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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 2, 1993                   TAG: 9303020100
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG                                LENGTH: Short

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WASHINGTON FOREST SALES TOP $1 MILLION

The George Washington National Forest reported timber revenues last year hit $1 million for the first time.

Still, the forest spent $1.08 million more on its timber program than it made, the Forest Service said.

The national forest's timber revenues in 1992 were $1.056 million, a 55 percent increase over the year before, the Forest Service said.

The amount of timber harvested was up 4 percent, to 38.2 million board feet. Revenues averaged $27.67 per 1,000 board feet, compared with $18.56 the year before.

Jim Sitton, a timber staff officer, attributed the increase to efforts at being more businesslike and designing timber sales to meet current market conditions.

Of $356,780 that the forest paid to 17 counties in Virginia and West Virginia in place of property taxes, $251,821 came from timber receipts.

Additionally, the timber sales supported 345 jobs and provided $5.5 million in income to local communities, the Forest Service said.

Timber was cut on 4,082 acres in 1992, which represents three-tenths of 1 percent of the forest's 1.1 million acres.

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