Contributions Pave The Way For Timber Industry Common Cause Says $8 Million Helped Keep Road Program Going

Millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the timber industry helped doom proposals in Congress this year to cut off spending for construction of logging roads in national forests, Common Cause said Tuesday.

The more than $8 million in contributions since 1991 includes a significant increase the past two years in “soft money” checks given to the Democratic and Republicans parties, which then transfer money to individual candidates, said the nonprofit consumer watchdog group.

The industry also reported $2.9 million in lobbying expenses for the first six months of 1997, more than triple the $840,000 spent by environmental groups that tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the Forest Service’s road purchaser-credit program, the group said.

“What happened to the road-credit program in 1997 was an outrageous demonstration of the power of big money on public policy,” said Common Cause’s president, Ann McBride.

“Timber interests tripled their soft-money spending in 1995-96, a move that seemed to help them gain leverage with Congress despite the environmental concerns of the overwhelming majority of Americans,” she said.

Senators who in September voted down an amendment to cut off the roads spending received an average of $27,337 in contributions since 1991 from the American Forest & Paper Association and the political action committees of its member companies, Common Cause said.

That amendment, offered by Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., failed on a 51-49 vote. A similar House measure failed 211-209.

AFPA and membership PACs contributed $5.6 million directly to candidates from January 1991 through June 1997, Common Cause said in the new report, “Carrying a Big Stick: How Big Timber Triumphs in Washington.”

The industry gave $1.5 million in soft money to parties in 1995-1996 - up from $481,960 in 1993-94 and $345,120 in 1991-92, the report said.

Environmental groups fighting the logging roads gave no soft money during the period. Only three have PACs - the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters. They contributed $2.8 million to candidates from June 1991 through June 1997, Common Cause said - half of the industry total.

Critics of the road-credit program say it amounts to a subsidy for the timber industry, reimbursing companies for the cost of building roads to timber sales with credits they can use to bid on new timber sales.

American Forest & Paper Association spokesman Frank Stewart said Tuesday the trade group was reviewing the report.

Its president, W. Henson Moore, has said previously that the program is the cheapest and most efficient way to construct the roads. He says they are used for fighting fires, recreation and local traffic as well as logging.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who received more than $360,000 in timber PAC money during the six-year period - more than any other member of Congress - is among those who argue the roads are necessary to help increase Pacific Northwest timber production.

Logging on national forests in Washington, Oregon and Northern California has dropped to less than 1 billion board feet a year, compared to annual averages in excess of 4 billion board feet during the 1980s.

“Gordon Smith campaigned on the need for a more balanced approach to our natural resource laws, and there happened to be many in Oregon and beyond that agree with his philosophy,” his spokesman, John Easton, said Tuesday.

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This sidebar appeared with the story: Contributions Donor Demos GOP Total International Paper Co. 54,200 992,861 1,047,061 Georgia-Pacific Corp. 301,755 727,250 1,029,005 Stone Container Corp. 46,000 647,450 693,450 Westvaco Corp. 90,450 511,000 601,450 Gilman Paper Co. 519,600 22,100 541,700 Champion International Corp. 185,398 353,904 539,302 Procter&Gamble/BuckeyeCellulose 153,825 365,950 519,775 Weyerhaueser Co. 95,215 415,619 510,834 Willamette Industries Inc. 19,800 291,876 311,676 Union Camp Corp. 31,950 256,315 288,265 Ala. River Pulp/Parsons&Whitmore 280,000 none 280,000 American Forest & Paper Assoc. 52,620 214,705 267,325 Mead Corp. 43,850 171,400 215,250 Boise Cascade Corp. 20,500 182,000 202,500 Visy Industries/Pratt Industries 85,000 105,000 190,000 Simpson Timber Co. 28,000 158,350 186,350 Potlatch Corp. 49,350 136,616 185,966 SD Warren/Scott Paper Co. 37,000 122,553 159,553