WASHINGTON — A bill to provide the secretary of agriculture with the authority to sell timber from U.S. Forest Service lands in Alaska was introduced in the U.S. House last week by Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
Young described the bill as an attempt to find a “short-term solution” to the ban on clearcutting handed down recently by Judge James A. von der Heydt of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court.
In his bill (H.R. 11508), Young is seeking authority for the secretary of agriculture to enter into contracts for the sale of timber from national forest lands in Alaska until Sept. 30, 1977, according to a press release from the Congressman’s office.
“The von der Heydt decision, if allowed to stand, would seriously impede the logging industry of Southeastern Alaska,” Young said. “My bill, if approved by Congress, would permit a short-term solution to the von der Heydt decision until Congress has an opportunity to study and revise the Forest Service Organic Act of 1897.”
Although it is not included in the bill in its present form, Young said he was amenable to the idea of creating “buffer zones” around freshwater spawning streams to protect them from the impacts of clearcutting activities.
In addition, Young said he has spoken with Rep. Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash), chairman of the House committee on agriculture to which H.R. 11508 has been referred. “He (Foley) understands the urgency of the problem with regard to Alaska and has promised to hold hearings on the clearcutting issue as soon as possible,” Young said. “It is during these hearings that we will take up the issue of creating protective buffer zones around salmon spawning streams.”