Urges the Bush Administration and Congress to direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to dedicate the staff and resources necessary to expeditiously grant private forest land owners permits for right of way access to cross federal lands managed by the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior.
Resolution
To the President of the United States, US House of Representatives, US Senate, Secretary of Agriculture, the Chief of the Forest Service, and Secretary of the Interior:
WHEREAS, throughout the Pacific Northwest, the US Government owns millions of acres of land intermingled and adjacent to private forestland owners,
WHEREAS, historically, private forestland owners have continuously used federal forest system roads to access and manage their lands,
WHEREAS, many of these private landowners depend on access across government land to manage their forest lands in an economical and efficient manner,
WHEREAS, the laws of the United States require government agencies to grant private forest land owners legal authority to cross government lands and permit use of government road systems through road use permits or reciprocal right of way agreements,
WHEREAS, the issuance of access through a road use permit is not a major federal action under the National Environmental Policy Act,
WHEREAS, private forest land owners have experienced considerable delays at greatly increased costs in obtaining permission to cross government land to access their own land,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that members of the Oregon Logging Conference respectfully request US President George W. Bush, Honorable Members of the US House of Representatives and US Senate, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Interior to respect the private property rights of forest land owners intermingled with or adjacent to government land, reduce the cost and delay to landowners in obtaining right of way access, and dedicate the staff and resources necessary to meet the lawful obligations.