The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

THE FOREST CONFERENCE
Fact Sheet

• The Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture manages 23 million acres in spotted owl range. The Bureau of Land Management in the Department of Interior manages 2.4 million acres in spotted owl range. (Northern spotted owl range is in the forests west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Within that range, the owls preferred habitat is old growth forests.)
• Old growth forests are those at least 200 years old or older. Nearly 90 percent of the region's old growth forests already have been logged. Today, there are an estimated 8 to 9 million acres of old growth forest, most on federally-owned land.
• During the 1980s, the northern spotted owl region - - public and private lands accounted for more than 30 percent of the lumber produced in the United States. Since about one-third of recent harvests in the owl region occur on federal lands, about 10 percent of domestic timber supply is potentially affected by spotted owl protection.
• The rate of employment growth in Washington and Oregon exceeded the U.S. average in every year since 1986.
• In 1970, timber related jobs accounted for about 10 percent of total regional employment. By 1989, timber employment was about 140,000, which represents about 4 percent of total regional employment. (Note: The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern spotted owl as threatened in July, 1990.)
• During the 1980s, the number of jobs in the lumber and wood products sectors in the region declined from 10 jobs per million board feet of harvest to below 8 jobs per million board feet.
• In 1968, Oregon had 300 sawmills. In 1988, Oregon had 165 sawmills. In 1968, California had 216 sawmills. In 1988, California had 93 sawmills. In 1978, Washington had 182 sawmills. In 1988, Washington had 118 sawmills.

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• By law, logs from federal lands cannot be exported, and logs from western state lands are highly restricted.
• Congressional Committees with jurisdiction in federal forest management are: Senate Agriculture Committee, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; House Natural Resources Committee, Agriculture Committee, and House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.

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