[at-l] Bush opens forest roads

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 08:35 AM 7/15/2004 -0400, Bror8588@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 7/14/04 21:44:37 Eastern Daylight Time,
>jbryankramer@msn.com writes:
>
> > Now that I agree is a long lasting scandal and should be fixed.
> >
> > Bryan
> >
> > Lex et Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Paratus, et Fidelis!
> >
> > > Among the scandals of the US Forest Service is that it costs
> > > taxpayers $2 for every dollar gained from the sale of wood on
> > > National Forests.
>
>Is this akin to farmer's subsidies?  Or, US support of Tobacco Farmers?
>Perhaps, but I think that the solution is Capitalism so that no subsidies be
>given. Present subsidies should be phased out on a diminishing basis over 
>3 years
>(1/3 each year).
>
>Skylander

It's not a subsidy per se. What happens is that the USFS sells timber 
cutting rights at ridiculously low prices with the agreement that the USFS 
will build (or pay for building) the access roads necessary for the removal 
of the timber. The roads frequently (always?) cost more to build than the 
USFS receives for the standing timber so in effect the timber company is 
getting a subsidy that allows it to sell the lumber competitively on the 
world market. About 10 years ago I read an article which noted that the 
volume of timber taken from our national forests almost exactly equaled our 
lumber sales to Japan. I don't know where those figures stand today.