Washington, DC — The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment offered by Sen. Richard Bryan (D-NV), Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) that would have reduced funding for timber sales management.  The amendment was defeated by a 54-43 margin.  Amendment supporters Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) were absent from the vote along with a potential supporter, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).  Seven Republicans — Senators Fitzgerald (IL), Specter (PA), Brownback (KS), Chafee (RI), Roth (DE), DeWine (OH), and Jeffords (VT), joined 36 Democrats supporting the amendment.  Supporters of the amendment were shocked and dissapointed by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-NM) and Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD).  They jointed five other Democrats to oppose Sen. Bryan's amendment.  Other Democrats opposing the amendment included Senators Landrieu (LA), Breaux (LA), Lambert-Lincoln (AR), Johnson (SD), and Baucus (MT).

In 1997, Senator Bryan offered an amendment to reduce subsidies for timber road construction that lost in a 50-50 tie.  Sen. Bryan was poised to offer an amendment to reduce funding for timber sale management in 1998, but the Interior Appropriations bill never reached the Senate floor because of the budget “train wreck” in Congress. Disappointingly, Tennessee Republicans Frist and Thompson supported Sen. Bryan’s 1997 amendment but opposed this year’s amendment.  Supporters were pleased with Sen. Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Brownback (R-KS).  Both Senators switched from their opposition to the 1997 amendment by supporting this year’s effort.

If passed, Senator Bryan’s amendment would have:

• Cut $33 million of waste from the Forest Service timber program.
• Saved $10 million of valuable tax dollars for debt reduction.
• Restored $13 million for fish and wildlife programs and road maintenance.
• Provided $10 million for survey and management of threatened and endangered species.

Specifically, the amendment proposed to cut $33 million from timber sales management and $1.6 million from timber road construction.  The need to cut timber spending is immediate.  According to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Forest Service timber program lost $2 billion from 1992-1997.  Tax dollars spent managing timber sales have been responsible for the vast majority of these losses.

  GOOD NEWS: Bi-partisan efforts in the House eliminate remaining timber road subsidies

For the second straight year, the House has delivered good news in the fight to eliminate timber subsidies.  Prior to Fiscal Year 1999, taxpayer dollars were used to subsidize the construction of logging roads for timber companies through the Purchaser Road Credit (PRC) program and direct appropriations from Congress.  Led by Rep. John Porter (R-IL), the PRC program was eliminated last year.  According to the Congressional Research Service, this program cost taxpayers $1 billion from 1986 to 1996.  This year, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) led the successful House effort to prohibit direct appropriations for logging road construction in the FY 2000 budget.  If the House-Senate conference committee accepts the House language, tax dollars will not be used to build timber roads for logging companies in FY 2000.  This could save taxpayers an additional $50 million per year.

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