Letter to the Speaker of
the House of Representatives and President of the Senate on Federal Management
of Renewable
Dear
Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
I
am pleased to transmit to the Congress my Statement of Policy regarding Federal
management and use of our Nation's renewable forest and rangeland resources for
FY 1986 - 1990, pursuant to the
Sincerely,
Ronald
Reagan
B
Statement of Policy on
the Recommended Program for the
The
fundamental policy principle for the management of Forest Service programs in
my administration is the principle of judicious balance.
In
both long-range planning and in day-to-day decisions, our forest managers and
scientists must strive for judicious balance among: the needs of this and
future generations of Americans for the various benefits obtainable from our
nation's forest lands; the need for protection of unspoiled wilderness lands
and the need for harvesting timber and forage and recovering minerals to
sustain a growing national economy; the need to produce direct economic
benefits for our people and the need to produce benefits that do not have a
specific dollar return such as outdoor recreation opportunities and wildlife
habitat; the need to invest in the national forests and the need to meet the
other demands on the Federal budget each year; and the share of the costs of
the system to be paid by the general taxpayers and the share to be paid by the
specific users of our national forests.
Achieving
the balance we seek is not an easy process. Because we as individuals and as
interest groups may place widely divergent values on a particular potential
management action, and because our society encourages active participation by
the public in governmental decisions, our major choices are often preceded by
conflict and followed by dissent. Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to
make the choices and decisions necessary to manage our forest resources, and we
must make them judiciously.
During
my administration the number of designated wilderness areas managed by the
Forest Service has doubled -- to 329 areas comprising over 32 million acres,
while the remaining 159 million acres, managed under the principles of multiple
use and sustained yield, have produced 11 billion board feet of timber harvest
annually, and 225 million recreation visitor days annually, as well as
productive wildlife habitat and oil, gas, and other minerals to sustain our
economy. Capability on non-Federal lands has grown as well, as has our store of
new technology to accomplish these output levels in a way that carefully
preserves environmental and economic values. Where conflict in the management of
these resources was inevitable, we have sought the judicious balance.
The
Secretary of Agriculture's recommended program for the Forest Service, called
for by the Resources Planning Act, sets forth a plan within which we can
achieve the balance we seek. It identifies a reasonable range of management
directions, outputs, costs, and goals for the long-term future. It provides the
Congress and the public with a valuable information base on which to continue
their informed participation in the decisions affecting our national forests.
I
trust we will continue to work together to ensure that our valuable forest
resources are managed judiciously for the benefit of all our people -- of this
generation and of generations yet to come.
Note:
Identical letters were sent to Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of
Representatives, and George Bush, President of the Senate.