Forests Out of Balance

While some timber sales from national forest lands, primarily in the Pacific Northwest, routinely recover the federal government’s cost of conducting those sales, many do not. In fact, official estimates of the money government lost on below-cost timber sales last year ranged from $250 million to as much as $600 million.

In spite of that, the U.S. Senate last week voted 53 to 42 to give the Forest Service $238 million to build new logging roads next year, an increase of $60 million over the amount that had been sought by the Reagan Administration and $104 million more than was approved by the House of Representatives. Thousands of miles of those roads would penetrate forest areas to allow more timber sales that are bound to lose the government more money. The Senate originally voted $253 million, but scaled that back in the face of intense opposition.

The program would zoom ahead even though the Forest Service has exceeded its own road-construction goals in recent years. And now, the Administration has proposed a long-term national plan for forest management that could double the annual timber harvest to as much as 20 billion board feet by the year 2030 and add 260,000 miles of logging roads to the 319,000 miles that are already there.

Something must be done to rein in this zeal for bulldozing new roads into forest regions, particularly in the Rocky Mountains, where timber sale receipts may not even cover the costs of building the roads. When the Senate-House conference committee meets on the Interior Appropriations bill, it should scale back the road-construction program at least to the $178 million proposed by the Administration.

The Forest Service’s timber-harvesting function is a legitimate and important one. But the service must respect the National Forest Management Act of 1976, which allows it to sell timber only on those lands that that are physically, biologically and economically suited for harvest. The act also requires the service to adhere to all federal environmental protection legislation. But in many areas, road-building and timber-cutting have caused severe erosion, disturbed wildlife habitats and marred areas that are candidates for future wilderness consideration.

Meanwhile, the Administration is spending relatively less for recreation lands and facilities in both the national forests and national parks. The Forest Service’s trail and campground programs have suffered. The Senate rejected spending any money at all to buy private property within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The House did approve a minimal $8 million for acquisition of essential lands that otherwise will be lost to residential development unless purchased in the next year or two.

Considering the Senate’s $238 million for logging roads, it seems as if something is out of balance.