go ahead, mr. burke. >> let me just share an example of where i think regulation with respect to roads would be negative as opposed to a more positive approach. if you required a road permit, the cost would be significant. it would not benefit the land directly, and you'll see why in a minute. it would simply be an additional cost which would make the cost on the landowners and the cost to the loggers more to conduct healthy forest harvesting and thinning. compare that to the voluntary incentive-based leverage, if you will, when farm bill money is put into the hands of private landowners. the private landowner adds his or her own additional money, they add sweat equity, and then they do practices which will last for a long, long time. those benefits get a significant leverage effect and provide much better forest protection, they provide better water quality protection, better fire management. so that's a much better approach than to regulate. >> thank you. mr. dye, did you have comments? >> regulations

mr. burke has pine beetle problems in virginia. and we were talking just a little bit earlier he told me the trees that i have with pine beetles with were at the mill before the beetles woke up from the winter. that's what we need to be doing on our federal lands as well. >> thank you, gentlemen. >> i'll recognize the gentleman from florida for questioning. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. shhwab continuing on the note from my good friend from colorado. you had mentioned in your testimony our nations loggers are in trouble. in a research study complete bid the wood supply institute indicates that we have lost close to 40% of logging capacity here in the united states. i personally know many of these small family owned bys and know that they contribute greatly to communities where unemployment is still hovering between 15% and 20%. the united states is the world's largest consumer of forest products and we would prefer promoting job creation and economic stability here in the united states. could you quickly elaborate on the lay jor

mr. burke has these problems in virginia. he told me the trees that i have with pine beetles were at the mill before the beetles woke up pore winter. >> i yield back, mr. chairman. >> i'll recognize the gentleman from plachlt for mr. sutherland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. schwab continuing on the note from my good friend from colorado, you had mentioned in your testimony that our nation's loggers are in trouble. in a recent study completed indicates we have lost close to 40% of logging capacity here in the united states. i personally know many of these small family-owned businesses and know they contribute greatly to communities wherein employment is hovering between 15% and 20%. we would prefer promoting job creation and chick stability here in the united states. could you quickly elaborate on the major challenges you face, you know, today in your history. because i know your family business, i know the impact you have on your community and i know it's a sacrifice for you to be here. i mean, what are the top two biggest

mr. john burke iii, virginia treefarmer and the board of trustees and the american forest foundation from woodford, virginia. mr. c. randy dye, state forest of west virginia. he's part of the national association of state foresters out of charleston, west virginia. charles a. holmes, the choice resource policy group, the national association of conservation districts in . dr. richardman, on behalf of the american loggers council, from perry florida and mr. michael t.gorgan junior. and it looks like our second panel is all seated so i now recognize mr. burke, if you please begin with your five minutes of testimony. >> good afternoon. [ no audio ] >> sorry. thank you for allowing me to appear before you this afternoon. i extend that thank you to chairman thompson and to ranking member holder as well as the other members of this subcommittee. a bit of an introduction. we manage a family forest in central virginia. i also have the pleasure of working with the american forest foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is among others to encourage healthy forests. we speak for 10 millio

. >> thank you, mr. burke. please go ahead and proceed when you're ready, dye. >> state foresters deliver outreach, technical and financial assistance as well as wildfire protection in partnership with the u.s. forest service, nrcs and other usda agencies. my comments this afternoon, recommendations for the 2012 farm bill endorsed by state foresters that support the conservation and management of the nation's forest. my written statement includes a complete set of priority recommendations from nasf. the development of statewide forest resource assessments and strategies was an important outcome of the 2008 form bill. these forest action plans provided analysis of forest conditions and trends in each state and delineate a priority role and urban force landscape issues and areas, common among the threats to forests identified in the forest action plan included forest pests, invasive species, fuel loads and wildfire, loss of forest to development, threats to urban and community forest. the forest action plans also

mr. burke, you mentioned that right now usda biobased market program doesn't recognize products made from your forest as biobased. can you tell us why this is the case. >> the way the legislation has been incorporated and the regulations that have been drafted, there is language that it requires that it be a new product with a certain date. and if you look at products, for example, that come off of my farm, an example would be hardwood that's made into pallets. there are peal lths that come from overseas that are made of hemp which compete and get the labeling and would be what a federal agency would have to procure over and instead of the product that's made locally on my farm. i think that's an unintended consequence of the legislation. our recommendation is that the playing field be levelled so all biobased products be recognized. that's particularly important at the forest industry at this time because the forest industry is still struggling with one of the worst downturns since the depress

dye, i don't know if mr. burke wants to get into it. the 9th district court ruling of making forest roads point source. can you kind of explain a little bit how best management forest practices versus going to get an mps permits for a point source? how big of a problem? >> sir, being from the neighboring state of ohio, west virginia, as you may be aware, i want to cite we have an excellent program in that state and other states, surrounding states do also, very similar, where we work with the logging community and ensure that bmps are installed and bmps is basically handling water in small quantities to prevent erosion and sedimentations of the state's waters. and all states across the nation have varying degrees of this program, but it's something that the state forestry agencies have handled for 35 years or more. we recognize the importance of it, and we feel that this is being handled and anything further would simply be duplication and added expense. >> would you agree that just going enforcing producers, farmers, whatever to go out

mr. john burke free the chairman of the board of trustees and the american forest foundation from would further virginia. the state for mr. west virginia president of the national association of state foresters out of charleston was virginia. mr. charles holmes, the chairman resource policy group of the national association of conservation in alabama. mr. richard procurement manager on behalf of the american loggers counselings off the eastern from florida, and mr. michael jordan and executive vice president of the society of american foresters in bethesda maryland. and looks like our second panel is seated, so why now recognize mr. burke if he would begin with your five minutes of testimony. >> [inaudible] >> thanks for allowing me to appear before you this afternoon i extend that to train thompson and ranking member of holden as well as the other members of the subcommittee. a bit of an introduction, we manage a family forest in central virginia. i also have the privilege of working with the american forest foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission among others is to encourage health

>> go-ahead, mr. burke. >> let me share an example where i think regulation, with respect to roads, would be negative as opposed to a more positive approach. it would not benefit the land directly. you will see why, in one minute. it would simply be an additional cost. compare that to the voluntary incentive-based leveraged issue, if you will, when farmers money is put into the hands of private landowners. they add a sweat equity and then they do practices which will last for a long time. those give a leverage of facts and provide much better protection. that is a much better approach and then to regulate. >> did you have comments? >> regulations are meant to protect us from something, but if you looked at the list of activities in the forest and what is regulated, it has gone 180 degrees the other way. because of regulations we have increased forest fires and the blood outbreaks. a worsening economy, uncertainty for those who want to invest in businesses, which leads to declining employment. regulations to

mr. burketioned against german arrogance towards countries struggling with debt -- westerwelle cautioned against german arrogance. the eu needs to show unity and strength to overcome the debt crisis. >> despite the eurozone debt crisis, germany said in a monthly record for exports in march. exports grew by nearly 1% by the end of the first quarter. >> the rise came despite the fact that trade in a germany's your son and neighbors was actually weaker in march. >> consumers in non-eu states like china and the u.s. had a strong appetite for german goods. foreign demand for german cars keeps surging. and buyers and brazil, china, and the u.s. are making business brisker than ever for german and industrial technology. the global economy is rebounding, and german firms are riding the crest. german companies exported 98.9 billion euros of goods in march, more than ever before. in the same month, germany imported goods worth 81.5 billion euros, also a new record. that translates into a trade surplus of

mr. john burke the third, the chairman of the board of trustees, from woodforde, virginia, he is president of the national association of state foresters. charleston, west germany -- west virginia. the national association of districts. mr. richard procurement manager on behalf of the american loggers counselings off the eastern from florida, and mr. michael jordan and executive vice president of the society of american foresters in bethesda . and looks like our second panel is seated, so why now recognize mr. burke if he would begin with your five minutes of testimony. >> [no aduudio] sorry. thanks for allowing me to appear before you this afternoon i extend that to train thompson and ranking member of holden as wella s the other members of the subcommittee. as a way of a bit of an introduction, we manage a family forest in central virginia. i also have the privilege of working with the american forest foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission among forests. others is to encourage healthy we speak for 10 million landowners, those are family forests and private land owners. allow

mr. burkea couple of times you mentioned how good the lawyers are for the executives and how -- i was wondering how much that should and does play a role in your use of discretion as opposed to just letting it affect the outcome at trial. >> is a great question. i testify about things like -- we have had the largest organized crime take downs and medicaid history. and we do gains. prosecutions with gains are a priority. if you have mary jo white on the other side and she says i want you to make a presentation list and you know that the person is probably going to have great representation. and in very sophisticated cases -- it may be that the defense is interested and they believe that by just starting they can make this go quicker. but it may also be in the government's interest because we can be more efficient. the bottom line to your question is that it is a fact that these cases are well represented. but what it could do is that a very good lawyer is able to show me why we should not bring

mrs. brooks? >> no. >> did the work that out anyway? >> there is a family connection. burke is a constituent of his. they live relatively close. there is a fairly long established family connection. that was the genesis of it. >> let's go back to the section about influence of papers having an outcome. above the second perception that there is supplied support that would be the director of favors tax there are issues and policies relevant to the issue. >> in the course of the election campaign, there were issues that a whole range of newspapers were considered to be important. i will seek to maximize that. once in government, hgot on with the business of governing. politicians keep their promises. we ended upith a coalition of government that made that a more complex process. >> we all got to close to it? had expressed you before it july 2011? >> i do not remember him doing so. >> you said that he almost have to meet with journalists because it was so important that you think he would have preferred to be enjoying in that at home with his family. did he ever expressed disgruntlement to you that he h

mrs. brooks? >> no. >> did the work that out anyway? >> there is a family connection. burke is a constituent of his. they live relatively close. there is a fairly long established family connection. that was the genesis of it. >> let's go back to the section about influence of papers having an outcome. above the second perception that there is supplied support that would be the director of favors tax there are issues and policies relevant to the issue. >> in the course of the election campaign, there were issues that a whole range of newspapers were considered to be important. i will seek to maximize that. once in government, he got on with the business of governing. politicians keep their promises. we ended up with a coalition of government that made that a more complex process. >> we all got to close to it? had expressed you before it july 2011? >> i do not remember him doing so. >> you said that he almost have to meet with journalists because it was so important that you think he would have preferred to be enjoying in that at home with his family. did he ever expressed disgruntlement to you that

burks they recognize they are about to and they don't like it. so they are yelling. that's hathis is. i respectfully but very strongly disagree with mr. leahy's words. i think that the supreme court is going to invalidate the affordable care act and it should because it's unconstitutional. >> i was sitting 10 feet away from him the day that the individual mandate was argued and i know you were in the courtroom. when justice kennedy started to ask probing questions and express doubts about the mandate and he asked tough questions on both sides. when he asked the first set of questions, senator leahy almost sighed or grimaced at that point, like those who support the law were in a little bit of trouble. there are other who is speculating that maybe the senators -- there may be been a leak that tipped them off to how the justices have voted because we know they have voted. but they are working on the opinion. what do you make of the speculation that there could have been a leak? >> well, you know, i don't know quite what to make about it. leaks at the supreme court are, as you know, shannon, extraordinarily rare. i don't think they had t

mrs. brooks? >> no. >> did the work that out anyway? >> there is a family connection. burke is a constituent of his. they live relatively close. there is a fairly long established family connection. that was the genesis of it. >> let's go back to the section about influence of papers having an outcome. above the second perception that there is supplied support that would be the director of favors tax there are issues and policies relevant to the issue. >> in the course of the election campaign, there were issues that a whole range of newspapers were considered to be important. i will seek to maximize that. once in government, he got on with the business of governing. politicians keep their promises. we ended up with a coalition of government that made that a more complex process. >> we all got to close to it? had expressed you before it july 2011? >> i do not remember him doing so. >> you said that he almost have to meet with journalists because it was so important that you think he would have preferred to be enjoying in that at home with his family. did he ever expressed disgruntlement to you that

mrs. brooks? >> no. >> did the work that out anyway? >> there is a family connection. burke is a constituent of his. they live relatively close. there is a fairly long established family connection. that was the genesis of it. >> let's go back to the section about influence of papers having an outcome. above the second perception that there is supplied support that would be the director of favors tax there are issues and policies relevant to the issue. >> in the course of the election campaign, there were issues that a whole range of newspapers were considered to be important. i will seek to maximize that. once in government, he got on with the business of governing. politicians keep their promises. we ended up with a coalition of government that made that a more complex process. >> we all got to close to it? had expressed you before it july 2011? >> i do not remember him doing so. >> you said that he almost have to meet with journalists because it was so important that you think he would have preferred to be enjoying in that at home with his family. did he ever expressed disgruntlement to you that