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Hearing on Federal "Old-Growth" Policy On October 2, the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee's Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held an "oversight hearing" about the impact of national forest policies on old growth forests, chaired by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). Its purpose, according to Senator Wyden's opening remarks, was to inform strategies to balance environmental and economic concerns associated with old growth; to protect old growth in the larger context of protecting forest health; and to end the controversy surrounding old growth. Witnesses included national legislators, Forest Service officials, academic foresters, industry people, and representatives of preservationist organizations. Much testimony, notably that of Professor Tom Bonnicksen of Texas A&M University, noted the difficulty of defining "old growth"-and even questioning whether the term applied in a scientific (as opposed to political) discussion, although several panelists submitted "characteristics" associated with a working definition of it. In an attempt to clear up this matter, Senator Wyden asked the Forest Service to provide a list of the common elements among the agency's 114 old growth definitions and to list the areas in which there are differences of opinion. Some witnesses were wary of hidden agendas, and Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) expressed concern about the potential for old growth policies to create more preserves and submitted that the idea that "maybe if we support old growth preserves we will get a greater allowable cut" is delusive. Return to Public Policy Archive Forest Resources Association
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