Wood Residue Utilization Act of 1980 Statement on Signing S. 1996 Into Law.

I have today approved the enrolled bill, S. 1996, providing for a pilot program to encourage the efficient utilization of wood residues. The objective of the pilot program is to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate new and innovative means of wood utilization. The activities carried out will be applicable to both private forest lands and the lands of the National Forest System.

There is a significant opportunity to more efficiently utilize our timber resources. Annually, some 190 million dry tons of wood and wood residues are left on timber harvest areas in the Nation. Use of material now left in the forest and resulting from the manufacturing process will benefit local economies by providing the raw material for expanded or new processing facilities. It will benefit the environment by reducing the need to burn this material in order to prepare the site for the next crop of trees. And it will benefit the Nation's long-term timber supply. The legislation has special application to developing uses of wood residues as an alternative energy source.

It is appropriate that the Federal Government engage in this 5-year pilot effort. By providing incentives—both financial and technical—we can encourage testing of various approaches and gain knowledge of the costs involved in such approaches. With this information, private concerns will be encouraged to initiate practices to improve wood utilization. I appreciate the support of many Members of Congress who worked diligently to fashion a bill which provides for strong teamwork between the private and public sectors in improving utilization.

I congratulate the private organizations who aided in the development of this measure, and in particular, the American Forestry Association. A continuing interest by a broad representation of interest groups is important to a successful application of the pilot program.

Finally, I want to emphasize that efforts to improve utilization of the forest resource will be carried out in an environmentally sound manner. Pressure on our renewable resources as a result of accelerated utilization must not be allowed to jeopardize the perpetuation of those resources.