreational preserve, and a wildlife preserve.
I think that we should change the current policy of managing for
wildlife at epidemic levels and we should instead manage for en-
demic levels. I believe that we should give maximum opportunities
106
to motorized recreation. I believe that cattle have their places on
the national forest and that they reduce the amount of grass sub-
ject to fire and they provide the recycling of nutrients, which re-
places the need for fire. And I believe that our Forest Service
should be actively working to increase timber sustained yield levels
for the benefit of future generations and increasing opportunities
for those multiple use activities that are now being denied many
American citizens on many public lands.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Many follows:]
107
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
OF
ANGELA MANY
SECRETARY, BLACK HILLS WOMEN IN TIMBER
BEFORE THE
SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE
FIELD HEARING
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA
Sq)tember 4, 1993
108
1 Tntroduction
Good morning. My name is Angela Many. I live in Hill City, Soutii Dakota, with my
husband, Bruce, and our two children. We own two businesses that are dependent upon
logging, our property is bordered by National Forest, and my family uses the Black Hills
National Forest for various recreational purposes. We have a vital stake, both economic
and social, in the management of the Black Hills National Forest.
I helped to foimd both Wyoming Women In Timber and Black Hills Women In Timber,
and I served as president of each organization for two years. I am currently secretary of
Black Hills Women In Timber. Women In Timber members in 12 states work to promote
the conservation of natural resources, with conservation given its true meaning of 'wise
use'. We also work to educate the general public about the advantages that our forests, our
wildlife, and our citizens receive from the responsible harvesting of timber.
I have been asked to discuss the impacts of logging upon our local environment, and I must
state that I am very concerned about recent trends in public lands management. Because I
love the Black Hills and the outdoors, I have tried to become as knowledgeable as possible
about the issues currently affecting this area and our country.
I grew up on a beef ranch in Alabama. I learned at an early age that food does not
magically appear on grocery store shelves. Our table was full because we gardened,
butchered, hunted, and fished. I had a very solid background in the wise use of land and its
natural resources, except for our resource of trees.
I graduated fi-om college in 1972, when the environmental movement was beginning to
become prominent. I believed in that movement. I believed in its sincerity and in its
page 2
109
aiguments that our forests and ova air and our water must be protected. When we moved
to Hill City in 1976 for inK*ance, I used a minimum of paper products — no paper towels,
no paper plates, no paper napkins, etc.— in the mistaken belief that I was 'saving trees'.
It was quite a shock to me when Bruce took a job cutting trees. I was not able to talk him
into changing his mind, so I started researching. I wanted to be able to show him how
'morally wrong" his job was. I talked to lifelong Hills residents, I spent hours in libraries,
and I found old written accounts and photos of tiie Black Hills.
The fact that I am sitting here today shows that my research backfired. Instead of learning
about the 'evils' of logging, I learned that we have more trees in this coimtry than we had
100 years ago. I learned that many wildlife species that were on the verge of extinction at
the turn of the century are now flourishing because of the efforts of loggers and himters. I
learned that wood is the most environmentally-safe and cost-effective building material
that we have, that logging has helped to reduce by approximately 90% the amount of trees
lost each year to carbon-spewing wildfires, and that insect and disease infestations have
been dramatically reduced because of the sensible management of our forests, using
logging as the primary tool. I learned that responsible logging can mimic natural processes
to increase the health and the beauty of our forests and to rejuvenate them with young,
vibrant trees that supply our worid with the oxygen we require.
I learned that our National Forest system was created in large part to "furnish a continuous
supply of timber for the use and necessities of the citizens of the United States" (Organic
Act, 1894), and diat the harvesting of timber on these National Forests has actually
increased the amount of timber available for future generations while improving the forest
environment itself I learned that we harvest only about 1/2 of 1% (.5%) of our National
Forests each year. I learned that our forests will be managed — if not by man, with the
page 3
no
benefit of resoiirce use and stable wildlife populations, then by nature with its often
destructive catastrophes.
I became proud that my husband was helping to supply afifordable wood products for our
coimtry while keepnng our forests safe for tny children and their childreiL I am still proud
that my husband is a logger, but for the last five years I have worked almost as hard at
keeping logging alive as my husband has at actually logging.
I hopye that as you came to our area, you were able to witness the extraordinary beauty of
the Black Hills. This is a forest that has been logged for one hundred (100) years without
one plant or animal extinction attributed to the harvest of timber. Pictures taken during
General Custer's expedition show that our forest has grown substantially in size and
increased in health during those years, even though five billion (5,000,000,000) board feet
of timber have been removed to meet the needs of American citizens. The Black Hilk
National Forest, to me, should be the showcase of the natioa
In the last few years, small but very vocal groups of people, whom I term "radical
environmentalists" or "preservationists", have brought so much pressure to bear upon the
Forest Service, both locally and nationally, that this agency, as well as other agencies within
our government, is unfortunately changing to reflect some of these pressures. I believe fliat
some of these preservationists are sincere but shortsighted individuals who have lost the
coimection between resources and products and who believe that a living, growing, dying
forest is instead a static entity that can be preserved much as in a picture postcard. I
believe that many are victims of what I term the 'enviroiunental industry* - a money-making
machine that profits most through broadcasting a 'sky is falling' hysteria. Others are a part
of, and beneficiaries of, the envirotunental industry itself, and I believe that still others arc
page 4
Ill
comprised of a small segment of our society who believes that land and the control of the
land belongs in the hands of our federal govermnent.
Today's preservationists, whether well-meaning or insidious, are negatively affecting tfie
management of our public lands. Often armed with studies conducted on Carribbean
islands and tropical jimgles, they have entered the pubUc arena to falsely state that those of
us who have lived on the land for generations are not caring for it adequately, that we are
for some insane reason determined to destroy our parents' legacy and our children's
heritage. Improvements can certainly be made in any activity, inchiding resource uses.
Improvements in techniques, knowledge, and equipment have been made steadily over 100
years of logging and will continue to be made. Improvement is not, however, the goal of
these activists. Simply stated, their goal is the cessation of aU commercial and motorized
uses of public lands, as well as severe restrictions upon the uses of private lands. The
federal government controls one-third (1/3) of tiie land in this country. Cessation of
traditional uses of these lands will cause economic and environmental devastation.
From the activities of eariy environmentalists and preservationists have come various land
use philosophies. The National Park system was created to preserve truly unique areas in
our country for the enjoyment of people and the protection of wildlife. Then came the
Wilderness system, created to set aside 'pristine' areas for the predominance of natural
processes and to provide settings for nature to be enjoyed in solitude. The Wilderness
system has now grown to encompass ninety (90) million acres. Each of these original
concepts may be worthy, but combined they lock one hundred seventy million
(170,000,000) acres of land away from the production of goods needed by Americans, and
lower local tax bases. More importantly, they remove this vast acreage from the modem
methods of land management which make it possible to keep lands healthy in an ever-
constricting, ever-demanding world.
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112
The withdrawal of vast amounts of land into these systems make it vital ttiat we manage
our National Forests in ways that will maximixe the production of goods, the economic
stability of communities, and the motorized recreational needs of our citizens. For one
hundred years, the Forest Service has been able to manage our National Forests to meet
these needs while still ensining a healthy and perpetual forest I do not believe that we
should change the direction of that management
2. Wilderness Expansion
In my opinion, the Wilderness system has grown much beyond the expectations of even its
own creators. Far from preserving 'pristine' areas, the Wilderness system has become a
land grab' which is now being extended to areas that have been logged, mined, grazed, and
roaded. The local Sierra Club has proposed that fifty-seven thousand (57,000) of such
acres of the Black Hills National Forest be added to the ten thousand (10,000) acres of
legal Wilderness now present. In addition, they request that seventy-four thousand (74,000)
acres of grasslands and badlands be converted to legal Wilderness.
I believe that legal Wilderness poses a threat to itself and to surrounding public and private
lands. These lands are by law left to natural processes, and nature tends to renew forests
through catastrophic methods such as wildfires and infestations. These processes do not
recognize property lines. While these natural processes accomplish the rejuvenation of
forest stands, regrowth takes place at a much slower rate than the regrowth after logging.
The natural processes are more destructive and less selective than logging, they destroy our
precious resource of trees, and they destroy animal habitat. Althou^ the Sierra Club will
contend that infestations and wildfires in Wilderness areas may be fought by technological
and/or mechanical means if necessary to protect surrounding lands, in reality these methods
are very rarely used unless human life is threatened.
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113
The Black Hills were historically managed by wildfire and the mountain pine beetle. There
is no reason to believe that natural management in Wilderness areas would differ, nor that
it would magically spare our forest, or our local residents and visitors, from those
catastrophes. When I first moved here, in 1976, there were few roads that you could drive
without seeing slopes of bug-killed trees. The Forest Service then began a very pro-active
management plan, and because of this management we have not had an uncontrollable
outbreak since that time. I firmly believe that if we slow this type of forest management,
we will return to management by natural destruction. I ask that you remember well the
1988 fires of Yellowstone, which were put out not by man but by snow. Those fires
burned enough timber to meet the needs of this country for three years. That, to me, is a
crime and a shame, and I would not like to see that waste repeated in this area. Logging,
forbidden in Wilderness areas, gives \is healthy trees that are resistant to disease and
infestations, stands where wildfires will bum cooler and slower than in unmanaged
stands, and access roads that enable firefighters to respond quickly.
A substantial part of our local economies depend upon people being able to recreate in
our Forest. Tourists will not drive here to see scorched trees and ground. Neither is
Wilderness beneficial for wildlife. One hundred years ago when natural catastrophes
struck, wildlife could simply move to a different area until their original habitat was
restored. Because of human cities and suburbs, wildlife habitat areas today are restricted.
If their habitat is destroyed, they will be subjected to cruel and unnecessary starvation.
Expansion of the Wilderness system would also mean a tragic loss in the amount of timber
available for products, not just for our generation but for those to come. The growing of
trees for timber is a long-term committment. The seedlings of today will be lumber for my
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114
great-grandchildren. Using the principles of scientific forestry fliat we have learned, and
those that we will discover in the future, we have the capability to dramatically increase the
natural growth of trees. All lands that we lock up today, however, reduces the amount of
usable timber available for those who follow us. In addition, as good timber lands are
locked away, loggers are being forced to use more 'marginal lands' where timber docs not
regenerate as well as possible, also lowering future yields.
We do not have the right to deprive our descendents of affordable shelter and daily
newspapers and abundant forests because we bowed to the pressures of a vocal minority
who believe that resources are to be viewed and not used.
The lack of management in the Norbeck Wildlife Preserve here in the Black Hills
graphically demonstrates the consequences to the forest of 'natural management'. Norbeck
is full of what local preservationists refer to as 'old-growth', a term designed to invoke
visions of magnificent trees. The old-growth in Norbeck instead consists mainly of trees
six inches (6") in diameter, in dense stands that keep trees cramped and stunted. They are
prime candidates for nature's favorite forest renewal methods of wildfire and infestation.
In addition, these dense stands of over-mature, stunted trees keep other vegetation from
growing. Since few animals can subsist upon pine cones and needles, Norbeck has
become somewhat of a local joke~the Wildlife Preserve with no wildlife. The wildfire
danger that it poses, however, to our forest, area residents, campers, and Mount Rushmore
is no laughing matter.
Wilderness is counter-productive to forest health and longevity and to wildlife habitat.
Wilderness does not protect the environment Neither do I believe that we need expansion
for the use of people. Figures indicate that there is very heavy human usage of our Black
Elk Wilderness Area along two specific trails: those leading to Harney Peak. The
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115
outstanding scenic quaKties and the desire of many people to hike to the top of the highest
peak east of the Rockies command the heavy visitation. The remainder of the area does
not show enough use to interfere with the 'soUtude' demanded by the small percentage of
people who leave those trails. Expansion of tiie Wilderness system here cannot, therefore,
be justified even by human needs, and is in fact exclusionary for most people, since it can
only be entered on foot or on horseback.
As in other areas of the West, the federal government owns a large portion of land here,
which means that much of our local tax base is supported by the extraction of products
fi-om our National Forests. Whenever land is withdrawn fi-om production, the burden of
lost tax revenues and the concurrent loss in jobs is devastating to the very local economies
which the Forest Service a century ago pledged to support and stabilize if citizens would
stop opposing the creation of National Forests.
I ask that members of this committee put tfie needs of individuals, small businesses, and
our forest environment ahead of those who would have us padlock federal lands so that the
wealthy and healthy can hike in solitude. When Wilderness lands bum or its trees die fi-om
infestation, these people will go elsewhere for their recreation. Those of us who have
made the Black Hills our home will be left with the aftermath.
3. Black Hill!} National Forest Plan Revision
The Black Hills National Forest Service is now facing the monumental task of revising the
Forest Plan, a document which affects abnost every person in the area as well as the Forest
itself. Many of us— loggers, ranchers, miners, and tourist businesses- depend upon the
Forest and its products or opportunities for our livelihoods. Others use the Forest for its
recreational opportunities, including hunting, fishing, boating, motorized recreation, hiking,
and camping. The National Forest has provided stability to our communities and a
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116
reasonable return of tax dollars to our local treasuries to compensate for the dearth of
private land in our area. The Black Hills National Forest is one of the most intensively -
used National Forests in the country. In the past the Forest Service has done an excellent
job of protecting our access to the Forest, of maximizing the uses of the Forest, and of
protecting the forest enviroimient itself.
We are extremely luck that our ponderosa pine regenerates naturally and prolifically in
shade, eliminating the need for clearcut methods of harvesting. Because we can select cut,
many visitors to the area are imaware that the Hills are logged unless they happen upon a
recently harvested area. Logging has, however, been used as the primary tool to create the
beautiful forest that we have today.
I am very disturbed, then, by indications that our revised Forest Plan may reduce the
amount of timber to be harvested. This is not a National Park, created solely for the
enjoyment of people and the protection of wildlife. It is not a Wilderness area, created for
solitude and naturalness. It is a National Forest, created for 'a continuous supply of timber"
and for a perpetual forest, and dedicated to conmiunity stability. Yet it seems that it, like
many of our other National Forests, is being managed more and more as an old-growth
preserve, a non-motorized recreational preserve, and a wildlife preserve, to the detriment of
sensible forest management
Our wildlife is healthy and populations are a higji levels. There are more elk and turicey in
the Hills now than have been present within living memoiy. Pine marten reintroduction has
been successful Althougji deer populations are not quite at record levels, they are causing
problems by invading lawns in Rapid City and roadsides where grass is prevalent. I believe
that this problem is caused by the state of our Forest, which is currently in a 'cHmax' stage.
There are too few openings, and too many places where the forest canopy is closed,
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117
causing a loss of vegetation. An increase in logging would create a better habitat for our
deer.
I enjoy the wildlife of the Hills, and I especially like seeing deer in ray yard during the
spring and winter months. I believe, however, that the current policy of managing for
wildlife at epidemic levels should be changed and that we should instead manage for
endemic levels. I believe that maximum opportunities should be given to motorized
recreation, which is severely limited in National Parks and unavailable in Wilderness Areas.
I believe that cattle, too, have their roles in our National Forest, especialfy in reducing the
amount of grasses that are subject to fire and in the recycling of nutrients which replaces
the need for fire. I believe most of all that the Forest Service should be actively working to
increase timber sustained-yield levels for the benefit of future generations, managing timber
pro-actively to avoid natural catastrophes, and increasing opportunities for the multiple-
use activities that are now being denied American citizens on many public lands.
4. Conclusion
Many people opposed to logging forget that their homes, their favorite magazines, and
thousands of other products that they use daily are made possible through the harvesting of
tr«es. Most do not realize that these products are affordable because we harvest on public
as well as private lands.
This country has been blessed with near-ideal conditions for the growing of trees. We are
physically and technologically capable of meeting the needs of our citizens for wood
products and of exporting these products to other countries.
Sadly, there are many people today who do not realize the global impacts of reducing our
timber supply. First, of course, is that we lower our export level and increase our itapoit
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118
level, contributing to our trade deficit More importantly, however, we then throw the
burden and responsibility of harvesting timber iqx)n other countries. The United States has
the strictest laws in the worid governing the harvest of timber. The fact that these laws
work is emphasized by ttie increase in trees and forested area and timber volume since the
1930s. Many of the countries fi-om which we wiQ import wood products have no
restrictions upon logging, and many of these countries are poor enough that they will gladly
strip their forests for the American dollar. A refusal to manage our timber lands for
maximum timber production will contribute to the deforestation of other countries, most of
which do not have the technology nor the funds to reforest. This is inexcusable given Ae
fact that the United States has been actively reforesting for decades and is capable of doing
so into infinity.
An article in the Rapid City Journal recently reported that because of fluctuations in the
price and availability of lumber, some home builders are turning to the use of steel beams
instead of 2X4s for home construction. The manufacture and transport of steel takes over
nine (9) times the amoimt of energy as does the similar structural amount of wood. In
addition, neither steel, concrete, nor the petroleum used to make the new 'plastic wood' is
renewable. We cannot grow more. It is also inexcuseable, in my opinion, to replace wood
with nonrenewable resources when we have an evergrowing supply of trees.
I stated earlier that twenty years ago I believed in the environmental movement I believe
that we all support the concept of caring for our enviroiunent We all want clean air and
clean water and healthy plants and animals and lands, and we all want those wonderful
aspects of this great planet to be enjoyed by our descendents. The environmental
movement of twenty years ago, however, is no longer. It has been replaced by the
environmental industry: a multi-million dollar per year industry that has become dependent
upon unfounded hysterics that destroy people and businesses. Witness the "Alar scare"
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119
which tragically and unnecessarily bankrupted many apple growers, the "global wanning
scare" which is now being disproved, "the acid rain scare" which is no longer considered a
threat, and the "mercury in fish scare" which was finally disproved by testing mercury
levels in tissue fi^om fish that lived before &e Industrial Age.
The environmental industry of today uses these 'scare tactics' to raise funds to increase
memberships and to pay the generous (by my standards) salaries of their personnel. Their
tactics and their lobbying unfortunately also have the effects of encouraging government to
acquire more land, taking it away fi-om individuals and off the local tax rolls, of restricting
traditional uses of public lands, and of giving government more control over private land.
Restrictions caused by Wetlands regulations, applications of the Endangered Species Act,
and lawsuits adjudicated by those with little or no natural-resource knowledge are causing
severe economic harm to those whose labor and products have made this country the
strong nation that it is today: our loggers, farmers, ranchers, and miners. Unfortunately, in
most cases these restrictions are not even helping our environment.
I ask Congress to remember that the wealth of a nation is based upon its natural resources,
and that America has an abundance of those resources. It is imperative that we use them
wisely, but use them. Refusing to use them at all will only succeed in lowering the United
States to the economic level of those countries that lack abundant natural resources.
M^^'t
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120
I was not asked to testiiy about the effects of public lands use upon my businesses, but I
would like to add the following written testimony for the record. I own "Andrea's Chain
Saws" in Hill City, which has been severely impacted by the loss of 2 1/2 area mills. We
have added other items, such as mowers, wood splitters, weed trimmers, to our inventoiy,
but even with the expanded prodiict lines our sales are down 10%. Because of that and
because of the cost of the additional products, I have not had a paycheck from "Andrea's
Chain Saws" in over a year.
My husband is a logging contractor who was working for little River Lumber when it went
out of business. The only job he could find was in Montana. My children see their father
only on weekends now. Although his income has not decreased, his costs have drastically
increased. We must maintain two homes, with increased costs of travel and
communication between them. We have also had to increase payments to our
crewmembers so that they can afford to live away from home.
^
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Senator Pressler. Thank you.
John Percevich, owner and operator of Pactola Pines Marina.
STATEMENT OF JOHN PERCEVICH, OWNER AND OPERATOR,
PACTOLA PINES MARINA, RAPID CITY, SD
Mr. Percevich. I'd like to thank you for this opportunity to testi-
fy at this hearing.
I'd also like to reinforce a couple of things I've heard through my
experience. Mr. Honerkamp had stated that the tourist would not
be drawn here by wilderness areas. I speak to thousands of tourists
every year. And one thing they come to the Black Hills for and the
one thing they say when they leave is, "We'll come back because
we can get out in the Black Hills." I have to disagree with Mr. Bra-
demeyer. I don't believe that the tourist will come back if half the
Black Hills are in wilderness areas. They won't come here.
When we speak about tourism in South Dakota, we're talking
about hiking trails. We're talking about backpacking, things of this
sort, but also winter sports such as cross-country skiing, hundreds
of miles of snowmobile trails, and many, many other things. So I'd
just like to reinforce that before I give you my testimony.
I've been a businessman in South Dakota for over 30 years. My
background has been in education, I guess, as a teacher before I
went into business. I was born and raised here. My grandfathers on
both sides were settlers in the Black Hills. Like Tom, I've seen
many, many changes in the Black Hills. From proper timber man-
agement, I have seen things get better.
I've seen it so bad during deer season that you had to hunt for a
track. Now you don't have to do that. We didn't have any Elk in
the Black Hills prior to 1980, I believe. We had them in the eastern
Black Hills, but we didn't have any right here in the Black Hills.
So I think a healthy forest also promotes healthy game conserva-
tion. Since we have started managing the forest, I think we've seen
that here in the Black Hills.
You know, I was raised under the old-fashioned belief that God
put things on this earth for man to use, not to abuse. And I don't
think the forests in the Black Hills have been abused. I would take
exception with the extreme environmentalists that say they have. I
would like to have them take me to an area that they think has
been that abused through proper forest management.
Angle has said, if you do not manage the forest, mother nature's
going to go it. And we've all seen examples of this. I can't imagine
any group, whether extreme environmentalists or not, willing to
say, let's make this a wilderness area. Let it burn instead of man
using it. It does not make good sense. I hope the people in Wash-
ington can also see that.
The one thing I wish to address here that nobody has addressed
is water conservation. Water is our most important natural re-
source. I'm prejudiced. I depend on water at Pactola. I have fought
droughts for 6 years. I've seen many businesses in Rapid City and
outside of Rapid City go bankrupt during those drought periods.
Recreation is a big business. Just in Rapid City or western South
Dakota and eastern Wyoming, during the drought season, we took
a survey and the recreation-related businesses is a 30 million dollar
122
industry. If you take this wilderness area and put it in and take all
the runoff that we would have, it would be disastrous to this west-
ern half of the State and eastern Wyoming also.
There has been a survey done by the University of South Dakota,
South Dakota State University in conjunction with the Soil Conser-
vation Service and the USDA Forest Service. Dr. Robert Gartner
and Keith Wrage have done this survey. I've told Senator Pressler
he can get more information from them. But what they did was to
look at a dense canopy forest — over 60 percent dense canopy and
compared it to an open area in 1993. They found that there was a
28.4 difference in precip that actually hit the ground, 28.4 percent
in precip that hit the ground. If you take this, like Tom said, the
total acreage that's involved in this thing for buffer zones and cor-
ridors and so on, this would be disastrous to the Black Hills. It
would drain Pactola if we had a dry year and Deerfield and Angos-
tura Reservoir, also Belle Fourche Reservoir and Keyhole Reser-
voir. It would be disastrous to the Black Hills area to have this
happen.
We have to look at the report of the drought committee in Rapid
City. They spent thousands and thousands of dollars on this thing,
and they're spending more money on this hydrological research
that Bob Gartner is doing now. We have to use this information to
our advantage. The drought committee said conserve water; Forest
Service, cut and manage and thin timber in the watershed areas of
these reservoirs. We also wanted proper management of our reser-
voirs. These things have to be done, and they have to be done on a
continued basis or we're not going to get the runoff we need to
build these reservoirs. This will not only affect the recreation busi-
ness, it will eventually affect the manufacturing business in Rapid
City and it will affect the agriculture business below Rapid City on
the lower confines of Rapid Creek.
I would urge Congress to take a good look at the appeals system
that we have that is endangering the lumber industry right now in
western South Dakota. But in the long term, we must address
water conservation.
I think the Black Hills National Forest Revision Plan has a lot of
merit, but the one thing I would have Congress look at before they
ever do that, I think there should be a hydrological study done on
the areas that they're recommending for wilderness areas in the
Northern Hills or in the Belle Fourche watershed, because the
Belle Fourche watershed is also very, very important to the Black
Hills area.
I would urge you to go back. Senator Pressler, and do everything
you can to get rid of these frivolous appeals and to come up with
some recommendations that's going to help the economy of this
area instead of hinder the economy of this area.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Percevich follows:]
123
TESTiiviuiN Y risjb^EiNTED
LJ i
JOHN PHRCEVICH
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124
Testimony of Jotrn rcrccvlch. owner and operator of Factola Fines Marina . Rapid Cit>'.
South Dakota.
Betore giving this testimony, I would like to give you a bnef background of my life here
in the Black Hills. I am a Black Hills native, bom in Deadwood and raised on a ranch in
Euglewood. I received my education in Euglewood, Lead, and Black Hills State College.
I have lived here all my life except for a tour of duty in the US Navy in Korea and Japan.
My grandparents on both sides were immigrants from Ireland and Yugoslavia arriving in
the Black Hills in the late 1800's, One of my grandfathers made his living cutting timber
for the mines. My other giandfather worked in the mines in Trojan. My fatlier was a
rancher in hnglewood, worked in the mines in Irojan, and also worked in the timber.
Later in life he sold liis ranch and worked for Homestake Mining Company. He was also
caretaker of about 4000 acres of land owned by Golden Reward Mining Company and
was responsible for the timber management in that area.
I have worked for Homestake Mine, in the timber, was a school teacher for 1 1 years,
owned a drive-in reslaurdnl, operated a ready mix plant, and am presently operating
Pactola Marina. T am giving you this background becaase I believe the future of the
Black Hills should be in the hands of people that respect and love it. These same people
must earn a living while residing here.
Five years ago during the worst part of the drought here in Western South Dakota, T did a
survey of the economic impact the drought liud on small business. In just recreation
related industries in Western South Dakota and Fastem Wyoming, we were looking at a
30 million dollar negative impact due to the lack of water in our reservoirs. If you
looked at the total impact of gas. food, motels and other related tourist industries, the
impact would be tens of millions more.
During this drought many small business in R.apid Cit>' went out of business. How do
you put a dollar value on these businesses tiiat were lost? Duiing this drought the City of
Rapid Citj' appointed committees to study this drought and to come up with some criteria
to alleviate the drought and to prevent it from happening again. Some of the criteria
they established are listed below:
1 . Keep water conservation a top priority even in moist years.
2. Proper timber management of cuuing and thinning in the Western South
Dakota and Eastern Wyoming v.atersheds that fill our reservoirs to attain
maximum runoff of water.
3. Proper management of water by the contracting agencies that control the
water. ( e.g. Bureau of Reclamation.)
There were other criteria set up by the committee but these were the most
important.
125
Tnis decrease in nmorr could t>c disastrous Tor recreation, but could also stall economic
development in Rapid City, and have a negative etiect on agriculture on the lower
coniincs ox Rapia Creek.
There are also 1 7,000 acres located in the Belle Fouche watershed and some in the
Angostura watershed in tiie Sieira Club's proposal. This whole proposal spells disaster
for water conservation and storage in Western South Dakota.
I would appeal to the members of Congress to let the experts in forest management, the
USDA Forest Sei'vice, and private ciiteiprise, manage the Black Hills. These people
reside here, earn their livmg here, and would not jeopardize their children's and
giaudchildren's heritage.
Don't let these organizations compare the Black Ilills to the Rock>- Mountains, the
Cascades or any other mountam region. We are umque m size and annual precipitation.
We need proper timber management, not more wilderness areas.
It is unthinkable to me that the Sierra Club and allies would introduce a South Dakota
Wilderness Bill after the negative reaction their original bill received in Rapid City.
This bill should be called the Out-of-State Interest Bill, because the people of South
Dakota do not endorse this bill. I would hope thai Congress gives ihese people the same
consideration that they gave the people of Western South Dakota They did not listen to
us at all.
Concerning the Black Hills National Forest Revision Plan, w-c sec some forward-thinking
recommendations have been made by committees and professionals. These people have
spent long hours studying the problems.
The proposal in this plan to manage the timber above Pactola Reser\'oir to attain
maximum water yields is commendable. Water is our most imponaut uatuiai resouiee
and the conservation and storage of \\'ater is critical to this area. The USDA Forest
Service should be commended for implementing the following recommendation's to the
drought committee;
1. Maximum flow of forest products. This would maintain oui local timber
economy
2. Their plan also increases back-coimtry recreation, which is commendable. I
deal with thousands of tourists and locals each year and the one thing they
enjoy about the Black Hills is that they are accessible by roads, hikmg,
horseback riding, mountain biking, trail biking, four- wheeling, snowmobiling
and cross-eounLry skimg.
3. The only part of this revision plan I would question is the wilderness area
proposed in the Belle Fouche watershed. I believe before this happens there
should be a hydrologie study to see the eflects of runoff and storage in the
Belle Fouche watershed.
74-343 0-94-5
126
Histor>- docs not teach us much. Already some Rapid City Council members arc
advocating getting rid of water restrictions because our reservoirs are tiill.
Now the Sierra Club is tellmg us we need more wilderness instead ot more timber
management in these watersheds. It seems to me that the Sierra Chib and their allies did
very little homework on this proposal. They do not addiess water cousei-vation and ihc
amounts of water we would lose in our reservoirs if these wilderness areas become a
reality.
Last winter the Siena Club had a public meeting on tlie original wilderness pioposal.
Over 500 people crammed the room at Howard Johnsons and during a three-hour period
waited in line to speak against tlie SieiTa Club's proposal. During the meeting tlie only
people who spoke for the proposal were those who were on the stage. These people on
the stage were all from out of state, except one. In other words, none of these people had
to worry about how to make a livmg here m South Dakou. Dunng ihis meexmg 1 asked
about the hydrologiccil consequences of this proposal. One man's answer was that usually
you did not have to worry aboul thai because snow pack would Iill the reservoirs. 1 gol
this answer after fighting low water in our marina for six pre\Hous years. Great research
by a group ihax should have had this iiuormaxion before making a proposal ihat is so
critical to the people of this area.
T have cr)mpiled some hydrologic tacts on the Pactola Watershed area:
The Sierra Club's proposal includes 14.900 acres of wilderness in the Pactola
watershed area.
Pactola's average precipitation is 20.13 inches per year.
This data was collected at a Pactola study site in 1993:
Precipitation recorded beneath dense pine canopy and in open grassland is as
follows:
Open areas had 22,89 inches of precipitation.
Dense areas had 16.35 inches of precipitation.
This is a difference of 28.4 % of moisture actually getting to the soil.
If moisture does not reach the ground it cannot run off.
There is much more data in this hydrologic stud>'. It was started! in 1990 and is still
ongoing, ihe study is supported by South Dakota Stale Umversily, Umversily of South
Dakota, Soil Consef.'ation Service and the IJSD.A Forest Sen'ice. More information on
this sttidy can be obtained from Dr. F. Roben Ganuer, Professor SDSU, Depx. of Animal
and Range Science or Keith J Wrage, Research Assistant, University of SD, Dept. of
Biology, 414 E. Clark St., Vermillion, South Dakota, 57069.
127
I would hope what I have put down here reaches the eyes of Congress.
In summary, we do not need the South Dakota Wilderness Bill. It will greatly diminish
our efforts to conser/e and store water in ail of our reservoirs in Western South Dakota.
It would be an economic disaster to the recreation iudusuy in diought years. It would be
an economic disaster to the timber industPi' in Western South Dakota and Eastern
Wyoming. It would hamper our iourisi industry by closing off so many areas that they
now enjoy
Since the Black Hills are inhabited for the most part by houses, small ranches, and
cabins, wilderness aieas would present an extreme danger of wildfiies that could destroy
private property and pose a danger to hiunan life.
Please listen. Let the people govern; not pressure groups hidmg behind the word
"environment."
128
Senator Pressler. Thank you very much.
Let me address this question to any of the members of the panel
who want to comment on it. What do you beheve to be an accepted
allowable sale quantity, ASQ, level for the Black Hills, or how
should it be determined?
Ms. Many. Tom should be the one answering this instead of me,
but I think what we would like to see is 120 million. But we cer-
tainly don't want anything over the sustained yield level of the
forest, but we think that the Forest Service should be actively look-
ing for ways to increase the sustained yield level. And we're work-
ing under so many restrictions right now, leaving snag trees, for
instance, but not only leaving snags, leaving potential snags.
There's just more and more areas that are being denied to us and
more and more areas that we're having to not use anymore. And I
think we need some creative thinking by the Forest Service to get
in there and increase the sustained yield in the areas that we can
use.
You know, one of the things that is real disturbing to me, the
Yellowstone fire, for example, burned up enough timber to support
this country's needs for 3 years. It's just gone up in smoke. If we
don't find ways to find the timber here, then we're throwing the
burden on other countries. And most of the other countries that
will send timber to us are poorer countries, and some of them will
literally strip their forests. They'll have no environmental control.
They'll have no funds to replant. We're reforesting here in the
United States. There's no sense in contributing to the deforestation
of other countries. We need to look hard here in our own forests
for ways to find that.
Mr. Brademeyer. The allowable sale quantity should be a ceil-
ing. It's not a target. It has to be determined based on multiple use
requirements, which include wilderness, which include wildlife,
which include recreation, which include water. Timber cannot dic-
tate what they need as an allowable sale quantity. Mechanization
and expansion of mills can absorb any amount taken off of this
area. If you want jobs, you'll have to do it sustainably. And this
whole concept of allowable, demandable sale quantity is where
their problems are coming from. They should be worrying about
utilization of what they're getting rather than burning the top
third of the tree. They should be eliminating waste in the construc-
tion industry. They should be stabilizing small businesses to com-
pete with these out-of-State corporations.
Mr. Troxel. The only thing to add is when we talk about those
numbers — and Angle is right that the number has to be sustain-
able. But in many ways, the timber harvest level is a byproduct of
all the other management objectives. If we manage the forest well
for those other objectives, there will be a good, high, sustainable
level of timber harvest.
The amount of growth right now in the Black Hills National
Forest, I think, is a good comparison because there's a 159 niillion
board feet of timber growing each year. Right now the ASQ is 118
million board feet. And it just seems to me that we ought to be able
to stay close to this same level.
Senator Pressler. On the issue of the appeal process—and here
again, I should mention that I have voted for some Craig amend-
129
ments, which would make it more difficult to just file automatic
appeals. Those amendments have failed. The question is what is
the standard used by the Sierra Club or others in filing these ap-
peals?
Mr. Brademeyer. We assume that when the Congress of the
United States passes a law, they expect it to be obeyed. We assume
that vv^hen the forest plans, State regulations and what they will
maintain for quality on the forest, that they will follow through.
Appeals could be entered tomorrow. The Forest Service would obey
the law. The Congress would direct the Justice Department to en-
force the law.
Senator Pressler. Well, I don't want to get into a debate here,
but I think the appeals process is open and if you feel that there's
something being violated
Mr. Brademeyer. You can file frivolous appeals. There are ap-
peals on small business set aside actually. It's one out-of-State cor-
poration on one side versus another out-of-State corporation on the
other. Anyone can file appeals. If you don't cite violations of the
law, you will not get anywhere.
Senator Pressler. What I'm trying to get to here is how can we,
in a positive way, fix this process so that appeals would be filed
only when there's an actual, substantive objection to a particular
sale? To file an appeal against every proposed sale seems to be an
abuse of process. Maybe the law invites that. If it does, it should be
changed, and we've tried to change it. I'm not trying in any way to
put you down or argue here, but what can we do to improve that
process so that when the Sierra Club has a substantive objec-
tion
Mr. Brademeyer. We have substantive objections. We've been
raising them for 3 years. We haven't got a substantive response.
Have the Forest Service answer the questions.
Senator Pressler. Could I ask what criteria the Sierra Club used
in determining which areas should be considered for the wilderness
proposal?
Mr. Brademeyer. Those required by law, 5,000 acres with rela-
tively unengineered roads in them, which were the only ones in the
Black Hills were those six.
Senator Pressler. Mr. Satrom, The Nature Conservancy, I be-
lieve, owns properties in South Dakota. How are these properties
managed with respect to livestock and watershed, and what are the
long-range goals with respect to placing additional South Dakota
properties under control of The Nature Conservancy?
Mr. Satrom. Well, first of all, we — the buzzword of the hearing is
multiple use, and I've been thinking I suppose a majority of our
larger properties represent multiple use because we have — in addi-
tion to the conservation function of those properties, we do have
generally grazing and in some cases haying contracts. In a number
of our preserves, we also have hunting on a very limited basis — or
a controlled basis, I should say, because they are often small pre-
serves where we feel there is some endangerment of participants.
With respect to our long-term goals, we view ourselves as an or-
ganization that will probably have staff in western South Dakota
within the next several years and have been actively looking at
properties for some time. Perhaps some people here are aware that
130
we were a bidder on the Cascade Creek property that sold to an
out-of-State real estate development firm several years ago in the
southern Black Hills. I think that interest indicates an element
that hasn't been touched on today. Large scale out-of-State real
estate developers will be increasingly interested in the Hills. In
this case they were willing to pay 20 percent over appraised value
for a large tract. The tract had significant rare endangered species
because of the nature of the hot water coming out of Cascade
Springs. We weren't successful in that acquisition, but we will con-
tinue to look for tracts that have rare endangered species. And in
some cases, depending on our organizational development here,
we'll be able to acquire those.
I don't view our organization, though, as real aggressive in that
area until we have a solid data base on what's here, what's rare,
what needs protection.
Senator Pressler. I think John made a good point on water con-
servancy. Do any of you have any comments on that or on what
priority it should have in the Forest Service plan?
Mr. Fort. I would like to comment on that. Senator. I agreed
with that testimony. I think water is one of the biggest issues we
confront here in the Black Hills and in South Dakota in general.
And I think some relooking at the ways water is allocated — of
course, we're actually involved in trying to restore falls in Spear-
fish Canyon and restore water to Spearfish Creek so that it will be
the great trout stream that it could be. We think water issues are
very much going to come to the forefront and that we should be
working on that, sir.
Senator Pressler. That concludes my questions. The record of
this hearing will be open for at least 7 days. You may drop off any
testimony or comments you want included at my office in the
Rushmore Mall or mail it to me in Washington, DC. Also, there
will be a period for public comment once the 10-year Forest Service
plan is proposed.
There would be a 90-day comment period, Mr. Sylva; is that
right?
Mr. Sylva. That's correct.
Senator Pressler. I want to thank our witnesses. I know they
were under very great time constraints today, and all of their com-
ments will be placed in the record.
This has been a very useful hearing for me, and, as I said earlier,
I shall summarize it in a speech on the Senate floor. I would be
happy to send that to anyone who wishes it.
Let me say that these hearings are supposed to be all business
with not too many comments by the Senator. I am supposed to be
listening and collecting information. At the conclusion of this hear-
ing, I've got to go next door and talk to the members of the press
just for a few minutes. Then I'm going to return and be available
here in a more informal manner. I see so many familiar faces in
the audience. I want to greet as many of you as possible.
If some of you have specific cases that you want to talk to me
about, my staff will gather over here in this area. They might start
talking about some of those cases or ideas.
I want to thank all of you again for being here. I'm going to bolt
next door. I'm not leaving. I'm going to come right back. With the
131
reputation of the Senate, if anybody still wants to shake hands
with a Senator, I'll be standing over here. So thank you very much.
I thank the witnesses, each and every one of them. I appreciate
their coming, and thank you all for coming.
[The hearing concluded at 11:35 a.m.]
132
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
THOMAS DASCHLE J'o' LTTsm " "'^^
SOUTH DAKOTA Ahiimcm. SO 67401
(606) 23fr-«823
*:™ Bratd States Senate E?H,,o,
FINANCE (606I34S-7581
INDIAN TwAiRS WASHINGTON. DC 205 1 0-4 1 03
INDIAN AFFAJRS 8 10 SOWTM MlMMMTA AV
VETERANS AFFAIRS p 0. Box 1274
Sioux FxiiJ. SD 67101
(OOBI 334-9696
Statement of Senator Tom Daschle ™ '"" ""'"
Before the Senate Small Business Committee
Rapid City, South Dakota
September 4, 1993
Thank you. Senator Pressler, for inviting me to participate in the Senate Small Business
Committee's field hearing on "Public Land Use Impact on Small Business." I regret that prior
schedule commitments preclude my presence, but I am confident that the testimony you will
receive today will contribute to our joint efforts to promote sustained economic growth and
maintain a healthy environment in the Black Hills.
The topic of this hearing is vitally important, and 1 commend the Committee for holding this forum
to explore it further I also commend the witnesses who will present testimony and the concerned
citizens who have come to hear that testimony.
We have traditionally achieved a good balance in the Black Hills between a variety of uses of our
pubUc lands, including logging, mining, grazing, hunting and fishing, and recreation. It is my
hope that today's proceedings will help strengthen the historic South Dakota commitment to this
miiltiple use philosophy.
I cannot over-emphasize how interested I am in what will be said by the panelists and individual
citizens at this hearing. Their comments will offer Congress and the Administration valuable
direction in the debate over the use of our nation's public lands. While I am in eastern South
Dakota today, Mark Rambow of my Rapid City office is attending this hearing on my behalf, and
he will report back directly to me on the testimony presented.
As Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Agricultural Research,
Conservation, Forestry and General Legislation, I am particularly eager to iieview the final details
of the yet-to-be released Forest Service Revision Plan for the Black Hills National Forest. This
plan will have significant implications for our area, and the Clinton Adminisn^tion has been placed
on notice that we will have constructive comment to offer on their proposal.
Again I want to thank you, Senator Pressler, for holding this hearing, and for allowing the public
the opportunity to have input on the use of their federal lands. I look forward to talking with you
personally about your impression of these proceedings when we both return to Washington next
week.
133
TIM JOHNSON
AGRICULTURE
NATURAL RESOURCES
CongrcsB of the lanited States
»=^ iftODBt of HepresEntatiDes
fDoBhinfiton, ©£ 205)5-11 oj
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TIM JOHNSON
SENATE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE
HEARING ON PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS
SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 4, 1993
HOWARD JOHNSON LODGE, RAPID CITY. SD
I want to thank Senator Pressler and the Senate Small Business Committee for holding this
important field heating to look at and discuss public land use policies and their impact on
small business here in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The management of the Black
Hills National Forest is an important issue in both South Dakota and Wyoming and has a
tremendous impact on many sectors of the local economy. It is important to hear from all
of those sectors of the economy, and the testimony received today should provide
additional insights into the impacts on small business and the environment.
1 look forward to reviewing the testimony of those participating in an effort to better inform
myself as to the impact of public land use on small business. As a member of the House
Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, I have
participated in many hearings, debates and discussions on various public land use policies
and their impacts on both the economy and the environment.
Increasingly, public land management decisions involve finding fair, common-sense
balances between environmental and economic issues. Most of these issues are very
complex and there is no clear answer, so the task is to devise the best possible solution.
The Black Hills have had a long history of settlement and development since the late 1800's
and have been home to logging, sawmills, mining, grazing, recreation, camping, biking,
and tourism ever since. The Black Hills National Forest is also unique in many ways in
comparison to other national forests in the West, including a high number of private
inboldings that creates a checker-board map and various management issues.
THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE WITH RECYCLED FIBERS
AGRICULTURE
NATURAL RESOURCES
134
Congress of the Bnited States
^ouit of 'ReprEsentatiDtB
fDashington, ©£ 205]5-'))o)
The Forest Service is faced with balancing the competing uses of the National Forest and
wiU continue receiving public comment on the direction tlie management plan should move
as the process for updating and revising the 10 year forest plan continues. It is critically
impoitant that anyc»e with an interest in the management of the Black Hills share their
comments with the Forest Service. Forums such as this also provide an excellent
opportunity for elected officials and the Forest Service to hear from interested citizens so
that the full impact of land management decisions can be anticipated as accurately as
possible.
I will continue to work wi& all concerned parties to see to it that the Black Hills are utilized
in a manner which promotes a multiple use concept that provides for a sustainable forest
THIS STATIONERY PRINTED ON PAPER MADE WITH RECYCLED FIBERS
135
WRITTEN STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD OF
FRANK M. GLADICS
VICE PRESIDENT
WESTERN FOREST INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES SENATE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
FIELD HEARINGS
PUBLIC LAND USE IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER 4. 1993
136
I am Frank M. Gladics, Vice President of Western Forest Industries Association (WFIA) located
in Portland, Oregon. WFIA is an association of small independent sawmill owners with
operations in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon,
California, Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Our members depend heavily on
federal lands for their supply of timber. We represent the following companies which have
operations in and around the Black Hills National Forest: (1) Continental Lumber in Hill City;
(2) Neiman Sawmills in Hulett, Wyoming; and until just recently (3) Little River Lumber
Company in Piedmont, South Dakota.
Western Forest Industries Association and its members appreciate the opportunity to describe the
importance of the Black Hills National Forest planning effort, how national forest management
has effects on the small business sawmills, and our views on the preservationists' wilderness plan.
Our testimony and data will focus on those companies which purchase saw timber from the Black
Hills National Forest. Although there are several other forest-products companies in and around
the forest, they purchase small stem material which cannot be made into lumber. It is the lumber
mills that have the most economic impact on the local economies of the cities and towns around
the Black Hills.
Given the timing of the hearing and the limited time allowed for oral statements, we ask that our
written statement be made part of the official record for this hearing.
FOREST PLANNING IN THE BLACK HILLS
Commitments Made By The Forest Service In Past Forest Plans
Over the last twenty years the U.S. Forest Service went from an agency that encouraged
economic development (the construction of sawmills) in the Black Hills, to one that daily sends
signals that they want nothing to do with the sale of timber from the Black Hills. As recently
as the middle 1970's, the Forest Service was telling the forest-products industry that the Black
Hills National Forest had far more timber than mill capacity. The agency made estimates of
137
being able to sell upwards of 180 million board feet of saw timber per year as late as 1975. The
agency begged forest-products companies to locate in the Black Hills. As a result, some
companies did come and many of the existing companies invested heavily to modernize their
operations in order to take advantage of the available federal timber.
In 1983, when the Forest Service completed the forest plan that it now operates under, they
projected an ability to offer 118 MMBF of saw timber and an additional 30 MMBF of post and
pole material for the first five years of the plan; with a commitment during the second five years
of the plan to offer 128 MMBF of saw timber plixs 30 MMBF of post and pole material. Many
companies, including a number small businesses, made substantial investments to modernize their
mills in order to position themselves to be able to compete for the expected 128 MMBF of Forest
Service saw timber.
Several companies including Continental Lumber of Hill City, Neiman Sawmills of Hulett, R.E.
Linde, and Hamms Forest Products all made major investments and modernized their mills in
order to compete with the likes of Pope & Talbot's mill in Spearfish, SD.
The Forest Service recognized this demand in the forest plan in its final environmental impact
statement on page xxxiii, when it indicated "The average annual harvest for 1975-1980 was 102
MMBF, but about 146 MMBF were sold annually in the same period."
By 1988 it was very clear that the Forest Service was failing to meet its commitment to sell 128
MMBF of saw timber, and the agency representatives were beginning to articulate expectations
of reducing the Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) in future forest plan revisions. By this time, the
agency's saw timber offerings were more than one year behind the proposed forest plan. The
plan called for approximately 590 MMBF of saw timber to be sold between 1984 and 1989, and
the agency had only sold approximately 472 MMBF.
Additionally, Forest Supervisor Darrel Kenops told the forest-products industry that the Black
Hills National Forest would not increase saw timber offerings to the 128 MMBF planned for in
the remaining five years of the forest plan.
138
During a meeting to discuss what future saw timber offerings might be, the forest-products
industry was warned that future ASQ's could be reduced to between 100 and 110 MMBF when
the forest-plan revision was complete. During this same meeting. Supervisor Kenops assured the
forest-products industiy that the Black Hills National Forest would offerno less than 118 MMBF
of saw timber until the forest-plan revision was completed.
Now, current Forest Supervisor Roberta Moltin met with the forest-products industry and
indicated the FY 1994 ASQ and funding would only produce 100 MMBF and that the revised
forest plan would recommend a saw-timber level of between 85 to 90 MMBF. Not only has the
Forest Service failed to meet its forest-plan commitments, they have willingly requested budgets
that make it impossible to meet Supervisor Kenops commitment to maintain the 118 MMBF level
until the forest plan is finalized. These shortfalls have had very negative impacts on the ability
of the survival of some small mills The attached list of sawmills operating in the Black Hills
in 1955 compared to those mills currently operating tell part of the story. By the late 1960's
several other small business mills had also been built, including: Garhart & Poole in Spearfish,
Wood Sawmill in Spearfish, Cambria Forest Products in New Castle, Pope & Talbot in Spearfish,
Powder River Forest Products in Osage, Little River Forest Products in Piedmont, Hamms Forest
Products in Rapid City, Potters Mill in Rapid City, Neiman Sawmills in Hulett, McLaughlin
Sawmill in Spearfish, and Continental Lumber in Hill City.
Of these nearly 40 mills, fewer than 10 still survive. In fact, only four are able to purchase saw
timber from the US Forest Service. Of these four, only one. Pope & Talbot with mills in
Spearfish and New Castle, has the capacity to mill 109 MMBF per year according to their 1990
production — as reported in Random Lengths Big Book. It is no wonder that most of the small
business mills have either gone out of business or have been bought out.
Just this last May, Little River Lumber Company made the decision to close its doors. This trend
continues this month with the closure and auction of Hamms Forest Products in Rapid City. I
suggest you stop by the auction scheduled for September 29, it will give you a whole new
4
139
understanding of the devastation faced by a family who put their blood, sweat and tears into their
business, only to discover that the Forest Service found it more convenient to stop selling timber
than to meet the covenant they made with the public in implementing the Black Hills forest plan.
The history of small business in the Black Hills is a story of an uphill battle against fire, hostile
takeovers and sadly, broken promises from an agency that time and time again has ruled in favor
of a few large companies, at the expense of many small family owned mills that used to exist
in the Black Hills.
Today, we stand on the brink of seeing the last of those small family mills driven from business
by the U.S. Forest Service and one or two other companies who also struggle to survive the ever-
changing estimates of how much timber can be produced on the Black Hills National Forest
Since the Black Hills Forest Reserve was established in 1897, the US Forest Service, the forest
industry, and the people of the Black Hills have taken a burned over forest and increased the
number of trees to the point it is today In 1897 the estimated standing timber in the entire forest
of the Black Hills was: saw timber 1.5 billion board feet; other material 13,360,000 cords.'
Since that time, the National Forest has grown to nearly 1.236 million acres (nearly 5% more
land than existed in the previous forest plan) and has the capacity of producing in excess of 1 54
billion board feet of saw timber and post & poles over the 10 year life of the plan Inventories
being completed in preparation for the revision of the forest plan indicate the net growth on the
forest has increased rather than decreased.
Hiis Forest Plan Must Be Open to Public Review
As early as 1989, the Black Hills National Forest had inventory data showing increased volume
on the forest, this would suggest an increase in allowable sale quantity in the forest plan rather
Sawmills of the Black Hills, Martha Linde 1984.
5
140
than the 25% decrease currently projected by the Forest Service. The forest-products industry
has questioned this data more than one time, but has been unable to convince the agency that it
should be reviewed.
Recently, the Governor of South Dakota requested that this inventory data be reviewed by an
independent third party to learn whether or not more timber exists that might be added to the
ASQ. The Forest Service refuses to open their books to an independent review. In this day and
age of politically driven forest planning, the small business men and woman of the Black Hills
cannot afford a forest plan based on perceived political correctness.
We request this Committee intercede with the Secretaiy of Agriculture to ensure the forest-
inventoiy data is reviewed by an independent third party, before the draft forest plan is released.
SMALL BUSINESS FACES AN UPHILL BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL IN THE BLACK HILLS
To understand the demise of small business sawmills in the Black Hills, one must examine: (1)
the tendency of the Forest Service to favor large business over small business; (2) timber-sale
contract hurdles which all purchasers must overcome; and (3) the implications of reduced timber
supply on small business.
The Tendency of the Forest Service to Favor Lai^e Business
"1914, two severe fires destroyed the old mill site of [a] new development because of
this was reported by the Forest Service which stated that, without other mills bidding on
the timber; the Homestake had more or less been promised the timber m the Nemo area
since they had invested considerable money in the Nemo plant and railroad."^
Sawmills of the Black Hills, Martha Linde 1984.
6
141
"The practice of designating certain good blocks of timber to the large mills was followed
again in 1913 with the sale of 145 MMBF in Spring Creek to the Lanphere-Hinrichs
Company which later became the Warren-Lamb Company."'
"By 1924, special favor was once again granted to the Warren-Lamb Company for a
fifteen-year agreement for the especially good timber in the Spring Creek area." .... In
1926, a large sale was awarded to Warren-Lamb Lumber Company for sixty -two million
board feet. The stumpage was set at $6.00\MMBF. Warren-Lamb officials state to the
Forest Service that they could not pay over $3.50\MMBF because of the large investment
they would need. In 1926, they did get the sale for $3.65\MMBF. The Forest Service
officer justified this special treatment on the basis that immediate cutting was needed for
the over-mature timber.""
This special concern for the large sawmills of the Black Hills did not end in the twenties and
thirties. There has been concern about how the small business operators have been treated under
recent Forest Supervisors. While we cannot prove allegations beyond a shadow of a doubt, it
appears that Pope & Talbot has been able to negotiate more favorable solutions to timber-sale
contract disputes compared to how the Forest Service treats purchasers with less financial
resources.
Since the 1970's, the federal government has had a program in place to protect the small business
operations who depend upon federal timber for their survival. In the Black Hills, the small
business share has been reduced in recent years. During periods when the small business set-
aside program is triggered or likely to trigger the Forest Service seems as if they would prefer
the small business program to go away. They consistently use the same excuses of the 1920's,
that some timber must be harvested very quickly and that can only be done by the larger mills.
^ Sawmills of the Black Hills, Martha Linde 1984.
*. Sawmills of the Black Hills, Martha Linde 1984.
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142
Just this year the Black Hills experienced three large blowdowns as a result of micro-bursts
resulting from thunderstorms. Although the Small Business set-aside program was triggered and
the agency knew they would be unable to sell all the set-aside sales they had previously
scheduled, the Forest Supervisor decided the salvage sales would be sold on the open market to
ensure those mills with the greatest capacity could bid on the sale. Some things never seem to
change, when in doubt help the large business mills.
Timber-Sale Contract and Forest Service Policy Discourages Small Purehasere
Over the years, the Forest Service timber-sale contract has become increasingly more difficult to
enter. Not only have they become more costly, the provisions and responsibilities have become
more difficult. Today, any person entering into a timber-sale contract must have two or three
foresters who not only know how to get the logging completed, they must understand the Forest
Service timber-sale contract in a detailed fashion. Even up into the 1970's, the Forest Service
was interested in selling timber and the end-product management that resulted from the sale of
the timber. Today the agency expends a tremendous amount of energy working to ensure each
and every provision of the contract is met. Many times fulfillment of the provision has little to
do with "good forest management" or completion of the logging job at hand, but more to do with
crossing the t's and dotting the i's of the timber-sale contract.
Another trend which has made it increasingly difficult for small business mills in the Black Hills,
is the strategy of using the timber-sale contract to complete all forest management A good
example of this the practice was the strategy of including pre-commercial thinning in the timber-
sale contact. This was practiced in the 1970's and into the early 1980's. It was costly and
difficult for the smaller companies to deal with. Fortunately, below cost timber sales became an
issue, and the Black Hills was embarrassed by its record of being the most below-cost in the
nation. The agency found another way to complete this needed thinning, and stopped including
thinning requirements in the timber-sale contract. However, this has not stopped the agency from
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143
including other work unrelated to the sale of timber in the timber-sale contract. These additions
are expensive and make it difficult for the small mills to purchase the sale.
In recent years, the Forest Service has included pre-haul road maintenance as a requirement of
some contracts. This practice requires a purchaser of timber to complete various road-
maintenance tasks prior to cutting and hauling the timber. Most times the Forest Service includes
work items that have little to do with past logging; rather the road damage has been caused by
recreationists or weather. Sometimes the roads are perfectly useable but the agency engineers
have decided to replace culverts or cattle guard that are old and in disrepair. The front-end
loading of required contract work has two very negative effects. First, it delays the time when
a purchaser can bring in logs to convert them to lumber and therefore revenue; second, it costs
the purchaser up-front money they many need for other projects.
This is not the only contractual practice that unfairly impacts the smaller companies The entire
financial security portion of a Forest Service timber-sale contract is very costly and disadvantages
the few remaining small business operators. Federal timber sale contracts require the purchaser
to make: (1) a 10% bid guarantee which is held until 25% of the value of the sale has been
logged; (2) a 10% performance guarantee equal to 10% of the total bid value of the sale which
is held until the end of the sale; (3) deposit funds equal to 70 days worth of harvesting before
harvesting can begin. Then the agency requires a mid-point payment equal to 50% of the sale
value and an additional interim payment worth 25% of total sale value, due three-fourths of the
way through the contract.
The adverse effect of these requirements is compounded by the fact that most large business mills
have enough financial backing that they are able to purchase bonds which are accepted in leu of
cash. The larger the company, the less the cost of the bonds Some of the larger companies, like
Pope & Talbot, purchase performance bonds for pennies on the dollar. Payment bonds are
funded through the sale of stocks and bonds, and typically a large business's cost of payment
bonds is three to four percent less than banks can offer the small business purchaser.
144
Meanwhile, the small business mills are forced to pay cash or produce an irrevocable letter of
credit from their bank. In order to get such a letter, the small mill must either sign over
collateral of equal value or deposit cash of equal value in the bank.
The combination of up-front contracts costs and up-front field requirements is compounded by
the formal p^erwork required by a Forest Service contract. Finally, this is all complicated by
contractual timing requirements for wildlife mitigation that limit logging for as much as six
months of the year.
Another practice of the Forest Service is to appraise timber to be sold to towns where lumber
mills no longer exist. This allows the agency to reduce the haul-cost allowance made in the
timber-sale appraisal. An example of this is the two year old practice of appraising timber sales
to the town of Custer, SD where no high capacity mills remain. When WTD sold out to Pope
& Talbot m 1991, and the mill was auctioned off, certain timber sales, due to their size and the
time allowed for logging, should have no longer been appraised to Custer, SD.
The next closest mill site to Custer that is capable of manufacturing the sale volume in the time
allowed, is the Hill City concern of Continental Lumber. The refusal of the Forest Service to
drop Custer as an appraisal point, costs whoever purchases the sale an additional $2.50\MMBF.
For the small business mill, this could make a difference in whether or not the sale is purchased.
Companies with a limited amount of capital cannot afford to purchase more than one or two
small sales at a time. These constrains impair the flexibility of most small sawmills in the Black
Hills. Most have simply given up on the Forest Service as a viable source of timber. We are
down to three small business mills which have the financial ability to participate. One of these
mills, McLaughlin's Sawmill from Spearfish is directly tied to the Pope & Talbot operations,
since it is the McLaughlin's mill which provides mine timbers for the Homestake Mining
Operation. Under the agreement Pope & Talbot made with Homestake Mining Company when
they purchased the Spearfish sawmill. Pope & Talbot committed to provide mine timber to the
Homestake Mine. This is not a high profit venture, and Pope & Talbot subcontracted with the
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145
McLaughlin Mill. Thus, smne doubt exists related to McLaughlin's ability to independently act
in the open market.
Timber Supply Adversely Affects Small Business Operators
During the 1960's and 70's, the Black Hills National Forest encouraged purchasers to hold large
amounts of timber under contract. This added stability for companies and a comfort level for any
banker asked to loan money to the sawmills.
During the middle 1980's Federal managers decided that less volume under contract would help
increase the price paid for Federal timber, and began efforts to reduce volume under contract.
They encouraged the harvest of this timber and shortened the timber-sale contract life to reduce
the volume under contract held by most companies. Additionally, they reduced the amount of
timber being sold on the Black Hills. As a result prices jumped dramatically as did
downpayment and other financial security requirements. Today it is not uncommon for the Forest
Service to demand a $200,000 to $300,000 up-front payment simply to be allowed to bid on a
timber sale. The total deposits required for a 5 to 10 MMBF timber sale can be as high as a
million dollars or more
This situation is exacerbated by the Agency's failure to meter out the timber sales over the twelve
months in the year. This year is a very good example, most of the volume sold on the Black
Hills will be sold in the fourth quarter. It is incredibly difficult for a small business purchaser
to find adequate financing to cover the up-front costs of eight to ten large timber sales. Thus,
the small business mills are forced to purchase the set-aside sales before even considering
competing for the large open sales. The practice of loading up sales in the fourth quarter only
benefits those with blanket-payment bonds As stated earlier, it is very difficult for small
business mills to purchase payment or performance bonds.
Even though clear demand exists for timber volumes sold off the Black Hills National Forest, the
Forest Service continues to reduce timber-sale levels on the Black Hills. This factor alone has
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146
driven more mills away from Forest Service timber sales. Price are driven up, contractual
requirements become more onerous, and the small business mills are either driven out of business
or they give up purchasing federal timber.
All along the Forest Service has displayed an almost paranoid fixation related to fair and open
competition. In the late 1980's, after the liquidation by Pope & Talbot of the Garhart & Poole
mill in Spearfish, the Forest Service initiated an anti-trust investigation against many of the small
mills in the Black Hills. Policy was changed to require sealed bid only timber sales and
company records of all Black Hills mills were requested as part of a Justice Department anti-trust
investigation. After two years, the Justice Department dropped the investigation without bringing
any charges of wrong-doing.
During this same time period, three mills were purchased and auctioned off by Pope & Talbot,
and one other was purchased that remains a Pope & Talbot operation today.
It is important to remember that all this happened during a period of raising lumber markets.
None of these closures can be blamed on widespread adverse market conditions. The lumber
market during this period has continued to improve. Although some of these companies may had
been weakened by the timber market crash of the late 1970's, most had recovered and were
extremely competitive in the mid-eighties before the Forest Service either knowingly decided to
exterminate the small business mills in the Black Hills, or unknowingly bungled their
responsibility to maintain community stability while encouraging fair and open competition for
products sold off the National Forest.
ADDITIONAL WILDERNESS IS NOT NEEDED AND WOULD ADVERSELY AFFECT
FOREST HEALTH
To understand the Black Hills National Forest, one must understand the pre-settlement conditions
which existed on the Black Hills, the cyclical nature of catastrophic fire and insect epidemic, and
review public use of the existing wilderness areas, including the Norbeck Wildlife area.
12
147
Through our desire to control fires in the Black Hills, man has drastically altered the very nature
of the Black Hills. Our successful efforts to control fires has allowed the most wealthy western
South Dakotan's to build recreational and primary residences within the confines of the Black
Hills National Forest. Part of the successful fire prevention program lies in the ability to harvest
timber overstocked and decedent stands of timber within the forest. Another part has been the
excellent transportation system which was paid for through the sale of saw timber in the forest.
The forest health situation is complicated by the presence of the mountain pine beetle which grow
to epidemic proportions every seven years on average. The Black Hills National Forest has done
an excellent job of controlling these pests through the timely application of timber salvage sales.
At the very least, additional wilderness would make this job more difficult.
Although you can expect the preservationists to say they do not oppose harvesting insect
infestations, the additional land set-asides make it very unlikely that such treatment will be
carried out. Quite simply, the health of the Black Hills National Forest, the millions of additional
board feet of timber which is now produced, the hundreds, even thousands of additional deer, elk,
and turkeys which inhabit the Black Hills would not exist if aggressive timber management had
not been practiced on this forest.
More wilderness would simply set-aside more acres that would make fire fighting more difficult
due to lack of road access. If the mountain pine beetle continue their cyclical attacks on the
Black Hills, the new wildreness areas will serve as isolated infection courts, and could result in
large portions of the forest being killed or damaged by the insects.
Current public use of the existing wilderness areas is very low as compared to the general
dispersed recreational use of the forest. In the Norbeck, the functional equivalent of a wilderness,
the only use which occurs is on two trails which lead into the Harney Peak Area. Why if use
is so limited and the wilderness attributes being so low, would the preservationists want
additional \\ildemess? We suspect it is because they do not want logging, mining or tourism to
survive in the Black Hills.
13
148
Further, we do not believe Congress will include legal assurances in any wilderness bill to
guarantee the future timber-sale programs will be sold. The traditional wilderness release
language found in so many other wilderness bills have proven to be worthless. The end result
is that the preservationists take every opportunity to propose more and more wilderness. Unless,
and until. Congress develops wilderness release language that truly releases multiple-use lands
for future management. Western Forest Industries Association and our members vehemently
oppose any additional wilderness in the Black Hills.
THE IMPUCATIONS OF REDUCED TIMBER SUPPLY ON SMALL BUSINESS
The implications are that fewer mills exist today than in any other time during this century, and
more are lost each year. If the trend is not reversed we will be down to two small business mills
that will be able to compete for federal timber, and a handfull of others who refuse to do business
with the Forest Service.
A careful examination of the closures and purchases of small mills over the last five years is very
revealing.
1987 Pope & Talbot, Inc. buys out Garhart & Poole of Spearfish, SD.
1988 - 1989 Hamms Forest Products, R.E. Linde, Morgan Sawmills, Newburg Sawmills, and
Wheeler Consolidate all finish their last Forest Service sales and make it known
they could no longer afford to purchase Forest Service timber.
1989 Pope & Talbot, Inc purchases Cambria Forest Products in New Castle WY and
continues to operate the mill today. Neiman Sawmills purchases Johnson Sawmill
of Hulett after the Forest Service refuses to forgive default claims against Johnson
Sawmill, despite the owners having declared bankruptcy.
14
149
1989 Custer Lumber of Custer, SD sells out to WDT Industries, a large business
concern from Portland, Oregon.
1990 Pope & Talbot, Inc. purchases Powder River Sawmills and liquidates the sawmill.
1990 Pope & Talbot, Inc. purchases WTD's Custer mill and liquidates the mill.
1990 Potters Mill of Rapid City stops operations and is liquidated
1992 Little River Lumber Co. of Piedmont, SD closes down and sells its assets to
Continental Lumber Company. Piedmont mill is scheduled to be auctioned off.
1992 Hamms Forest Products shuts down and announces a September mill auction will
be held.
At present there are only three sawmill companies that appear to have the ability and desire to
purchase Black Hills. These are Pope & Talbot, a large business mill with operations in
Washington state, Canada, Spearfish and New Castle, South Dakota; Continental Lumber
Company, with operations in Hill City, and Neiman Sawmills with operations in Hulett,
Wyoming.
One of these companies has only three months volume under contract and will not survive the
winter unless the Forest Service sells all of its 1993 program and meets Supervisor Kenops
commitment from 1989 of selling 118 million board feet of saw timber until the forest plan
revision is completed.
The Forest Service, with its program to increase the value of volume sold off the Forest, is
indirectly responsible for the demise of at least eight small business sawmills in the last six years.
Pope & Talbot, Inc. was directly involved in purchasing five of these mills.
15
150
If the Forest Service truly wants to meet its charge of maintaining community stability, they
certainly have found ways not to succeed. Is Pope & Talbot, Inc. at fault for buying out so many
mills? No! The blame lies with the Forest Service for weakening these mills to the point that
they could no longer compete for federal timber.
The Forest Service's pricing and sale policies have been directly responsible for the demise of
eight mills. The agency has already reduced competition for its future sales by over 75% over
the last six years. Now the agency is suggesting it will reduce the saw timber ASQ in the next
forest plan down to 80 MMBF. That could very well drive the remaining two small business
mills, which still have the where-with-all to participate in Forest Service sales, out of business.
At that point, one large business mill will remain and dictate prices the Forest Service receives
for its timber. The Black Hills will become a defacto federal sustained yield unit for Pope &
Talbot, Inc., not because Pope & Talbot, Inc. conspired to drive everyone else out of business,
but because the Forest Service, through its misguided management strategies, weakened the small
business purchasers to the point they could not survive.
The losers in this process are the small communities of Custer, Pringle, Hill City, Keystone,
Sturgis, Spearfish, Hulett, Deadwood, Piedmount, Sun Dance, Belle Fouche and Whitewood to
name a few, and the employees and families that depended on the small sawmills for their living.
The irony is that the Forest Service has more employees in the Black Hills than almost any other
time in history, and they have high paying secure jobs. Most of these employees have little or
no feelings of remorse for the demise of the small business mills in the Black Hills. They would
just as-soon sell timber to one company as six or eight, or forty, like those that existed around
1960. And most feel it is terribly important that seven district rangers offices are maintained
because: as Barrel Kenops put it when he first told the industry that the next forest plan would
reduce the ASQ by fifteen to twenty percent, "our district offices are key to the community
stability of the small town in which they exist, and our salaries are important to the economic
stability of these towns".
16
151
CONCLUSION
If this Committee is truly interested in maintaining the small business forest-products companies
in the Black Hills, then it is critical that it support a fmal forest plan that will meet the demands
of the existing forest-products industry. Since a legitimate difference of opinion on the quality
of data being used to develop the Forest Plan exists, we request this committee intercede on
behalf of the small business operators, and convince the Forest Service to open their planning
records for review. The survival of both small and large sawmills within the Black Hills does
not hinge on more wilderness or fancy programs to reduce the procedural blockades of the current
timber-sale contract, it hinges on an adequate, consistent and dependable supply of timber from
the forest which is predicated on what the land can produce, not what the agency thinks is
politically correct or acceptable.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
17
152
Sawmills of the Black Hills
1950 & 1960
Name
Town
Current Status
Amio Lumber Co.
Herman Lumber Co.
Boggs Sawmill
Boise Cascade Corp.
Buckingham Wood Prod.
Cambria Forest Prod.
Louisiana-Pacific Corp.
Cambria Forest Prod.
Pope & Talbot Inc.
Custer Lumber Co.
Cimarron Lumber Co.
J.U. Dickson Sawmill
Fall Brothers Sawmill
Four-Mile Post & Pole
Garhart & Poole Sawmill
Hamms Sawmill
Harry Grams Sawmill
Hart Brothers Sawmill
Hill City Lumber
Deadwood, SD
New Castle, WY
Pringle. SD
Osage, WY
Rapid City, SD
New Castle, SD
New Castle, SD
New Castle, SD
New Castle, SD
Custer, SD
Custer, SD
Sturgis, SD
Sundance, SD
Custer, SD
Spearfish, SD
Rapid City, SD
Sturgis, SD
Sundance, SD
Hill City, SD
Homestake Mining Co.
Johnson Sawmill
Harry Linde Sawmill
John Linde Sawmill
R.E. Linde Sawmill
Little River Lumber Co.
McLaughlin Sawmills
Miller & Son Sawmill
Morgan Sawmill
Montgomery Sawmill
Newberg Lumber Co.
Nieman Sawmills
Northwest Wood Preserving
O'Conner Lumber Co.
Payton Sawmill
Potters Sawmill
Lead & Spearfish, SD
Hulett, WY
Keystone, WY
Keystone, WY
Custer, SD
Piedmont, SD
Spearfish, SD
Spearfish, SD
Pringle, SD
Belle Fourche.SD
Custer, SD
Hulett, SD
Deadwood, SD
Custer, SD
East Rapid City, SD
Rapid City, SD
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
Purchased by Louisiana-Pacific
Sold back to Cambria
Sold to Pope & Talbot
Purchaser of FS saw timber
Purchased by WTD (large business)
closed - liquidated
burned & closed
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
Purchased by Pope & Talbot -
liquidated
closed - liquidated
open - does not purchase FS sales
closed - liquidated
open - one of three small business
mills that continues to purchase FS
saw timber
Sold to Pope & Talbot Inc.
Bankrupt - acquired by Nieman
Sawmills
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
open - does not purchase FS sales
Sold to Continental - liquidated
open - does purchase FS saw timber
closed - liquidated
open - does not purchase FS sales
closed - liquidated
open - will not purchase FS sales
open - does purchase FS saw timber
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
18
153
Pope & Talbot Inc.
Powder River Lumber Co.
Don Reed Sawmill
Jack Richtman Sawmill
Paul Rosse Sawmill
L.W. Sanders Sawmill
Glen Vending Sawmill
Southern Hills Lumber Co.
Warren-Lamb Lumber Co.
Wheeler Consolidated
Spearfish, SD
Osage, WY
Pringle, SD
Custer, SD
Custer, SD
Custer, SD
Custer, SD
Custer, SD
Rapid City, SD
Whitewood, SD
Whitewood Lumber Co Whitewood, SD
Whitewood Post & Pole Co.Whitewood, SD
Wood Sawmill
WTD Sawmill
Spearfish, SD
Custer, SD
open - does purchase FS saw timber
closed - purchased by Pope & Talbot
- liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
closed - liquidated
open - will not purchase FS saw
timber
closed - liquidated
open - does not purchase FS saw
timber
burned down - never reopened
Sold to Pope & Talbot - liquidated
19
154
BELLE FOURCHE IRRIGATION DISTRICT
PHONE 605-456-2541
P.O. BOX 225
NEWELL. SOUTH DAKOTA 57760
September 4. 1993
The Honorable Larry Pressler
US Senate
Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee
To: Senator Pressler and Members of the Committee
Subject: Testimony regarding the issues surrounding public land
use, especially the wilderness proposals offered by the
Black Hills Sierra Club
My name is Jim Winterton. I am the project manager of the Belle
Fourche Irrigation District. I am a registered Professional
Engineer in South Dakota. My background includes working 15
years for the State of South Dakota, Department of Water and
Natural Resources prior to being renamed "Department of
Environment and Natural Resources". Twelve years were with the
Department in the Division of Water Rights. I was the head
engineer in charge of determining surface water supplies that
were available for issuing water permits. I am very well aware
of the limited surface water supplies in the Black Hills Area.
The Belle Fourche Irrigation District is in Newell, SD. The
District provides irrigation water service to approximately 350
water users on 57,000 acres of land. The Belle Fourche Project
was constructed beginning in 1905. The Belle Fourche Reservoir,
which stores water during the off season, depends on the flows of
the Redwater River, Belle Fourche River and their tributaries.
The flows of the rivers have not been adequate during recent
years to provide the volume necessary to provide for full
irrigation of the lands. This has been the case also for many of
the past years. The water year of 1993 has been an exception to
the rule where we have adequate water supplies.
The District is concerned about the possible decreased yield of
the Northern Black Hills and Bear Lodge watersheds if areas are
designated Wilderness. I believe that it could prohibit good
tree management of the watershed areas. All studies that I have
read indicate a significant decrease in water yield when forests
are not periodically thinned and cleared of the debris.
The USDA Forest service has published most of the information
regarding water yield characteristics in the Black Hills. The
Forest Service studies show a significant increase of water yield
in forested areas which are thinned. A forest can be over
stocked with trees all competing for a limited water supply. The
155
Senator Pressler and Members of the Cominittee
September 4, 1993
Page 2
studies indicate that a significant amount of the snow falling on
a forest is intercepted by the Ponderoea Pine and is then lost to
the atmosphere through evaporation and sublimation.
Good management in the Black Hills Forests which includes
periodic thinning will maintain water yield. Allowing large
areas of dense old growth and new growth trees will increase
evapotransporation, will increase interception of moisture and
reduce stream flows.
As manager of the Belle Fourche Irrigation District, I have to be
concerned for stream flows. If the water yield of one of our
watersheds is reduced by only 1 inch over 100,000 acres; this
would result in a reduction of 8, 300 acre feet of water. Enough
water to irrigate 5, 000 acres of land with 12 inches of water at
the field.
The original Black Hills had much less forest than it does now.
This is apparent by the water supplies that were available 85
years ago compared to that which is available now. The Belle
Fourche Irrigation District had a more dependable source of water
than at present. The District is now going through a $50,000,000
rehabilitation program to help conserve water within the project.
A water conservation plan has been instituted and submitted to
the Bureau of Reclamation. This must be updated every 5 years.
Therefore, the District would object to establishing a Wilderness
Area that could reduce the available water supplies without a
very thorough Environmental Impact Study that would address the
water supply situation. Any establishment of a Wilderness Area
that would reduce water supplies in the drainage area and that
could have an adverse impact on existing water appropriations
must provide a corresponding increase in water yield in another
area of that drainage area.
The Irrigation District asks you to study the information put out
by the Forest Service regarding the need for proper management of
the forested areas in order to reap the greatest overall benefits
of the forest lands. The District also hopes that you will seek
our comments on any actions that may be taken. Thank you.
Sincerely,
e9iJ.,j^z^
James E. Winterton, P. E.
Project Manger, Belle Fourche Irrigation District
156
August 26, 1993
Ifonard Bertson
HC 56 Box 65A
Oral, SD 57766
The Honorable I^rry Pressler
United States Senate
Vteshington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Pressler,
In response to your invitation to provide some written testimony on "Public land
Use Inpact On Shiall Business".
Without using numbers and statistics that can vary by the very nature of the study
or the research that was done to generate the numbers, I would say common sense
tells us that increased user fees or regulations that cost more to live up to,
will cause businesses to go out of business. This, then puts that person
and his enployees, if any, on the unertployment list and maybe also on the
welfare roll.
I believe that using conmon sense and putting people's livelihood first in man-
aging our country would certainly have better results.
t4y siitple analysis says that, as costs and regulations increase on anything, the
use of that item decreases, therefore decreasing the revenue, vrfiich ends up
putting that business out of business or starting the circle over again. This
seems to be trend more often than not.
This is what I see happening on the Public I^Jids and the businesses that are
dependent on these lands. I heard Secretary Babbitt say fees should be raised
on National Parks, which starts the circle.
I believe 95% of the public, be they users or non users, are good stewards of
the lands. The ertphasis should be put on training and policing the 5%, not
making it more difficult for the 95% to respond to a 5% problem.
This is my perception of our problem, which leads to the impact on Small
and all businesses.
Sincerely,
leonard Benson
157
Testimony of: Continental Lumber Co. Inc.
(a small business)
P.O. Box 619
Hill City, SD 57745
Small Business Committee
U.S. Senate
Public Land Use Impact on Small Business
September A, 1993
Rapid City, South Dakota
74-343 0-94-6
158
Continental Lumber Co. Inc. is a legitimate small business entity located
in the heart of the Black Hills of South Dakota, just east of Hill City, six
miles north-west of Mt. Rushmore.
Continental purchased our current location and an antiquated sawmill in
1983. Beginning in 1985, and over a five year period, we completely re-built
and renovated to achieve a modern, state-of-the-art lumber manufacturing
facility. Currently we employ 86 full time employees plus provide employment
for another 40 contractors - loggers, log haulers, road builders, chip, shaving,
sawdust, and bark, haulers, and lumber haulers. We operate on a gross budget
of approximately $20 million dollars annually.
Being located in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest, the future
of our operation, our employees, and the surrounding rural area is wholly
dependent on Public Land resources, laws, regulations, and management philosophies.
At this particular point in time, that is not a particularly re-assuring
reality when assessing our long term potential and hopes for the future.
We support, encourage and need a continued A.S.Q. from the Black Hills
National Forest of at least 118 mmbf.
When we began our investment and modernization program in 1985, we based
our business plan on an assured supply of Forest Service timber in the amount
of 128 mmbf (million board feet) per year. Before construction was complete
that volume dropped to 118 mmbf. Several months ago the Black Hills Forest
Supervisor announced a further reduction to 100 mmbf for fiscal year 1994. And
now, preliminary estimates of future resource supply are + 85 mmbf - a loss
of one-third of the total program. All this reduction is coming at a time
when Forest timber growth is in excess of 150 mmbf /year!
An unnecessary reduction by 30% of available raw material has an adverse
impact on all operations in the area. The most severe impact, however, is
on the smaller mills which are not diversified, have no other available raw
material, and do not have other operations to subsidize one through tough times.
We do not support, and are adamently against, designation of any futher
Wilderness areas.
The Black Hills National Forest has increased visitors, deer, elk, turkeys,
and a variety of other wildlife due to the diversity of a 100 years of wise
management. The only areas showing decreases in numbers are the existing Black
Elk Wilderness and the Norbeck Wildlife Reserve which has been precluded from
management by countless frlvilous appeals over the last five to ten years.
We support more reasonable and realistic cash and bonding requirements
for small business concerns.
The cash and bonding requirements for bidding, executing, and bonding
Federal timber sales have progressively become more prohibitive over the last
ten years. Average sales routinely require in excess of a quarter million
dollars in cash, letter of credit, or bonding. Larger offerings run in excess
of half million dollars. This seriously depletes cash flow and balance sheets,
detours cash and credit from facility improvements, and receives no interest
from the Forest Service for the time it is held.
159
We support a timber appraisal system which is fair to all purchasers
and the Government .
The current T.E.A. (Transaction Evidence Appraisal) system in use in
USPS Region II has been subject to gerry mandering and arbitrary interpretation
by Regional Forest Service officials. This has resulted in improper appraised
rates and a upward ratcheting effect on timber prices. We need and support
a reasonable, simple, and sensible appraisal system which will allow legitimate
competition to determine fair market rates.
Another Item related to timber sale appraisals is the manufacturing
point to which timber is appraised. Traditionally the Forest Service has
appraised timber sales to the nearest operation facility with reasonable
capability and capacity to manufacture the quantity being offered. Recently
Regional Forest Officers have arbitrarily designated appraisal points which
have no f acilitles-merely to force a higher than proper appraised rate. Two
speclTTc examples of this situation are the use of Kremmllng, Colorado and
Custer, South Dakota, As appraisal points when neither have facilities capable
of handling Forest Service sales.
Continental Lumber Co. Inc. appreciates the opportunity to enter these
comments in the Record. If indeed the Government cares about the Small Business
community, it must help instead of hinder the overall climate in which we
operate and try to survive.
Maurice Williams
General Manager
160
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
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T/wwit yow for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are impot
and will be made part of the Official Record of today's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call(202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
161
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162
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Street: Hy^X tT ^/m^/-^
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Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
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163
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164
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: kl/lliat^ k'e.tr-/ City/Zip:
Street: //C 76 iPJaj /6>'f- Occupation: Oiii-y^rmef
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I Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
165
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166
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: (L& Lo^^^ Citv/Zip: dA^.A^ .^miJ
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and will be made part of the Official Record of today's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call(202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
167
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pnin^l repourc-e upers returnei" to the wlli^l^fe. »-rh yenr. 0>.*-0 "tAjz^^txA '-^^'Ec-tCL
Mon^ I eprn from trpnning hps elven iiv fp^Hv p fe?? e^trps eech yepr end
pllc^et^ ne to send rnoney to the Red urosp end other orppniyatlons helnlng neonle.
Since "ly hupbpnd hPs retlret", taxes pnd the copt ^f living (wk'gone up. We now
need the income from my trsnnlnp for living.
Please, heln up nersupde your colleeeuep to atoo voting In fnvor of a s-nall
segment of the nonulatlon who cpII themaelvea environmentalists and pnlmpl
rights grounp who, through ignorance, religion, hptrei*, "r Inspnlty wish to
wine the human species from the earth:
Teddy Roosevelt set aside en'^ugh wUilemess for -lltlme. No more wlldemesp;
Ihanlc you.
J.O.
168
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commltee on Small Business
Senator Lairy Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: Maurice Brown City/Zip- Rapid City SD 57709
Street: p. o. Box 241 Occupation:.
Phone loptional): 342-0114.
I have never been involved in the timber indtostry, but as a Black Hills
resident neither can I ignore its plight or the part it plays in our economy. I
have a very persorwl interest which came about in two ways.
1. We were among those that had to evacuate their homes due to the West
Berry fire a few years ago. We were fortunate to have an undamaged home
and environment to return to but the lessons learned, of the dangers posed by
dense, unbroken pine forests will not be soon forgotten.
2. A family who I know well, Barry and Judy Boyer and their two children
moved to Custer SD a few years ago and purchased a home. Barry was nicely
established with a sawmill when the sawmill shut down. He was fortvmate to
be able to get a job with the Little River sawmill at Piedmont. The commute
from Custer was a long one so they sold their home in Custer (on a distressed
market) and purchased one close to Little River. Then, before long Little
River shut down. The Boyers now live in Cheyenne, Wyoming,
(continued)
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224^485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
169
(Miurice Brawn catnment» on Timbet Policy continued)
Kfy pernecttve it that tustoiiwd timber yield, once the itumbers ore eetab-
Ufihtti ■houM be ti)B hl^uat priority. II is not my intent here tn detract from
tfie importance or lagiboitcy of other 'multiple usen^ but rather, that I see
little conflict between Buflta^ied yield and other forest usee. 77i< amtual cut
aunM tw M a r8tMi^-af*tf(«*jP«8'' })asia, with greet core being taken to avokl
the "yo-yc/* nattare of tiinber s^s in recent ytmrs due to frivolous appeals, etc.
This is just too hard on people like the Boysn and to timber related anter-
pcisee {and their bankazv) who need to be able to depend on their livelihood
being there next year and to plan and to make thoir financial axrangementB
according^.
The U»Hmon\f Mkattd fhatfiuimeing was an espedatty
tatigh prohltmfor tmall husineasei in tite timber industry,
mi widergtandably to, lu no lender wants to make » loan
whm tfte borrower is faced witfi the Ukelihood of being cut
afffnm Mj on/y lource offundt to repay tint loanl
Oar coqMrinux with the Wes&erry Are indicates that an important part of
forest planxdng should be to create a system of fire breaks throughout the
fitvest It is evident that widx the light combination of drcumstancea mQ9t of
Hu BlukBUltfontt eould be lott to fire in a siugle iisattroui season. Fire-
breaks oould be created by a combinatton of logging (even small stale dear
cuttina in certain cases) and controlled bunut. Tliese firebreaks need not be
stndght swaths through the forest but rather could be meandering lines, wide
here, nanow over thoe, etc resembling thu patterns created by wildfires,
creating a pleasing esthetic effect in the process and protecting us all as well as
protecting our tlinber resources from the depredation of wildfires.
170
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: /^Oi/^^awj L. De--K>^ \ S City/Zip: hh^J^^^^UJc^ •
Street: ' 'sko ^.XZ^.r, nil^r^^.>yv^ RrA OccupationT Cm..-;:^ <U.^jLi^
Phone (optional): 3 q? ~t<- 1 -^^H^
^UJ^
T/wni: yow /or submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call(202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
171
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: Le,0^c<.^iL K'\t^4^ City/Zip: Kt^^r^rO^ Tp £-7757
Street: ^Cg"? ^-^6^1^- Occupation: f^ c^ . .^^ <^
Phone (nptinnalY rKo^]^-'^- 2X7:^
e^-W v/ r ^o ^ ,t,OL..o(--? / <5'o^'='K/^ -(^ CCyO pz-^ ( 4-^v^^t-* ^"i-I^S
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
172
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Piessler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: Tq /^^-i I'S^/'ja. Citv/Zip: /// / / (j.///. ■$/>.
Street: ^ir/ i/7/ Occupationr ' 'r^~,^ Jyy^///
uccupaaon: ^Sti.k, l^///
Phone {optional): (< [> T- ,f ?^- i/J.i'i
^Pa
T/wnk you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call(202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
rs
173
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name:'T:) pjj^ f TV^ /^n a G> City/Zip:^C,£ij X77,>-
StreetT^/ -tfc cSJ (^rryi -7 ^ ; J Occupation: L-r. r. ^ i s ' >^ , j^ ^
Phone (nptinnal): /r.y - ^ UP -.-^^ I
J
<■■ Jt
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4
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d
<i^yi-t^-e-;^'Cf
Cx^
■1 ^ n
i''Q_i«_xi.-c^ ^<-^i
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J)Ji W^^AMd ^,
<r-'»o
J.^ ALf^
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
174
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lairy Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: i-^'-'-y
Street: S443 H.Hz,-,.
S^.-H-
-IJ C4.
City/Zip: 'l^^p.J ^/^ ■5'77^2
Occupation: hferj'&n^l St^ao^ /e/-, / iauj/L/^
Phone (.optional): S4e 7£>zi
li^k
hfttyu^j- Jf .<A^/4 f-^.pp^^'r -^yyt^jyt/oZi ^
bur' de>-^-*^ iu (^ j/a^ ^ .»»£-*>»«<■ ^ Cfu LtsJ .-r»-<a^^y-ta Xt.L^'u i— tiu U.i.
^.k^/^ j.u,^^s lp..di^ ^ ^.^^U ^UJ ^t■JU^J.f^-
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Cu^*^ i/.t^'' t.-
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C.{^u^a4^ „^ek±^^^A*^ ^^lU^Ofit^yi e-i ^3?I»^*0<»-^^ ^ ^(t^ .^^^^' '«-»Mt^gT^ yt^^fh^ 'CAa^
T/wnic you /or submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
175
176
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name:^/^7^^^ L C ^ KV < City/Zip: He ^^^ ^ ^ ^7 7^^
Street: \]cni°i ''^oy "j -^ Occupation: /?f T /^ t 0
Phone {optional): (,0T- b i6''~ilKl
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
t Co/\y Qy^ t c /1/vo ^d ('\ ^ L Cf^fi/U^t,
177
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
I^repre^e^if ^re* sfi^all business nf^es/r i^ImcJLsu^
Wc ar« cavicerHe<P ^«^ ^en / or o?e--tfc/o rwn-L>cc
ror^ixi' ScArVtct, policy ^irec^iues. arootj^ '(k-^.s^- i*^tld^-*rn.ess^
^»"e^ an^Jl TresefVes- VUe ask )lk(Chyiyt^. ach i^iru^
5*^^51/ '^^'^^ Hresf'S^^n/tc^ <:MwUvl-ar^as ar^ca^n^
«*A^ r^ also Vo hirP^^c^ {LffAes y^UcA \ao\>lJlsi^rra44vJ^
i^<^ brcH-^o^kJ-^S^^ ^»neay Sock (o\)jP^ aoi«r utoul^
'^ Thank you for submitting your comments. Yourthoughts are important ^^ ,
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of th^d>0&f \
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces- J^
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
178
^Ub
J^^eAi/e i\^cJ.ucte^ 0*^^ lf^^ i^a)^ ^\xsv^Cr^ a/
Speorftsi^^ ScdU TIM
179
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: ^\^.)tSK t, jfllLL^/^ Citv/Zip: 4/^^AWv (t/V 6^rjC- 9750
Street: ^/f, 'ffj.^ CteMf^ Xa^ Occupation: T^t^ei- -Q^iM^y Qmi^-i ,^^
Phone (optional\7cny &8$-^oz3 d^r
Tblfl.cK i^"/^$ uJe. L^^)"^) /ose J^y^ ^ ^^^-iL
r jV^__T/wHlt yoM /or submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important eo/Mn y u
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the '^i
^;XV\A Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-S^^Li. ^
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your "
interest in this issue is appreciated.
180
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name:A^/^ /^
Streetj^yrr^y^
^^
Citv/Zip: 4it^^CiTV ,^/7
Occupation: ^^/Cal fJsCJf^
Phone (.opi\om\')C,<Sr- 14/ -4 ^^'^
f7r.--d< r^c ^i^^S- /^'^ '^^^ ^'^ S^^^Ci^^S^^^
U^i^ /t^^A^ r^*^ /W-yr ^.^/<v-<> ^rvx^. '^^^c,^^ »*c
2;yt /?&^u.crr4/<i: ^4(Ay excess. 755^ •/J^/^ ^ ^'^c^ Ia^c^ '
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the (o vC ^
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
^A fy^/euc
V
181
4ec ^*^Y /HMjC "^^ssr T^v Sve^ ^3<5atc: . ^,a/^^
182
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
NamaTNvAV^ -£blZ:<^/J^I.^. ^J City/Zip:'F%^ .TP^.^ 9P ^^74^
Street: P~ g- / fr^x- 7^ Occupadon-.lhe^in^it. /n^Yol2-
Phone (optional): f?>^ Z-Zl 2>:=,
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important / \
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the **^J
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call(202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
183
'■^' o^
?^;2^.K>=^ L\^',ryu^ £>^>p^\yA, 'T^>^ ^>r -TA^r -rsr ^v'/m_ ^^ ^A<f
'^ ^^^ ^>r 72> ^,.^.
^TSaj^c
184
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Conunitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: /icbey Yv^ • ffle-^ar^der Qty/Zip: CusJ-er , JP 577 3o
Street: P. Q. y3ox r.?^ Occupation:/^?^f5-^f/' -Qiperaf,o«5 Jciea
Phone (optional): fcn75"-^73-?3^3
/PD«.Ct64 _ -j-U^ol . I ly^k^A "tAiA-O AlXof t)<Av^. i?iA^
rrv I f'^-''- ^
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
/<. fiyial./S-f
185
Keisey M. Alexander
P.O. Box 534
Custer , SO b//30
4 September 1993
Senator Larry Pressler
Rushmore Mall office
Rapid city, SO
Re: restimony, small Business Committee Hearing
"hederal limber Policy and Its Impact on Small Business"
Oear Senator Pressler:
1 compliment you, senator Pressler, and your staff for a very
good hearing. l hope that you can enable what is said here
to be HLAKO by your colleagues.
In youi opening remarks you called for the U.S. i-orest
Service to release their planning data. No one on the panels
spoke to this, except when you asked Mr. Silva, the Forest
Service Representative, specifically why the data wasn't
being released. I his is very important. While 1 have many
other comments, 1 will attempt to limit mine to the issue of
this data as it was not properly covered at the hearing.
1 formally requested the planning data from Lne horest
Service in regards to their Land Management Planning effort
toward producing the Forest Plan in January of 1993. l have
been told the data will not be released until the Forest Plan
is released because it is 'predecisional . " I his is the
response Mr. Stan Silva gave to you at the hearing when you
questioned him. 1 find this response unacceptable.
First, a little background. I may be telling you what you
already Know, but this may make my belief that the data
should be released more clear. As required by National
tnvironmental Policy Act and the 19/6 Forest Management Act
the Forest Service is required to make an analytical model
comparing the costs and benefits and resource outputs m the
various alternatives considered in producing a Forest Plan.
This is a well-intended law. While l agree it is impossible
to be tXAC I with all data, it is important to compare the
tradeoffs and we must use the best we have. 1 believe the
Forest Service would agree with that. It is the
responsibility of the Forest Service to know what is on their
land and what it is capable of producing. The analytical
process of analyzing the alternatives is anchored by basic
resource inventory data, including basic information such as
how inuch vegetation of what size, age, quality, species or
species grouping, etc. are on which acres, also information
such as productivity and steepness of slopes. Managers can
apply prescriptions of vai ious management activities to
certain types of acres in computer modeling, triggering costs
186
in dollars and producing resource outputs such as sediment,
water, board feet of timber, AUM's of grazing or recreation
user days. By applying various management schemes on the
basic resource database managers can compare alternatives.
The basic resource inventory data of the land should not
change by alternative and should be available to be reviewed
NOW. How can the public have any ownership on the
alternatives if the basic foundation they are built on cannot
be examined? The outputs by prescription should not change
by alternative. if one acre of one type of land is treated
in a certain way it will produce certain predictable outputs
regardless of which alternative plan is selected. How can
this information be "predecisionai? "
i want to look at the basic resource inventory and see how
the horest Service manipulated it to produce their planning
database. 1 would like to know that the various management
activities being considered are biologically possible and
that the outputs and costs are real for the management
practices prescribed. How can i determine that if they won't
release the data? 1 want to look at the cost and yield data ^
from various prescriptions or management activities to see if
they are reasonable. 1 don't see why they won't release this
information .
YOU called for release of the data. You questioned the
f-orest Service. Combining their answer with this letter, 1
hope you aren't satisfied with their answer. What can we do?
It impresses me that the public _is_ united in their desires
for the management of the Black Hills National (-orest. All
the various multiple-use interests have come together solidly
and are trying to participate in the planning process to have
their wishes heard. I he one exception in this united effort
is the sierra Club philosophy which is truely a small
minority whose viewpoint is based in pure fiction.
in closing, i would like to state that I agree with most of
the points all the panelists made with the exception of
everything the Sierra Club's Mr. Braddemeyer said. 1 agree
that the Horest Service should be looking for ways to
_i_nci_easfi the ASU (Allowable Sale Quantity) instead of
decreasing it. There is not even an alternative being
considered that addresses this. 1 agree with the panelists
that the ASQ should be 120 — the annual growth on the Black
Hills National Forest. A serious omission to the testimony
is that there is NO I even an alternative being considered in
the planning process that addresses an ASQ of 120.
Sincerely ,
Kelsey M. Alexander
187
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: Trs ^ w q 'tX \ rV-a \ ^^ City/Zip: Sp^^^J.^X 5'^7^y
Street: le p- \ (^ 3^7 Occupation: g-c^ '
Phone (npHnnaW \r~< ~ 1>/^ - 3>;(|^
c^ ^^^-^^Ix,
^<
IhanV you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
188
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name-^U d^ f: 4 X>e- fiai/U^ Gtv/Zip: /^?V&^ . <f^ ^7 75 d)
Street: /f-f- '2- /fo o ?^^ Occupatior\: ^^ r hA^
^y-f V', /n-^ Phone (opfjo«fl/)32Z52ZZ
"T'Ae. t-e>>^<i^-e fe^i/.c-e. U^ ''f/M^.«.f /^se /o^M. t°s "^^(nt-f -eke. S"^ t
efzd ouo-'j '^o>^^ fetid e^d -^ii^ ^ i~c a'Lc-fi \/-^ a^re^ ai a^ ^ii* < rn-€. a ■ c* hti^k.
re...uej ^^^Z^-' '"^^ A^^.-^S' -/^. .^^-^ ;W /-<=^3- ^.-
Tftani: yow for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have an)/qUestior^ or comments. Your ^
interest in this issue is appreciated. \Lj2 SLd<M^ /fLoi r/i-io \\<\yv^
189
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197
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198
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199
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200
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Naine:(2>^^C ^ /) / ? c ^ iflY.j. Citv/Zip: t(^.^t J /'p^^^l^ ^
S\T^i./J^Jirr]iir ^^^kuk- ^ Occupation: /Yl^.^^P. U^ ■f^iTrA I /.
Phone (optional): --^ VJl-O t/jQ. ^
OcA/z^ cXtu Ucu^ I^UiJi 0^6^ (yf tioMj^'^'Cj
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
(Jc^
201
Tlw following If efrorad at writttn ttctimeny for tho Sonata Small Buslnoaa Committae
fiaM haarfng hold in Rapid City, 8D on Septembar 4, 1M9:
Thank you Sonator ProMlar for tha opportunity to offer my testimony to this committae
oonceming the Black HIHs National Forest management plan revision and the proposadf South
Dakota WiUemass Act of 1893.
My name Is Paul Smith. I consider myself to t)e very lucky; as I am a native South Dakotan. I
have lived In South Dakota my entire life, almost exclusively In the Black Hills area I
graduated from high school In RapM CKy and want on to graduata from the School of Buainass
at tha University of South Dakota in VannBlloa I am a CPA and am cunantly employed by
Marfllat Industries, Inc. in RapW City. I am one of tha lucky few South Dakotans that have
been able to remain in this sparsely populated state and vrark In my chosen field. Without a
viable timbar industry, it Is ve^ likely that I will be forced to leave South Dakota.
While Merlllat Industries does not qualify as a Small Business, I beliave that oir impact on tha
k9cal economy certainly does affect many small businesses. As the plant accountant fOr tiia
tocal operation, I am well aware of the financial Impact Merlllat has on the economy of Rapid
City and the entira Black Hils ragkxi. Merlilat employs over 325 persons In Rapid City. These
are high paying Jobs for the region, averaging over $10.00 p^r hour. This does not include a
full fringe benefit package. Offered as benefits to our employees are paid vacations. paM
holkJays, pension benefito, absentea pay (we feature an ail-Balarted concept, recognizing the
sometimes unavt^dable absences that emptoyaas have, and cwnpensata our employees for
those absences}, and a comprehensive health care plan. Our payroll for tfie calendar year of
1992 exceeded $8,000,000. Our total axpenditursa for the Rapid City facility Ibr 1992
exceeded $44,000,000, of whk;h a large portion Is expended In the Black Hills region. Of
course, cur employaas in tum spend the $8,000,000 they earned In many area businesses, a
large portion of which are small businesses.
Merlllat Industries built their plant kn Rapid City In the early 1980'8 for many reasons, but
certainly not the toast of these was the availabHi^ of a raw material supply for the manufacture
of partideboard. Merlllat uses over 200 toick loads of wood chips, sawdust, and planar mID
shavings each and every vraek to produce over 90,000,000 board feet of partideboard every
year. From this partk:leboard we produce cabinet components for an average of 16,000
kitchen and bath cabinets dally. This leaves some excess particleboanj that wa seR to other
users. Marillat Industries is the sinole largest manufacturer of kitchen and bath cabinetry in the
United States. The finished components are shipped to any one of several assembly
operations located throughout the United States. The point I am trying make here is that
without the availability of raw material for partcleboard manufacturing, there remaina iHUe
incentive for Merillat industries to continue to operate in RapM City.
i look at the IVIeriliat plant in RapM City as the largest refueling facility In the state of South
Dakota. I do this because Merillats basic raw material, prior to the establishment of the Rapid
aty facility, was a waste product of local area saw mills that were basically either being burned
or buried. We also take every opportunity to reduce our discharges of wasta. Several years
ago, we took the necassary steps to reduce the amount of waste going to the local land fill,
and Installed equipment that takes our scrap items and grinds them back to a material we now
reuse to manufacture mora partideboard. This act reduced our shipments to the land fBI by
60%. '
202
Durtrrg ths prB$«nt foreit manm«m«nt plan MartDat has baen able to Mcura matarlai supply
eontracU in kuffldantquanHlias to supply our opantion. Howtvar.wHhtha out baak from 118
MMBP^ to 100 tJMBF as announeod by forast suparvlsor Robarta Moitzan (wN^ might I add
has baan dona bafbra avan tha draft plan has bean Issuad), the tong tann viabiB^ of this
supply bacomas questlonabia. This Is especiayy true given that the Black HDs National Porast
is aaying that the draft plan win induda an ASQ> somewhere in the rar^ of 40 IMMBP on tha
low side to 100 IMMBF on the h^h side. Thera are many factors that will detormina tha Ma of
ktortllat Industries m Rapid City, but certainly one of them Is how the reduced han^eat levels wiD
afttet our material suppBars. Industry must have a stable supply and predictable policy
decisions to survive.
1 agree with you Senator that the USF8 should Immediately release their growth and yield data
from which they are assembling the plan revision so that it oan be scnjiinlzed and agreed upon
by all intsrastad parties, it is hard to accept the announced outo In tha A8Q when the only
data that is presently avalabie to the pubHc states that the suitable timber acreages m the
Blade HIDs National Forest is growing 148 MMBF per year, if this Is true, why would a harvest
of only 100 MMBF be necessary?
Senator Presslar, thera Is also another issue that Is affecting the immediato future of the timber
Industry, as well as oOwr industries that rsly on the timber industry, as does Marillat The
budget raoentiy passed by tha Confess reduced the amount that the Fotvst Service has to
spend to do the required documentation to offer timber for sale. On the Black Hills National
Forest, supervisor Mottzen has stated that due to these budget cutbacks, tha A8Q for fiscal
1894 wHi be reduced from 100 MMBF as previously announced to a total of 85 MMBF. This Is
a 28% cut back in timber supply in one fiscal year (85 MMBF as compared to 118 MMBF, the
1983A8Q)1 This does not pass the test of reality. I was under the Impression that Congress
and the Executive Branch wanted to reduce the defteit and create Jobs. The Black Hills
National Forest is a profitable forest. Every board foot soM returns a positive cash flow to the
United States Treasury! This is not "funny money", but cold hard cash that the government is
turning Its back on. TDis budget cutback vi/lli actually increase the deficit and reduce Jobsl I
urge you Senator to worii for appropriation of the required funds, espedeily on Nattonal
Forests where timber is a profit making venture for tha United States government Mght I
point out that local governments also reap benefits from timber programs as well. 25% of the
gross receipte of timber sales are retumed to the county governments of the counties where
tha timber was hanrested. In fiscal 1882, roughly (3.5 million was retumed from the Black Hills
National Forest to local cointies, with Just over $1 ,000,000 going to Pennington County alone.
While it is at each county's discretion as to how to distribute these funds, Pennington County
currently aUocatas 50% to the county highway department, and 50% to tha school districts
based on acreage of nattonal forest land in their district As a result the Hill City School
District received about 9500,000 In fiscal 1902. I believe this amounte to about 25% of their
totel school district budget. Reduottons in the ASQ will undoubtedly have a devastating Impact
on these fimds.
We also know that one factor that is driving up tiie costs in preparing these timber sales is the
constant fning of frivolous appeals. On the Black HDis National Forest, these appeals are
primarily being filed by the local group of the Sierra dub. They continue their efforts to block
^ MMBF-mmionbosRifMt
2 ASQ • allowsbit ssia qutrMy
203
^a?^ timbw- at ev«ry opportunity, oven though their points of contention have been
held to «how no mertt Something muet tie done to straanillne the admlnlatnitivB appeals
proceM cufTintly In place. The Congress passed legislation to do this a yev ago, but the
HS^il'SPJ^'J"!* y^ to be pubiishedl While the version that was passed did not take all the
irtepsbiat ttie timber industry would Dke to have teen, they are certainly era a step In the right
direction. I f«ognlre the Importance of not infringing on the rights of the liWe guy" This is
^SvaI^SkS!? '*^*^'*'" ^ ^" '*""*^- *^ ^<* J* currently going on is nothing dose to
One point that the Sierra Club spoilsman asserts is that mechanization and modemizBtlon of
hels inferring ttwl the induatry return to the past methods of han^esting and producing timber
produrts in order to maintain employment levels. That is utteriy ridiculous. Logging is the
mosthaairdous Job in this country. Workmen's compensation rates are hi^er for logging
contra^Jn own »[«ny ^f •mg* occupattan In the country. Mechanization of the inditftry
has rnade thwe jobs SAFER fbr the emptoyee. Where would any Industry be if they refused
5J!''SI« J^'"" P™^*'**^' One need only look to where the U.S. auto industry was in the
me lezo's to see that an industry that doesnt keep pace with technology wiB soon be
replaced by foreign or domestic competition that will Keep pace.
Sl!?!I^!I^l!Il*^"?**!:*il my livelihood depends almost directly on the timber Industry. I
nave other eoriMms about the Itorest management plan reviskw as wen. The Black Hills
..™ i ^*^ "" been managed. In my opinion, very successfuDy in the past for multiple
Tfii.? Jf™3fS'?'' ^* ^"^ 'i ■ ^*^'*^' ""'^^ opportunity: ft draws vIrSally
S£ri,i S!l •^ ■?'^ r"' i"* •'*• ^** •" ""P*^ *^ ^ •««^'>'^y: '«=«l ranchers
S,!^ frJ^??!i^ *** '^•* ''^ •"** "^ i*^***^ ^^^"^ prices of beef as low as
ITJifriSn S?^"". ^^^ an abundant supply of wildlife ranging from wild tuilceys to deer.
SLIS^. 2^;'"L"'"^ & brook trout, etc. AO of these populations ere growing at the
CSl?^ ' JT^*!?.?*^ ■• °"'' P^'fvatlonlet friends would have you believe. I have
SK ?uSl.^J;?i;S* ^\ ^' ^° y*"!- ' ^» "•^^ •xperlenced as ptorrttfui of a supp7^
C?H ttJicJZf iL^ir* ?^L^ P«« f*w years. My point herii Is that wildliliTln the
ZS h^^i not Just ttie popular big game spedes. but all fomis of plant and animal life)
r^ 2^11f'!!ir ""^^ S?^^ ^ ^ management that has taken piece, not in spite of
LrS Sl^S^lSTeSl ^ ?£1S1S22: Uli* "^^ °^ '^^^^"fl uninhabitable ftor
*hSr,J2?«riJS2rL'" *•«,••*"«* •«■• l* bl«*lng sunngm from the forest floor
f£S1tS S^'"^^^ ~!2!- ^ the.* "f^a* «» a(<Jacent to iMount
S#S?StIitSL^^^^^^ ^*^*' fire danger IS e real mraat to mWr^ the sc^ta
SJn^^IlSi^Ml!? ?*'^SL°!"~* '"^ to '"•'«8e ^ •» "lese other uses without a
jreng. vJWe timber industry. The timber Industry is aotualiy the amis and legs of the USFS
h!£ SSL. ?5L? •*'!?' "^•'' ^ '*^^^ T^y «» the ones that by thinning theforeS.
JJi^n wajnvnoff leveis essential for trout streams as well as for hunS use dSSl
m!^J!:J^^^1!^*^ *^ "•*«*" ^ "»•* that anoTS STy^SK
SnlTS!JS23?^?J2*^^^^ AtSisami
J^ntTJL^???^ '• •'^°y^ by the Blaok HHIs region
in essence, it is the timber industry that brings everything together in the forest it is Important
204
to note that ttio Black HHIb NatioMi Forest Is not harvested by the saine methodi sometimes
used in the Paciflo Northwest The tfmiser industry does not clear cut pine in the BlacK Hills,
but rather uses eelactive thlnnbio to remove a poiton of the trees at any one givan time (an
exception to the dear cut method would be for salvage operations such as a bumed or blow
down area). As a matter of fact, the timber industry currently operates on about 5% or 30,000
acres of the Black Hills National Forest in any given year.
For these reasons, I also don^ support the South Dakota Wilderness Act of 1993. This act
wouM have the effect of removing virtually half of the Black Hills National Forest from human
access, except by those that are physically and financially able to take the time necessary to
hike into thwm, Of course, these olita users would go somewhere eise for their recreation once
the reduced management resulted in a wildfire, leaving those of us who live here to deal whh
the aftermath. I think an important feature that this act has that is being overlooked is the
backdoor method that the Slenv Club and the other supporter environmental groups are taking
to implement their prefen^d alternative of a forest management plan for the Black Hills. Not
only does this act designate thousands of acres as wlldemess, but section 6 of the act would
also put In place a 12 member committee who would be responslUe for the management of
the Black Hills. This committee would be made up of 10 representatives from the
"environmentalist" side of this issue, and 2 representatives of government and 'resource
extractk^n' industries. This committee, although called a research study, Is charged with
implementing the "Core, Buffer, Corridor" management plan proposed by several
presen/ationist groups earlier this year. An important feature of this plan is that the act does
not allow fbr any public comment period, or for public comment to even be taken in to account
when implementing this plan, while the cureni forest managsment laws REQUIRE public input
be sought and addressed.
The Black Hais is peppered with iitaraily thousands of small private land parcels thnsughout the
national forest Whan asked about how these lands would be affected by this, our
presen/ationist friends respond by stating that they feel the U.S. government shoiid purchase
all private land within the forest boundaries. Where, may I ask are the funds going to oome
from for this? And Just where are the people that Bve here going to go & work? I don't believe
any retraining program put in place would be effective as there just arent any other jobs
avaSable In this region. Senator, the fact remains that the Black Hills has been changed
forever by over 100 years of management and settlement It is simply not possible to return to
allowing mother nature to manage these lands.
I am also concerned wKh tie public safe^ issue of allowing n^other nature to take a more
active role in managing a forest that is populated with humans. Prtor to our management
activities, mother nature managed the Black Hills forest by what tends to be catastrophic
methods as compared to our present management methods. Insect infestations, disease, and
wildfire were the principle tools used by mother nature. The result is a forest that has fewer
trees than the preswit in most places. And where there are dense stands, they are so dense
that even "old growUV consists of trees that are 150 years old and only 6 inches In diameter.
These stands are a prime target for the next wildfire. Our preservationist friends have stated
that we need more old growth In the Black Hills. My contention is that what they reaBy want is
more BIG trees ratiier than oM trees.
In addition to my employment, I am also Assistant Fire Chief for the Rockervllle Voiunteer Rre
Depaitnent. Rookerville Is located about half way betvveen Rapid City and Mount Rushmore
National Memorial, and hence contains both private lands as well as Black Hills National Foivst
205
landt. I hav* ip«nt many houra on th« firi lina protMUnfl ttaioturM tnd rMOuroM fiwn th«
davMtatlon of witdflra. Frankly, the notion of laas timtMr harvaiting, I«m thinning, ate., Kara*
me to daath when you conirider the impact on flra danger. The Job of protaoQng etnioturae In
what If termed the wildland/urban ftitarfaoe li a precailoua one at t)ett It it also one that at
thie point le the fmandai rasponslblity of local (county level and below) government Beth the
fMerai and ttate agenciee involved have "washed their hands" of this responsfeinty. at least
untfl a wildfire niadMs the point where the Federal Emergen^ Managament Agamy has a
role. I don't believe it Is responsible government to expect looal level agendes to continue to
boar the brunt of this burden whan the federal govammant It oonsldeflng modifying their
aeHons, the rssuit of wNoh will be IncnMsed risk of viMflre. As a reference, our toeal fire
protection distrfot, on wNch the volunteer firs depertment relet eimost totally on for funding
support, has a legal MAXIMUM taxing authority that wfll generete about $32,000 per year
tfmiugh real property taxes. When a single drop by a siuny bomber can cost about $6,000;
and a single fire truck can cost over $100,000 It is easy to see what kind of impact a wlldnre
can have.
In summa^, I beReve that you and this committee shmid work fbr the foflowing:
1. Urige the United States Forest Service to Issue a draft management plan for the Black HINs
National Forest which allows for the maxinuffn sustainable A8Q possible. One point to
consider here is that this amount can be held edificially low by removing forest lands from
the "suttabie" for han^est land base. The plan should also aHow for the best possible mU of
muttipia uses of this valuable national raeource.
2. Work through Congress «id the administrative branch to restore budgeted funding to altow
for the han/est of 100 MMBF as outDned by forest supervisor Robeila MoHzen. The budget
forced reduction to 85 MMBF Is not biotogkally or environmentslly necessary.
3. Support no addittonal wlldemess derignations In South Dakote. This is an exdustonary
tactic used by preservationists to create their own private arses for rscreation.
4. Work through the administrative branch to publish the modified admlnstretlve appeele
regulations as mandated last yeer by Congress. The length of this delay Is creattig an
unnecessary hardship on the timber industry and rsdudng the amount of money that a
timber progrem is eble to return to the Treasury.
Senator, given ail the facts that say It is in the best interest of both the human and non^uman
populations of Amenea's wild lands to manage these tends for the best possible mb( of multipte
use. I befleve that this issue is in serious risk of no tonger being beeed on the fMs, but nrther
onemottons. I urge you to resist iNs at al eesto. I thank you tor this opportuni^ to provide
you wHh my testimony. If I can answw any quesHons. or provide any assManoe, pteaee dom
hesitate to contact me.
RanMlfully submitted. ^
PaulK.8mNh
13070 Neck Yoke Road
Rapid City, 80 07701
HOffltPhone: (90S) 341-2200
OfltoePhone: (005)340-3000
74-343 0-94-8
206
Mailing Address:
I IG 37 DuA QeO
Lead, South Dakota 57754
AiiUu«^t 27, 1993
^alb ^oujttjit^
ng fflompang
Office Address:
Trojaa South Dakota
Telephone (605) 584-1420
Tlir- Honorable Larry Pressler
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Re:
U.S. Senate Small Business Committee Hearing on:
Public Land Use Impact on Small Business
l)r>ar Senator Pressler:
First 1 would like to thank you for your efforts to hear the
concerns of small business owners in the Black Hills.
As you well know, we have escalating welfare costs, a
mounting deficit, a declining defense industry and an
overwhelming imbalance in world trade. I believe, however, that
these, and other national fiscal problems, can be solved over
time with small sacrifices and hard work by everyone in this
cf)untry .
It then seems inherently unfair to ask people to make
sacrifices t^hen their jobs are being impacted by anti-
industrialists who seek to alter reasonable Public Lands
policies. Isn't revenue generation part of our Public Lands
h^rLtagp and isn't this revenue supposed to offset the costs of
government and lighten the tax burden for citizens?
People in our area with valuable skills will lose high-
paying jobs if there is a decrease in the USPS allowable timber
sales, a closing off of potentially productive Forest Service
lands through additional Wilderness designations or passage of
mining reform laws such as those supported by Senator Bumpers and
Representative Rahali.
These same people might find employment in the tourism and
recreational industries but at a reduced pay scale. Not only
will direct revenue and jobs be lost but ancillary service
industries and town businesses will be seriously impacted. And,
last but not least, we taxpayers will then have to pay
government agencies more money for more people to manage aging
forests which have become fire hazards.
The existing Forest Plan works for the Black Hills Forest
ant) allows multiple use options for everyone. In addition, the
oxisting Plan has allowed for the development and implementation
f'f environmental protection policies. I would suggest if the
207
oyinting Plan "isn't broken, why fix it"?
Thp anmr> philosophy works for the Mining Law of 1872. The
many changes and revisions of that law have addressed
environmental concerns, reclamation and land use issues; what is
missing can be supplied by bills proposed by Senator Craig and
Representatives Orton and Vucanovlch, S. 775 and H.R. 1708,
respectively. These bills would provide additional revenue to
the government through the 2% net profits tax, add substantially
to existing Abandoned Mined Land Reclamation Programs, and
further promote environmentally responsible mining and mining job
creation .
The Bumpers/Rahall bills would guarantee that 47,000 jobs
would be lost due to the closing or downscaling of mines on
public lands. The Craig etal bills would guarantee that the US
mining industry could maintain a competitive stance in the world
marketplace and maintain the majority of the above mentioned
jobs .
Please, Senator Pressler, remind Congress that we Westerners
have few options for employment. Generally, and by necessity, we
are natural resource oriented; we make our living from the land
and we live here because we love the land. Plus, the revenue
generated helps offset the escalating tax burden for all of us.
Access to Public Lands is crucial to us and the health of our
industries. Help us maintain that access.
Again, thank you for your attention to these concerns.
Sincerely,
.F^n Miller
P.O. Box 89 3
Lead, SD 57754
208
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: Ron Riiediger Citv/Zip: Spearfish 57783
Street: P.O. Box 697 Occupation: disabled
Phone (optionfl/):ftns-ft4?-si4ft
Please see back:
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
209
September 9. 1993
Senator Pressler:
I hope you are still accepting connents on your field hearing in Rapid City.
I find it difficult to write on my lap with only one working hand so decided
to wait until I got home to my computer.
I was impressed with the numbers that turned out and especially with the
overwhelming numbers for multiple use. It appears that the wilderness people
were in the minority. "■
I wish more had been said about motorized recreation. I am currently Pres-
Elect of the South Dakota Snowmobile Association and will be installed as
President in Novemi3er~"nrT[33TrTo?r"T?rT!?S^nSrtisabled from a stroke in
1934. I feel I need to speak for both factions.
Snowmobiling is a necessary winter recreation for all South Dakota workers
from the blue collar to the white collar professionals. People need to
recreate especially during South Dakota winters. This is in addition to the
economic impact created in South Dakota by visiting tourist snowmobi lers . I
personally enjoy it as snowmobiling is the only way I have of getting off
the main highway and enjoying the solitude of the Black Hills National
Forest. The addition of wilderness areas on land which is currently being
used for snowmobile trails would destroy the opportunity for the disabled
and the elderly to enjoy the Black Hills in the winter season.
Please do your best to avoid adding any more wilderness to the Black Hills
of South Dakota and Wyoming. You have the backing of the South Dakota
snowmobile community.
Thank you for considering my conments.
Sincerely,
Ron FPuediger
PO Box 697
Spearfish, SD 57783
210
512 South St.
Rapid City, SD 57701
September 10, 1993
Senator Larry Pressler
283 Russell Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Pressler:
First of all I would like to express my appreciation for the
letter of invitation concerning the meeting last Saturday here
in Rapid City ■ garding "Public Land Use Impact on Small Business",
Unfortunately I did have to work that day and was not able to
attend. Could you let me know the nature of the discussion?
I am still very much concerned with the proposed new wilderness
area and its impact on the Hills and the timber business. I
really do not believe another wilderness area is needed. The
one we have now in the Harney district doesn't accomplish a
whole lot. People don't use it very extensively. The under-
growth in the lower lying areas especially are not conducive
to animal growth because it is too dense. There are very limited
areas with enough space for the animal life to flourish and
these same animals flourish in all parts of the Black Hills as
well as in the "wilderness" area. So, why do we need another
area set aside? It does not make sense to me.
Another thing that doesn' tnake sense to me is the "Fairness
Doctrine" that I have been hearing about. It smacks of censorship
and limiting our freedon of speech. If someome wants to counter-
act a "talk show host" all they need to do is find sponsors and
have their own show. Why do the American people need to be told
what they need to listen to? WE can decide for ourselves if
someone is biased or not. We can decide for ourselves if we
need to check out the sources and wether or not someone is "putting
something over on us"or is prejudiced, etc... We do not need the
government interfering and telling us that if someome states their
opionion on public T.V„ or radio that the stations then have to
air the opposite opinion free of charge. What kind of sense is
that? Does that mean that whenever someone makes a commentary
on the network news that they have to give someome else the
chance to offer a rebuttal free of charge? Give the American
people more credit for the sense we do have. If I want to listen
to d (^hristian r^dio station that shares my views and beliefs or
211
to Rush who I don't agree with all the time, that should be my
perogative without the government stepping in and saying I should
then listen or be allowed the opportunity to then listen to the
opposite views. Isn't America about people making their own
choices and believing what they want to believe according to their
own set of standards and values? The "Fairness Doctine"sounds to
me like the government or someone there in government is becoming
afraid people are not going to buy into everything as easily as
they would like. Let the people decide what they want to listen
to and who they want to believe. If they want another opinion,
all they have to do is turn the dial to another station.
I didn't mean for this to become a "soapbox" but, as you have
probably figured out, I do believe the "Fairness Doctine" should
not be passed and I hope that is the way you will vote. >^ -
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, 7
Li la Scandrett
212
B
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: ^ I U a) ^4 /I A/gQ City/Zip: ^,\\it^L ^ ^h ^11 J O
Street: /^OR !? =^ JihV 9.^<r Occupation: T^mU <r.x , __
Phone (optimal): /yff^L'7 3, ^mU,
fvnidi: ^/ujurti^ ^ /sru^, /l^knifejti , (Tut ^ud U 4^.
tf li-^ le^it ikUujCE. Jhy4 ^hu- CuSA) Ml 6c /U4/i^M4/Ui
/ Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
ihl
213
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214
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Larry Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: A I 1 C^ K^-gJ^ <> rify/7.ip:&U( ic" \4fjui.iK^b
Street:^ Cj ^^s^ S^CS ~ nrrupatJonTfY^Q^v Wed ::r^c^<.h^
Phone (nptim,an:(n^^ 1^1 ^^LCy^
Uj^^ a\-.- ^A -T^^^v^^ ^\^c^wJ
;i"n. ^r^vi' Vtw. ..a..v, ;j ap.W
-ro UO^- ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^ , , ^ f
T/wnit yoM /or submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
215
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: /YIilMaJ. iTTs^h^^ City/Zip:
Street: IJCR Kl R^c ^TT Occupation: A^^..,,.^
/<U/»tgr<^ . ! b ^7VV Phone (optional): ^KS-'iiuc
^0-<=, y^'^l'cL^ i^-h-y^ Fcn^S^.,^ ^t^ll^.-^cj /"^S -ir, f^-hu± ^~ti^
{\\l fc^i^'Vi.
Thank you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
216
Official Testimony
before the
U.S. Senate Commitee on Small Business
Senator Lany Pressler • Ranking Member
Federal Timber Policy and Its
Impact on Small Business
September 4, 1993 • Rapid City, South Dakota • Howard Johnson Hotel
Name: ^,^ i.. / oo^/M^r >... J City/Zip:
Street: Occupation
Phone (optional):.
T/wnk you for submitting your comments. Your thoughts are important
and will be made part of the Official Record of today 's Field Hearing of the
Senate Small Business Committee. Please use additional sheets if neces-
sary. Call (202) 224-8485 if you have any questions or comments. Your
interest in this issue is appreciated.
217
Nancy Hi 1 ding
6300 West Elm
Black Hawk. S.D. 57718
Sept. 7. 1993
Dear U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business,
Below find my written testimony for:
Field Hearing on "Federal Timber Policy and Its Impact on Small
Business" held of Sat. Sept 4. 1993 in Rapid City, S.D.
I. Process
I was shocked by your committee's conduct. There was only one
committee member, a time limit of 2 hours, no public testimony
was allowed and there was a panel of speakers heavily stacked
to one view point. During a hearing alleged to be investigating
timber policy, only one speaker out of at least ten, represented
environmental advocacy groups working on timber related issues.
This person was limited to a 5 minute speech. Questioning
on the issues by Senator Pressler was one sided.
This was not a hearing - it was political performance art.
I believe, Pressler was running for reelection and providing
his constituents in the "Wise Use" Movement, with a forum for
public speaking and publicity, all paid for by the tax payers.
If this farce is representative of a federal hearing, it is
no wonder that our government is in such a mess.
There are many complex issues involved and much misinformation
spread about by the "wise use" movement. Instead of delving
into the substance of issues, or requiring proponents to back
up their assertions with facts, the committee provided pro timber
panelists with another public forum to reiterate their
propaganda.
II. Timber issues
Compet i t i on :
Do Pope and Talbot or Continental qualify as small businesses?
What is the status of the truly small mills or contractors?
What percent of the Black Hills timber industry is actually
a small business? What percent of the timber cut on public
land or private land is cut by small or large businesses? Have
these percents changed over time? If so, why?
To what degree is loss of companies or jobs just a part of the
218
naturally volatile timber/building business cycle? To what
degree are local, small companies being hurt by lack of capital,
employee benefit requirements, increased mechanization costs.
Forest Service timber sale or bidding practices, poor management,
increased competition or the local timber biding wars? Are
they just plain out of their league when up against large
multi-nationals such as Pope and Talbot?
Can changing Forest policy, regarding how sales are let out
to timber contractors, help small timber operators? What is
the effect of a federal debt that pulls capital out of the
private sector and into the governments pockets? Blaming
environmentalists is very convenient.
Cost of Timber
Have appeals really driven up cost of timber? What do the Forest
Service's minimum bid requirement formulas have to do with the
price of timber? How are minimum bid requirements determined?
To what degree are the national high timber costs this year
a result of high national demand for lumber? Are not the inroads
by environmentalists only a minor factor in timber prices?
I am enclosing an article on this from U.S. A today. Why use
environmentalists as scapegoats?
"Frivolous" Appeals
Before bemoaning the many "frivolous appeals". Sen. Pressler
should ask for a detailed, thorough accounting of the history
of Black Hills National Forest appeals. It is not in the Forest
Services best interest to publicize its failures. I checked
the record in March. As of last March, out of 15 known decisions
returned on Sierra Club appeals of Forest projects (of assorted
types of Forest implementation projects - not just timber
appeals), there were 2 remands, 3 withdrawals, 1 settlement,
and 2 corrected upholds. This is an 8/15 or a 53% record of
creating change. This is in a system were the defendant is
also the judge and jury. (The appropriate name for this judicial
system is a kangaroo court.)
In 11/89 American Wildlands and the Sierra Club appealed and
subsequently won a remand of the Norbeck Decision. This decision
would have authorized massive timber sales - 1/5 of the Forest
timber output each year for a 5 year period. These sales are
yet to be brought on line, as the Forest Service has yet to
meet the conditions of the remand. Despite this hold up
of some specific huge timber sales, by environmentalist's
£]jccessful appeals, the Forest Service has always claimed it
meets its yearly timber quotas.
Many of the environmentalist successes with timber appeals
occurred before 1992, so judicious editing of a statement about
appeals, can create a true but misleading statement. Although
I do not have the data, I believe if there was a slow down in
219
Forest Service processing of timber sales, it happened early
on, when the Forest Service (F,S.) withdrew several appealed
decisions and delayed scheduled release of other decisions.
Subsequent to the first spate of environmentalists appeals,
I think the F.S. realized their timber E.A.s and decisions were
not "up to speed" legally, and they temporarily slowed things
down while they rewrote many E.A.s, yet to be released. They
will, however not admit this as this would result in bad P.R.
If the timber industry believes environmentalist appeals are
"frivolous", why are they so afraid of them? A "frivolous"
appeal would not get upper level review and is certain to be
denied. The few months it would take to process a "frivolous"
appeal, is minor detour given the length of time it takes to
develop and process a timber sale.
As I understand it, the Sierra Club has statistics it got from
the Forest Service this spring, which prove that there had been
no statistical increase in the net time it takes to process
timber sales on the Black Hills National Forest, since the many
timber appeals started. Timber advocates, when blaming
environmentalists for creating an unreliable or unavailable
timber supply, should be ask to document their assertions.
Industry propaganda about appeals driving up the cost of timber,
has never made any sense to me - I think much of it is lies.
Scapegoati ng, prevents the public, the timber industry and this
Committee from really looking at what is happening and from
making any policy decisions that might help resolve complex
issues.
Costs to taxpayers
Stan Silva said that processing the appeals by the Black Hills
National Forest cost the taxpayers $84,000. What he didn't
say, was that the minor delays in timber sales, are also alleged
by timber industry, to drive up timber sale fees, thus allegedly
gaining taxpayer's money. In reality, given that national timber
prices have been rising most of this year, delays in sales would
have resulted in substantial extra earning for the treasury.
The taxpayer cost argument is a double edged sword for timber
industry advocates.
"Where's the beef?"
The real problem with timber supply for the timber companies
will come after the Forest Plan Revision. After the revision
there will be a lower Allowable Sale Quantity. The real issue
here is not wilderness or even current Forest implementation
appeals. I believe, the real issue is that the Forest can't
meet the current ASQ and comply with the National Forest
Management Act. The Forest Service knows it. The
environmentalists know it and they know they can appeal and
220
litigate the Forest Plan Revision, if necessary. NFMA
requirements that can be ignored, at a Forest implementation
level, can't be dodged at Forest planning levels. The only
real way for the timber industry to get what it wants, is to
convince Washington to gut public land management laws.
III. Recreation Issues
Forest Recreational Opportunity
In 1989, the only year I have national statistics for, the
Black Hills National Forest was second in the Nation for acres
logged and second for acres logged per acre of Forest.
According the existing Forest Plan there is guesstimated to
be one linear mile of road for every 150-200 acres of Forest.
According the existing Plan, 33% of the area of the Forest
will be logged in the first ten years of the plan and 10-15%
thinned. This means in any given year about 3.3% of the Forest
is in a timber sale and 33% has ten year old timber scars.
The existing wilderness on the Black Hills only "ties up" an
area, one forth of the size of what the timber companies log
each year. The wilderness occupies less space than the Forest
thins each year. How many other multiple uses can use an active
timber sale? How many handicapped people recreate in a timber
sale?
Oust about every acre of the Forest has a grazing allotment.
Cow patties, cattle and fencing abound, especially in the few
riparian areas remaining in public ownership. Most riparian
areas are in private ownership and those remaining publicly
owned riparian and wet areas are trashed by cattle. Riparian
areas are priority recreational sites. How many persons enjoy
camping in a meadow covered by cows or littered with fresh
cow pies?
The Sierra Club did an inventory of wild areas before proposing
the wilderness proposal. Most of the Hills is thoroughly roaded.
Of the 14-16 areas identified as either meeting or best
approximating wilderness qualifications. All of these areas,
that were available for timber entry, had a timber sale scheduled
within 5 years. Today many of these areas are already lost.
Only .76% of the Forest is in Wilderness. People who enjoy
back country go out to their former, favorite, non protected,
wild area to find it degraded by a recent sale.
Given the aggressive timber program, this Forest must make some
kind of plan for setting aside some backcountry areas. These
areas much be protected from logging, mining, reading and have
range management improved, without adding more fences. The
whereabouts of these areas must be made known to the public.
Wilderness is one vehicle to accomplish this, although other
221
methods such as administrative designations, could be used.
I have reviewed many Forest Timber management documents. This
Forest never acknowledges or plans for cumulative aesthetic
damage caused to Forest by its massive timber sale program.
When doing landscape planning it only addresses far distance
landscape issues. Ironically far distance landscapes are not
the landscapes heavily impacted by the shelterwood type of timber
program on the Hills. We do not have large clear cuts. It
never addresses mid distance landscapes or immediate visual
quality impacts. Visual quality along trails is not protected.
Visually, the Forest is being turned into a tree farm or
industrial forest. Trees are cut in early maturity, at the
end of their maximum growth period. To the F.S., leaving old
trees standing, for another century, to develop the full
elegance, character and stature of a mature or old ponderosa
pine, is a waste of forest space. A younger tree could be using
that space to more efficiently generate board feet! Older
aged stands would lower the ASQ, of the forest that supplies
43-45% of the regions timber.
This Forest and this State government does not plan for or
acknowledge backcountry hiking needs. Recreation management
is not a topic in the upcoming Forest Plan Revision. Where
will back country type of recreators, have left to hike and
camp in the future?
According to the Forest Service, 53% of income derived (trickled
down) from Forest use is from "recreation and wildlife" related
activities. This Forest manages for forms of recreation
compatible with extensive commodity extraction and roads. Such
management selects for those recreators who like motorized
recreati on.
I believe that the Black Hills recreation industry is only being
given half a loaf by this Forest. Persons who value back country
recreation experiences, will logically go elsewhere or do
something else with their free time. Increased management for
back country values can attract this different group of
recreators and a different sector of recreational enterprise.
Handicaped people have more than enough roaded recreation
opportunity. As stated above, lots of country is immediately
accessed by roads. Ever go in the Hills with handicapped or
elderly persons? The real man made limit to handicapped persons
on this Forest is not wilderness created road closure, it is
shortage of trails and the ubiquitous barbed wire fence.
Black Hills trails are, for the most part, concentrated in
a few areas. Why aren't there more trails and more funds for
developing trails? Why aren't back country hiking trails
developed, as well as trails near high use areas? Why isn't
the trail system spread all over the Forest, instead of being
222
concentrated in specific places? Ask this Forest to compare
it's trail system with other Forests.
Small Business Comparisons
53.5% of the income and 58.2% of the employment derived from
Forest activities are from "recreation and wildlife" resource
groups. 37.0% of income and 32.1 % of employment are from
timber. The large segment of the Black Hills National Forest'
timber is cut by Pope and Talbot, (a multi-national company).
What subset of the 37.0% of National Forest timber derived
income, is actually within the scope of the Small Business
Commi ttee?
Why should that segment of the multiple uses - i.e.
recreation/wildlife - that garners most of the money earned
from the Forest, have such a relatively low budget priority?
57% of the Forest is allocated into management designations
managed for timber production but only 2.41% is allocated into
recreation (this includes the wilderness area). What will be
the long term effect on existing recreation industries of turning
the Forest into a tree farm? You can't wave a magic wand and
recreate old growth or pristine forest. Are you focusing on
the right small business issue?
Personal Comments
My husband and myself find the Black Hills National Forest to
be managed in such a way as to not meet our recreational needs.
We enjoy day hiking in the Hills but we often go out of state
when taking out of doors-camping vacations. We take our dollars
with us. We know others who do likewise.
I am an artist much of whose work represents natural
landscapes/animals. I use public land as an aesthetic resource
-subject matter and inspiration for my work. We may eventually
move out of state, to an area more conducive to our recreating
needs and to my professional needs. My husband is a partner
in a small business in Rapid City, that usually employs about
15 people. He was aggressively recruited into this town. One
of the major reasons we came here, was because of the Forest.
Sincerely,
2 Enclosures
223
Nancy Hilding
enclosure for Field Hearing testimony
Enclosed find an article from USA TODAY March 17, 1993
The article discusses causes of rising timber prices.
n,l
224
By Eric Lesser
WOOD SHOPPERS: Builders
may see lumber prices fall but
not give back $200 gain.
Housing
rebounds
slightly
By Desiree French
USA TODAY
Housing starts rebounded
slightly in February after dip-
ping to their lowest level in six '
months in January
Construction starts for sin- i
gle-family homes and apart- I
ments edged up 2 5'/ lil^l
month to a 1.21 iniliion annual
rate, the Commerce Depan- |
ment said Tuesday I
In January, housing siiiris
fell 8.4% to a seasonally adjust- :
ed annual rate of 1.18 million
homes. Cause: stormy weather.
David Berson, chief econo- I
misi with the Federal Naiiunul !
Mortgage .Association, also
blames lou>y weather for iht-
modest upiick in Februarv
housing starts Economists had
expected an annual rate of I 23 ;
million starts. |
And now, they say the storm |
that covered most of the east- |
ern USA this week probably
will depress March construc-
tion, too.
"But housing activity isn't
lost It's just deferred, " Berson
says.
He says he expects housing
starts to climb 10% this year
from last to about 1.32 million.
Last year, starts jumped 18%
from 1991 to 1.2 million homes
and apartments.
In February, starts rose
16.7% in the West, 7.4% in the
Northeast and 7% in the Mid-
west They fell 6.3% in the
South.
Also down: building permits
for single-family homes. They
fell 4.1% last month after fall-
ing 4.5% in January.
"This backward movement
is weather-related and tempo-
rary. It will be regained later in
the year," says David Seiders,
an economist with the National
Association of Home Builders.
Lumber cost peaks?
$500
Tuesday:
$448.20
tnqB
The cost of softwood luml>er .
per 1 ,000 feet of board
$400
$300
$200
$100
QU hi 1 1 1 M i.|i N 1 1 11,1 1 i.,),],J.uil'.lM.iUJJiAt'''.M
MJJ ASONDJ F M
I '92 1 '93 — I
Source Chicago Mercaniilo Exchange. USA TODAY research
By J L Alberl. USA TODAY
COVER STORY
Demand for
wood leads to
building panic
By Ellen Neubome
USA TODAY
Lumber prices have near-
ly doubled since October
US home builders are in a
panic They think the public
ought to be just as worried.
"A crisis Ls upon us We
have been asked whether or
not this jeopardizes the re-
covery The answer is clear-
ly and unequivocally yes,"
says Kent Colton, chief exec-
utive of the National Associa-
tion of Home Builders.
Although the price of lum-
^^^^t^n^^^^i^^a^ ^^ dropped Tuesday on fu-
tures markets, analysts say
it's not about to return to last fall's lows. A contract for 1,000
feet of board sold Tuesday for $448. That's down from a
high of $480 last week but still far ahead of $236 in October.
Those in the building industry say the era of cheap wood
is over. "Prices will probably fluctuate, but it's like gasoline.
Gasoline is never going back to the 29.9 cents I paid when I
borrowed the car in 1964," says Michael Modansky, wood-
products manager for Home Depot. "Lumber prices are fol-
lowing the same path." As a result, it'll cost you nearly $3 to
buy an 8-foot-long 2-by^ board today, vs. $1.60 last fall.
Though lumber prices may drop the next few days
they're not about to give back their $200-plus gain, say«
Mark S. Rogers, paper- and forest-products analyst for Pru
dential Securities. The biggest drop he expects Is $50.
Home builders say the price run-up has tacked $5,000 oi
the price of a 2,Q0Osquare-foot home. That scares would-b
Please see COVER STORY next page I
SPOTTED OWL: Protec-
tion cuts available timber
I1 1*800>441-5494 for federal and state income tax for
225
Za • VVCUIMLOl^^
COVER STORY
Lumber prices stir panic
Continued from IB
homeowners out of the market, says Colton.
That would mean fewer high-paying construc-
tion jobs and fewer furniture- and carpet-buying
sprees by home buyers. Without the economic
drive provided by new homes, you can kiss the
economic recovery goodbye, Colton says. It is a
problem worthy of federal intervention, he adds.
President Clinton is about to step into the vola-
tile debate about how lumber costs got so high,
who's at fault and what should be done about it
He has scheduled a timber conference April 2 in
Portland, Ore. Every group involved — and
there are many — thinks it knows the reason
why lumber prices have gotten so high.
"The president said with a smile that after he
leaves this conference, he's got to meet with
(Russian President Boris) Yeltsin and that will
be easy," says Rep. Jim McDermott, I>Wash.
Politics aside, the price of lumber is up be-
cause demand is growing but supply is not. How
did we get here? Opinions vary:
► Home builders and the timber industry
blame environmentalists. Federally owned land
used to supply more than one-third of U.S. soft-
wood. Legislation and court battles to protect the
endangered northern spotted owl — which nests
in timber country in Washington, Oregon and
northern California — _h^as slashed available
^Federal harvest land.' Last year. Federal land
r supplied 22'3n)f-fcr.S. softwood. This year, that is
' expected to fall again. Mark Rey of the Ameri-
can Forest and Paper Association says much of
I the timberland is tied up in legal gridlock
^ brought on by lawsuits by environmental groups.
But Congressional Research Service, an arm
of the Library of Congress, said late last week
that protecting owls has reduced available tim-
berland only 5%. A report by CRS found that in-
creased demand for lumt)er, brought on by the
improving economy, is the prime culprit for ris-
ing prices. To blame the owl alone is misleading,
it concludes.
► Industry observers blame a drop in the
number of sawmills. In the Northwest, 132 saw-
mills and plywood mills have closed since 1990.
East of the Mississippi, where most sawmills cut
hardwood for furniture and floors, there has
been a 25% drop in sawmills, says George Bar-
rett, editor of Weekly Hardwood Review. "The
lumber business is made up of many small pro-
ducers. They were not able to get capital during
the credit<runch f)eriod in the late '80s and ear-
ly '90s." Demand is rising for all kinds of wood,
and fewer sawmills are turning logs into boards.
Surviving sawmill owners say they are leery
of investing and expanding even though demand
for wood is up. Galen Weaber, who runs a saw-
mill in Lebanon, Pa., says the future of his indus-
try is too uncertain. "Only a fool would invest
now." he says. "You don't know where it's going.
All the timberland could be locked up. Every-
thing goes to court these days. You can't know
how it's going to turn out"
► Worse-than-usual weather this winter in
timber country has added to production prob-
lems. Snowstorms have hit the Northwest. Rain
and snow have fallen in the forests of Southeast-
em states. Conditions in Canada have not been
much better. "You can bet 40 below in British
Columbia will slow the harvest," says Modansky.
"When you get wet and muddy weather, as we
got early this year, that means even fewer logs
coming out of the woods. The weather just add-
ed to everything else."
► Some wood is exported. The National Wild-
life Federation says wood prices are high partly
because 8% of the U.S. harvest was exported last
year. "If (timber producers) are so concerned
about the American home buyer, why don't they
plug that supply back into the U.S. market and
help bring lumber prices down?" says National
Wildlife spokesman Michael Crook.
But exports actually are down. Last year, the
U.S exported 2.8 billion board feet — mostly to
Pacific Rim countries — vs. more than 3.4 bil-
lion board feet in 1991. The NAHB calls exports
"a fringe issue" in the rising cost of lumber.
Despite all the finger pointing, probably the
biggest reason lumber prices are rising is an in-
crease in demand — especially for pine and oth-
er softwood used to build houses. Last year, de-
mand for lumber was 45.3 billion board feet.
This year, demand is projected at 48 billion
t)oard feet.
Low interest rates and a strengthening econo-
my combined to start a rebound in home build-
ing. Despite winter weather bad enough to stall
many building projects, housing starts in Febru-
ary were a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
1.21 million. That was low enough to cause Tues-
day's drop in lumber prices. But it's well above
199rs 1.01 million housing starts.
The shift in supply and demand for lumber
got the attention of commodities traders who
buy and sell lumber. In recent months, the price
of lumber futures contracts — which gives the
holder the right to buy or sell lumber at a certain
price up to a year in the future — has been soar-
ing. Tuesday, a contract for May delivery of
1,000 feet of softwood board sold for $448. When
the contract first started trading in May last
year, the same contract sold for $225.
For days in December, trading was so intense
that lumber futures opened limit up — when the
futures exchange halts all trading because a con-
tract has risen the maximum allowed for one
day.
Part of that is financial speculation. "We have
never seen lumber do this," says Scott Ramsey,
managing director of Index Futures Group.
"This market started to show signs of strength,
and that attracted capital, and that created more
activity and higher prices and more higher
prices. If I were short in this market (betting that
prices are going down), I'd be very concerned.
Actually, I'd probably be broke."
Despite the surge in prices, the economy
hasn't shut down. Home Depot's Modansky says
demand for lumber remains strong. His compa-
ny sells to home builders and do-it-yourselfers
building decks and remodeling game rooms.
"Lumber is a commodity, not a luxury. Unless
they find an alternative product to build a home,
lumber will be used and lumber will be pur-
chased," he says. "These prices have not led to a
falloff in demand. And I don't think they will."
226
Nancy Hilding
enclosure for Field Hearing testimony
Mr. Pressler asked Mr. Silva a question about fire suppression
in wilderness. I did not find Mr. Silva's answer very clear.
I am enclosing additional material on this issue for Mr.
Pressler. Please see items marked with yellow.
Nancy Hilding
(^i^^
^
//
;^'-f
227
In summary, subject to the conditions and policies outlmed in
this report, the general rule of thumb on grazing management in
wilderness should be that activities or facilities established prior
to the date of an area's designation as wilderness should be al-
lowed to remain in place and may be replaced when necessary for
the permittee to properly administer the grazing program. Thus,
if livestock grazing activities and facilities were established in an
area at the time Congress determined that the area was suitable
for wilderness and placed the specific area in the wilderness sys-
tem, they should be allowed to continue. With respect to areas
designated as wilderness prior to the date of this Act, these
guidelines shall not be considered as a direction to reestablish
uses where such uses have been discontinued.
Wilderness Firje Management and Insect & Disease Control
Fire has been shown to have played an important role in the develop-
ment ot many forest and rangeland ecosystems in North America. If
we are to achieve the wilderness obiectives of allowing ecosystems to
develop without human interference then fire must be permitted to
play its natural role. In some cases this will merely involve mstituting a
"let burn" policy where natural fires are simply monitored and allowed
to burn themselves out.
In other cases, years of fire suppression have allowed fuels to .
accumulate to unnaturally high levels and, should a natural fire occur,
its heat and intensity would sterilize soils, causing severe soil erosion
and downstream water quality degradation. It would also be difficult
to prevent the fire from spreading beyond wilderness boundaries. In
such cases fuel levels can be gradually reduced to natural levels by a
series ot prescribed or "planned-ignition" burns; once conditions have
been restored to what they are believed to have been before the
exclusion of fire, the area can be allowed to evolve without further
interference, relying only on random natural-ignition fires. Care and
vigilance is needed, however, to assure that planned-ignition fires are
used only to achieve this clear and limited objective and are not used
to manipulate ecosystems to create certain specific vegetation pat-
terns. For instance, prescribed burning should not be used in wilder-
ness as a substitute for felling trees for the purpose of increasing
populations of game species.
■* The Wilderness Act and subsequent legislation clearly permits th^
suppression of wildfires within wilderness if they present clear threats
to public health and safety Suppression may also be justified to
prevent fires from crossing wilderness boundaries and destroying
property or resources on surrounding public or private lands. Sup-«
*
228
pression activities should be guided bv the "minimum tool" principal,
making use ot the least damaging equipment and methods consistent
with the sat'ety ot the public and firefighters. Hand-built fireline and
backfires are preferred, with minimum use of chain saws and axes.
Where aircratt are used, water drops are tar preferable to chemical fire
retardants; such retardants should be confined to areas outside the
wilderness boundary. To the maximum extent possible, the use of
motorized earthmovmg equipment such as bulldozers and fireplows
should also be confined to areas outside wilderness.
Any type ot fire suppression activity is bound to leave marks on the
wilderness that will be evident for years. An important way for wilder-
ness managers to avoid these impacts is to take early "pre-suppression"
measures to prevent wilderness fires from becoming a threat to out-
side areas. Natural fuel breaks where fires can be suppressed with
little or no evidence, such as rivers, streams, rocky ridges or other
unvegetated areas, can be identified in advance. Artificial firebreaks
can be constructed outside wilderness boundaries to impede the
spread ot tire. And, as mentioned above, planned ignition fires within
wilderness and consistent with overall management objectives can
reduce a tire's intensity and facilitate its containment within wilder-
ness.
Fire management policies should be made flexible so that individual
wilderness management plans can respond to areas of high fire risks.
These would include areas characterized by intensely fire prone vege-
tation (e.g., chaparral areas in southern California) and areas close by
homes or other developed areas.
Many of these same principles apply to the control of insect and
disease outbreaks in wilderness and they are addressed together in the
applicable laws.
Wilderness act
{P.L. 88-577; 1964)
Section 4 (d)(1);
. . . such measures may be taken as mav be necessary in the con-
trol of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the
Secretary deems desirable.
Endangered American Wilderness act
(P.L 95-237; 1978)
House Report 95-540:
rFirej. Insects and Disease. — Section 4(d)( 1 ) of the Wilderness Ac
permits any measures necessarv to control fire, insect outbreak
or disease in wilderness areas. This includes the use of mecha
q)f
50
AIRCRAFT Use
. niz
1 bre
I oth
229
nized equipmenc, the building of fire roads, fire towers, fire
breaks or fire pre-suppression facilities where necessary and
other techniques for fire control. In short, anything necessary for
the protection ot public health or safety is clearly permissible.
Provision was made in Section 4(d)( l) of the Wilderness Act to permit
continued use of backcountry airstrips in wilderness by light aircraft.
Such use can continue only at the discretion of the agency and.
although landing strips have not been closed simply because they are
in designated wilderness, some have been closed due to safety consid-
erations and to unacceptable impacts on other wilderness resources.
Agency decisions to close airstrips or otherwise restrict the existing
uses of aircratt are usually made in individual wilderness management
plans.
The Central Idaho Wilderness Act modified existing legislative
direction /;/// applied only in thou ureas deuy^nated in that Act. Whereas
the Wilderness Act states that aircraft use may be permitted to con-
tinue where previously established, the Central Idaho Wilderness Act
stated that aircraft use of landing strips "in regular use" ihall be
permitted to continue, denying the agency the discretion to simply
close airstrips but allowing for such restrictions iS the agency feels
necessary Airstrips can be closed by the agency for safety reasons but
only with the concurrence of the state government.
The impacts ot the continued use of airstrips -on wilderness, re-
sources can be mitigated by several means. Regular use can be discon-
tinued and the areas revegetated with a grassy cover so that emergency
use cf the fields is still possible. Existing improvements at these fields
not essential to their use as emergency landing strips (e.g. windsocks
and strip markers) can be removed. On landing strips where regular
use IS to continue the "minimum tool" principal should be applied to
achieve the managment goals for the facility with the least impact on
the wilderness setting. Airstrips can be kept free of rocks, ruts and
woody debris and grassy vegetation kept in check without resorting to
close-crop mowing. Existing landing surface dimensions and approach
clearings can be maintained while all other improvements not needed
for the safety of daytime use of the strips are removed. Airfield fences
can be removed except where strips are in close proximity to unfenced
grazing allotments. Maintenance work can be done by non-motorized
methods, with approval for motorized access granted on a case-by-case
basis.
51
230
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232
711 Franklin St.
Rapid City, SD 57701
The Izaak Walton
League of America
DEFENDERS OF SOIL, AIR, WOODS, WATERS, AND WILDLIFE
2 September 199:;
Senator Larry Pressler
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-4101
Dear Senator Pressler:
Regarding your hearing to explore issues surrounding public
land use and its impact on small business, please include the
-following comments in the o-f-ficial hearing record.
The Black Hills Forest managed by the U.S. Forest Service
should be managed to serve a broad spectrum Ot public purposes
and uses. Recognizing that the bulk o-f the nation's long term
timber potential is on lands owned by industry, -farmer, and
other private parties, commodity uses o-f public forests must
not be over emphasized at the expense of such public values as
fish and wildli-fe, outdoor recreation, water quality, scenic
beauty, wilderness, and natural ecosystems.
The ne;;t generation of forest plans should place greater
emphasis on fisheries, aquatic resources, remote habitats,
watersheds and wildlife; de-emphasi zie timber harvest
relative to other resource values, and scale back excessive
road bui 1 di ng .
The League believes that carefully selected areas that show
some evidence of human impact should be designated as
wilderness and managed so that wilderness conditions are
restored by the forces of nature.
<i chard Rasmussen
State Director, IWLA
233
114 E. Philadelphia #3
Rapid City, South Dakota 57701
September 6, 1993
The Honorable Dale Bumpers
The Honorable Larry Pressler
Small Business Committee
U. S. Senate
Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Senators Bumper and Pressler:
I briefly attended the recent Rapid City hearings of the Senate Small Business
Comnittee that were to addresi "public land use impact on small business."
I was extremely disheartened by the lack of rational discussion and fairplay
at these hearings. I am submitting these conments to help correct the record.
First, the hearing was called to investigate "public land use impact on small
business." Little of the testimony actually addressed that issue. Instead,
Senator Pressler used the hearing as a political rally for his new-found corporate
supporters in the poorly-named "multiple-use" movement.
When grassroots citizens see our Congressional representatives using
taxpayers' money to hold a political "be-in," respect for Congress and its
institutions pluimet. I had come to hear thoughtful presentations on a legitimate
area of controversy. Instead I was treated to the tired and overblown rhetoric
of the self-appointed "multiple use" crowd. I walked out of the hearing in
disgast.
In order for the public to have any faith in Congress, I would hope that
such "show" hearings will be curtailed. With the federal deficit and its economic
ramifications killing small business, every effort to spare taxpayers the expense
of these political rallies must be made.
In this regard I ask the Small Business Committee to determine whether it
is legal and acceptable to falsely advertise a hearing of the Committee and
proceed to use it as a political rally. Further, the Committee should charge
the cost of this hearing to Senator Pressler's campaign fund, rather than stick
the taxpayers with the bill.
Second, the "hearing" included vitriolic attacks, some by Senator Pressler,
on South Dakotans, including small businesses, who value the natural resources
of our public lands. According to the Forest Service figures, 40 percent of
the economic impact of the Black Hills National Forest is derived from recreation-
based activities. Only 22 percent of the Forest's economic impact results from
timber. Despite this, the timber industry drives the management decisions on
the Forest. It is this real imbalance that must be addressed, not Senator
Pressler's hallucinations about "environmental extremists" ruining the timber
industry.
Third, it's great that Senator Pressler says he wants to retain public land
in multiple use, but before he says that he should be at least minimally
conversant with the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act. Senator Pressler is.upde*
234
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Senator Bumpers
Senator Pressler
Page 2
3 9999 05983 153 5
the mistaken impression that mining is a multiple use. It is not. Under the
Mining Law of 1872 mining is a "super use," taking precedent over all multiple
uses.
Senator Bumpers has been working tirelessly to put mining under the multiple
use framework through reform of the 1872 Mining Act. If Senator Pressler is
truely concerned about seeing mining become part of multiple use management of
our public lands, then he will support Senator Bumper's reform proposals.
Also, Senator Pressler will find that wilderness is included as a multiple
use in the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act. As the Forest Service's Stan Silva
testified, the maximum amount of public timber affected by the Black Hills
wilderness proposals is five percent. That's not much when compared with the
opportunity to attract a whole new type of tourist to South Dakota with little
or no capital investment on our part.
Fourth, since Senator Pressler tried to lay the blame for the timber
industry's problems on unnamed "extremist environmentalists", we must assess
who is really at fault. The Forest Service admits its 1983 Black Hills management
plan overestimated by 20 percent the amount of timber available for cutting.
As a result of that overestimate and Reagan-era mismanagement of timber resources,
a multi-national company. Pope and Talbot, invaded the Black Hills timber market.
The company built large, new sawmills in the region. Before any "environmental
extremist" filed the first "frivolous appeal" on Black Hills timber sales, Pope
and Talbot had driven several small mills to bankruptcy.
But that was not all. Pope and Talbot brought in many of its own out-of-
state people to cut the trees. Pope and Talbot refused to hire native South
Dakota loggers. Since then. Pope and Talbot has mechanized its logging
operations, further reducing its work force. If it was the intent of "extremist
environmentalists" to put loggers out of business it could only hope to be as
successful as Pope and Talbot.
But even that's not all. In order to accomodate Pope and Talbots' ability
to cut more trees and to decrease its costs to process timber sales, the Forest
Service increased the size of timber sales and upgraded road specfications for
timber sales. The result was further erosion of the ability of small business
to bid on timber sales.
Fifth, the overwhelming problems with the timber industry in the Rocky
Mountain region did not arise until the Reagan-Bush era, when the economic well-
being of the multi-national timber industry, rather than the environmental well-
being of a productive forest, became the basis upon which forest policy was
determined. Forest personnel, such as John Mumma, who supported adherence to
scientific multiple use, sustained yield concepts, rather than the dictates of
multi-national logging concerns, found themselves drummed out of federal service.
235
Senator Bumpers
Senator Pressler
Page 3
But all of this begs a question that needs to be asked. Is the primary
purpose of our public land to serve as a welfare check for business, small or
large?
Here in the West some of our people still cling to the myth that independent
risk takers, bucking the federal government, built this part of the nation.
That was never true, and every time I hear the whining and whimpering from the
multiple use crowd when part of their "welfare check" must be shared with the
American public, I, and you, should be disabused of that myth. These people
are desperate now to maintain their grasp on Uncle Sam's apron strings and
largesse. They are draining this nation of its life blood and threaten its future
by its short-term view of our public resources. It's time to set these welfare
cheats upon their own devises. The federal government could do its most
important work for small business by cutting the innense public subsidies for
the timber and mining industries.
Finally, the kind of half-minded demagoguery engaged in at the Rapid City
hearing by Senator Pressler should come to an end. This nation can no longer
afford politicians selling the lies of powerful special interests in order to
maintain their hold on public office.
I wish these comments to be included in the printed record of the Small
Business Committee's Rapid City hearing..
Thank you for this opportunity to comment.
0
Donald Pay
(605) 342-8967
o
ISBN 0-16-043469-6
9 780160"434693
90000
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