lls have operated in the area for years. But the Wyoming Tie & ny was the largest. When it was finally sold to new owners pansion was begun and by 1963, the mill at Dubois had a mill million board feet. Further expansion was initiated and en U.S. Plywood acquired the mill, capacity had been increa lion board feet a year. By 1968, unofficial estimates placed mill million board feet a year.

to appreciate what happened to the forests, we have to go ba amine the records. The General Timber Management Statem one National Forest (1960) said, "The management objecti cent plans were (1) to put the forest in the best possible silvi to produce sawtimber and railroad ties, (3) to utilize sm les, props, and posts, (4) to establish a stable lumber indust ide adequate watershed protection."

the statement says, "In 1957, an allowable cut of 5.6 million f Working Circle and 9.4 million feet for the Wind River Worki ablished temporarily to serve until completion of manageme e working circles. This interim allowable cut was approved Temporary Directive of February 29, 1960." The statement al Wind River block will be managed on the basis of a 160 ye

ys, "The present industry capacity will be increased to utilize t This will be done by offering timber sales in such size for su 1 encourage industry expansion.

he establishment, by 1970, of an adequate industry to utili dgepole pine material will also be encouraged. A pulp, ground lant could use this size material. The raw material would com er areas, small trees from current sawtimber sale areas and fro aning of lodgepole pine stands.

distribution of growing stock in each age class will be d dgepole pine this will be accomplished in the first rotatio

levelopment road system is inadequate for the needs of the timbe è all logs must be transported from the woods to the mill b this system will receive high priority in planning and in thei truction.

ry road system to get the timber from the woods to the sawmil and constructed well in advance of each 10-year cutting period. n to the Timber Management Plan, Wind River Working Circle e Summary of Results Under Previous Plans, we read, "Timbe the past 10 years averaged 8 million board feet per year. Thi percent of the annual allowable cut of 9.4 million board feet. Th as during the past five years, with annual cuts better than 1 'eet or an average of 12 percent above the allowable cut. This in vas due to the establishment of new industry that would utiliz

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much too seriously by industry. It was increased fro lion board feet per year in 1963 to about 55 million almost doubled.

The allowable cut on the Wind River district, set a year in 1960, rose to a high of 22 million board feet du about 17 million board feet for the five years.

What happened on the ground? Today, there are cle acres. There are a dozen or more blocks of 1,200 acre hundreds of acres on which there is no regrowth sho back 20 years.

Clear-cutting went from stream-side to timberlin McGee was heard to observe, "looked like it had bee have slipped and erosion has increased.

Clear-cutting went indiscriminately through some the West. The roads which brought unlimited access have all but eliminated whole herds of elk. In the Dub ing and fishing are as important to the total economy

Across Union Pass on the Teton Forest, the wood again, graveled roads brought trailer homes into a wilderness just three years ago. The head of Fish C one of the choicest elk hunting territories in Wyoming.

The Forest Service and the timber industry are want opens up forests and creates better elk habitat. Tha in some few areas where timber stands are so dens almost impenetrable. But in most of Wyoming, thi doesn't grow that well. And at the head of Fish Creel The long, open ridges, the big parks, and the open st ditions which were ideal for elk and moose.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department figures sh population of 50 percent in one year. Numbers went Upper Gros Ventre-Fish Creek area in 1970 to around those figures to drop even lower before the elk popula

The Forest Service had come under increasing cri In 1968, a new district ranger, Harold Wadley, was b put a stop order on some imminent sales and scaled d He also immediately incurred the wrath of the big i had already begun to worry about the loss of the reso to them, and they backed him.

He held a public meeting in April, 1969, and said he cut from the approximate 17 million board feet in 19 He also announced that a new timber survey woul reduction and estimated it would be in the neighborh

A great hue and cry went up from the supporters of Wyoming's Governor Stanley K. Hathaway decried

he area considered operable for timber harvest is reduced beca nds, steep slopes, rocky areas, protection of critical watersh creational values, and requirements for wildlife cover. . . .” exemplary decision on the part of responsible Forest Service pe that there are other values in the forests besides timber. Sa me after the area had been timber "mined" as the Bolle repor s it. Nevertheless, we are grateful to Ranger Wadley and to Su avin for standing by their convictions. We are sorry that Ha o pay the price for execellent and outstanding public service. s more. Timber interests have nearly stripped the Medicine I est in southeastern Wyoming. Clayton Trosper, Wyoming Divis he Izaak Walton League, estimates that as much as 50 to 60 per has been removed from most of what is termed the Snowy Ra portsmen, game biologists, and concerned citizens from both si rn Range are fearful that the Big Horn National Forest is sla fate as the Dubois area. There, a timber-oriented forest supervi s, is Hell-bent on harvesting the timber resource. Maps for I and future timber sales point to a fixation on timber and tim gain, roads will penetrate areas of great importance to exist è longterm value of the elk may far outweigh the once-in-every-1 op.

s a validly recognized and desirable use of one forest resource. T ble fact.

so clear is the distinction between a use of necessity for social a sons, and a use solely for fulfillment of a Forest Service cutt atly drawn 10-year management plan. Or similarly, a use justif ds of a lumbering operation disproportionate in size to the tim able. cept the Forest Service premise that every square foot of eve st must be carefully managed in the manner of a well tend atural cycle of regeneration, growth, death, and decay was a nec the ecological system long before man and his utilitarian wa the scene. That ecological prenomenon is still a necessary adju flow of all life. To tell me that a fallen forest monarch is a was is to question the wisdom of the Almighty and put the Forest Se tch higher in omnipotence.

Service sees itself as the all-wise, all-pervading, and all-prot of the foresct resource. Actually, the Forest Service, in the for anger and his few assistants, are lonely sentinels who work alo nd penetrate the interior only enough to create the illusion ol.

the Forest Service turns the timber industry loose in an attem d "manage" the massive elements under their jurisdiction th t control they have. Timber sales are made with the best of i in their eagerness to fulfill the 10-year master plan of so man feet of timber produced and so many acres cut and entered cle, they abdicate their responsibility.

homa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South bership of close to 2,000.

As justification for appearing before y my background. In 1968 I became involved the last stand of virgin Ponderosa pine in Service management.

In 1969 I worked on a national level for paign to defeat the Timber Supply Act. Fo to edit and produce the joint publication wh "The Case for a Blue Ribbon Commission on the National Forest."

On behalf of our chapter, I want to th arranging these hearings so that the public One of the overriding concerns of conser the Timber Supply Act that multiple use is principle of the Forest Service. However, i and can now be said to be operational. The resource data as a basis for their manager often than not, they react to an inquiry fro and without flexibility.

I defend my remarks by the following: by the Forest Service of the virgin Ponderos alerted conservationists in Wyoming to the other values of America, including wilderne

1. To sell timber the Forest Service had road. The cost of the road minus the sale of in a net loss of $25,000.

2. The proposed timber sale area and route is heavily used by a Boy Scout camp and t most of the wilderness values associated with The revenue from the cap is around $30,000 The revenue from the timber sales could years.

area for 25,000 acres was introduced into Congress de facto wilderness bill. It was reintroduced in Jan time cosponsored by Wyoming's Representative Ter yet, with the hundreds of people who support a wilde on, Medicine Bow Forest officials are still hoping to lo

e surveys tend to become single-use surveys because the ntil a specific project is ready for ground action. Othe d in terms of impact which might occur from the pro se. Then when management decisions are questioned b re is a lack of factual data as a basis for their decision end up trying to justify timber sales as being the best us not investigated the other values as being importan and ecologically of themselves. In effect, this means tha use philosophy is already in practice.

be done if the Forest Service is to survive as a conserva Priorities must return to multiple use in practice as wel

ent submitted by L. M. Brandborg in 1967 to the Publi eview Commission accurately describes where to being

he Commission's) first goals should be to take the bureaucrats of ies off their thrones, instill into the agencies the spirit of democ vity, setting up the climate that will enable a man to become a of skill and dedication rather than because of political prowess ship. I think this Commission may be surprised to find what n the agencies, ready to show its great abilities, once the image ight for power and prestige are done away with. As it is now, re being throttled, and a person rises not on his productivity, his integrity, but on ability to adhere to the bureaucratic line. This ful monolithic organization that tends to thwart the democratic s to keep abreast of the needs of the time. More and more people ware that our land and water are too vital to be handled in this

on, however, made no such recommendation as this and instead port of the commodity interests with the dominant use philosphy gement. Just where does a concerned public turn for wise managends? The Subcommittee on Public Lands?

ission, however, made no such recommendation as this me out in support of the commodity interests with the