American Forest Resource Council November 17, 2011 AC NS, August 19, 2011 Page Forest Planning Rule Hearing

Transcription

1 American Forest Resource Council 5100 S.W. Macadam Avenue, Suite 350 Portland, Oregon Phone: (503) Fax: (503) November 17, 2011 AC NS, August 19, 2011 Page Forest Planning Rule Hearing On November 15, the House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a hearing on Forest Service Regulating Roadblocks to Productive Land Use and Recreation: Proposed Forest Planning Rule, Special-use Permits, and Travel Management. Two panels testified. On the panel dedicated to the Proposed Planning Rule were Scott Horngren, AFRC staff attorney, also testifying on behalf of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition; Margaret Soulen-Hinson, American Sheep Association; Greg Mumm, the Blue Ribbon Coalition; and Dr. Ron Stewart, former Region 5 Regional Forester representing the National Forest Service Retirees Association, and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. Scott Horngren testified that the Proposed Rule will substantially reduce the discretion of the Forest Service in both the planning and project areas to which the Courts are increasingly willing to give deference. He emphasized that instead of streamlining the planning process and making the Forest Service more efficient, the Proposed Rule does just the opposite. In response to a question from the Subcommittee, he noted the parallels between the viability rule and the expensive and burdensome Survey and Manage program under the Northwest Forest Plan. The other user group members of the panel expressed grave concern over the complexity of the Proposed Rule and that is goes beyond the agency s statutory duties. Chief Tidwell was questioned by members of the Subcommittee on the viability rule noting that the National Forest Management Act ties the requirement to multiple use objectives and the continuing difficulties that have resulted from this aspect of past rules. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) urged the Chief to go back and revise the rule to make it consistent with the stated objectives of streamlining and simplifying the planning process. Overall, members of the Subcommittee were highly critical of the Proposed Rule. AFRC hopes that the Forest Service will take to heart the points brought out at the hearing and revise the rule before issuing it in final form which it is expected to do later this winter. Scott s testimony can be found on our website: A video of the hearing is available at /Ann Forest Burns 1

2 FY12 Appropriations Not Final Congress is nearly two months into Fiscal Year 2012 and has yet to pass permanent appropriations for federal agencies. Instead, the federal government has been operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) that is set to expire on November 18. Progress is slowly being made to package a number of individual appropriations into minibus legislation. House and Senate negotiators recently reached an agreement on a package that includes the Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science (CJS), and Transportation/Housing and Urban Development bills. The package also includes a CR to keep other government agencies funded until December 16, thus giving appropriators more time to work on the remaining spending bills. That package is expected to be voted on by the full House and Senate prior to the expiration of the current CR. Based on the spending levels reflected in the proposed AG, CJS and Transportation spending bills it appears that appropriators are adopting the $1.043 trillion discretionary spending limit for FY12 that was adopted in the August debt limit deal. That level of spending would be higher than the limits that were adopted in the House appropriations bills earlier this year. It is unclear how fiscally conservative House members may respond to the higher spending levels. Significant uncertainty surrounds the path forward for the Interior Appropriations bill given the disagreement that exists between the House and Senate over the inclusion of policy riders, many of which deal with the EPA. The Interior Appropriations bill also provides funding for the Department of the Interior and Forest Service. It is possible that the Interior bill could be packaged with a must pass appropriations measure, such as the Defense bill. Either way, it appears likely that the Forest Service and BLM will continue to operate under a CR in the short term. Unfortunately, the lack of a final appropriations bill creates significant uncertainty within the agencies. In 2011 the agencies didn t receive their final budget allocations until April, which resulted in some forests being unable to meet their timber targets due to lack of employees and planning earlier in the year. / Tom Partin Senate, House Wilderness Actions Both the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee took recent steps to advance or consider wilderness proposals, many of which have seen very little action in recent years. On November 10, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chaired by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) approved by voice vote a package of wilderness, national parks, energy and infrastructure bills and moved them onto the full Senate for later consideration. It was the first action by the Committee to advance additional wilderness areas during this Congress. Even though the bills passed easily, two Committee members not present for the markup Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY), pledged not to support each bill carte blanche when they reach the Senate floor. Lee s approach will be not to vote for any additional 2

3 wilderness unless the state legislature where the designation would take place gives their consent. Included in the bills were Oregon Caves, Devil s Staircase (both in Oregon) and Illabot Creek Wild and Scenic area located in Washington. The Committee is expected to take up another round of land bills later, which undoubtedly will be more controversial. These will likely include among others, allowing an Alaskan native corporation to acquire lands from the Tongass National Forest outside of the area covered in their long-term agreement with the U.S. Government. House Action On October 25, Representative Rob Bishop, chairman of the House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee, held a hearing to review six bills which would designate new wilderness areas, and heard a proposal from Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that would require the Department of Interior to sell 3.3 million acres located in Utah to the highest bidder. Following the hearing Chairman Bishop said that the wilderness proposals which totaled about 125,000 acres, and included the Devil s Staircase in Oregon and the expansion of the Alpine Lakes wilderness in Washington State, would not be packaged into a comprehensive omnibus public lands bill, but rather each bill would be examined on its own merits. This was the first hearing in which the Committee considered wilderness proposals this session and Congress has not passed any wilderness bills for the past two-and-a-half years. / Tom Partin Salazar s Wilderness Proposal On November 10, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar issued a report to Congress that proposed 18 backcountry areas in nine states as either national conservation or wilderness areas on lands managed primarily by the Department of Interior as part of his America s Great Outdoors effort. According to the Secretary these areas have significant local and bipartisan Congressional support for reclassification into a protective status. Bob Abbey, BLM Director justified the proposal for additional wilderness areas by outlining that his agency oversees 245 million acres and currently only 8.7 million acres of those lands or 3.5 percent are in wilderness status. Some of the areas designated for the special listings include: California Beauty Mountain Wilderness Study Area The California Desert - Sand to Snow, Mojave Trails, Avawatz Mountains, Great Falls Basin, Golden Valley, and other Conservation Designations English Ridge Idaho Boulder - White Clouds - Jerry Peak and Jerry Peak Wilderness Study Areas 3

4 Montana Sleeping Giant and Sheep Creek Wilderness Study Areas Oregon Devils Staircase Wild Rogue Washington San Juan Islands National Conservation Area Congress will still have to act on any of these proposed areas, and the House has been very reluctant to approve any new wilderness areas during this session. / Tom Partin DNR Timber Program Report Below is DNR s FY12 timber sale program through the month of October. Sales offered 43 Sales sold 36 Sales no-bid 7 Volume offered mmbf Volume sold Volume no-bid 27.1 % Volume sold 84% Sold sale value $47.5 million Price/MBF $338 Overbid ratio 18% Avg bidders per sale 2.5 DNR expects to sell approximately 652 mmbf in FY12, 578 mmbf will come from the westside and 74 mmbf off of the eastside. DNR has made up their volume arrearage from the decades early years and harvest should be at the sustained yield through the rest of the harvest decade which ends in FY14. /Jacob Groves Six Rivers Sale Program Challenged On September 23, a lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California by the Conservation Congress and Environmental Protection Information Center challenging the Beaverslide Project EIS. This project contains over 20 million board feet of timber and represents the annual timber sale program for the Six Rivers National Forest. The plaintiffs main claim is that the US Fish and Wildlife Service s (FWS) concurrence letter stating that the project would not adversely affect the spotted owl was arbitrary and capricious. They claim the Forest Service should have formally consulted with the FWS over the effects of thinning and the possible degrading of habitat since trees would be cut and barred owls are present. However, the thinning would not result in any change to the classification of the habitat. 4

5 Plaintiffs also argue that formal consultation is required to account for information in the new owl recovery plan. They raised claims under the National Forest Management Act arguing that the project violates the forest plan and fails to maintain viability of the spotted owl, marten, and fisher because the analysis relies on habitat rather than populations surveys. A preliminary injunction has not been sought and the parties will not oppose intervention of Trinity River Lumber. A stipulation is expected on a briefing schedule with a hearing scheduled for June 8, 2012 to resolve the case before the logging season begins next July. /Scott Horngren Geissler Joins AFRC On November 1, Andy Geissler joined the AFRC staff as our new Western Oregon Field Forester. Prior to joining AFRC, Andy worked for the Washington Department of Natural Resources as a forester in the Pacific Cascade Region. He also worked for consulting firms in New Jersey and San Jose, CA and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Andy is a forestry graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Andy will be responsible for monitoring projects on the both the Forest Service and BLM in Western Oregon. He brings a good skill set of timber sale layout and administration that will be helpful to our members in that region. You can reach Andy in our Eugene office (541) or at ageissler@amforest.org /Tom Partin Weldon Named Deputy Chief Leslie Weldon, Regional Forester for the Northern Region (Region 1) has been selected as Forest Service Deputy Chief. Weldon replaces Joel Holtrop who retired at the end of September. Weldon has served in several key positions during her career including District Ranger on the Bitterroot National Forest, Executive Policy Assistant to former Chief Michael Dombeck, and Forest Supervisor on the Deschutes National Forest. Some issues Weldon may face in her new job include helping to develop a new forest planning rule, travel management planning, special use management, improving forest health, and providing commercial products to rural communities for the creation of jobs. Weldon s work both as Deschutes Forest Supervisor and R-1 Regional Forester has shown her interest in bringing groups together for the benefit of good forest management and her understanding of the need for our forests to produce commercial products to keep infrastructure and communities healthy. We welcome Leslie into her new position. /Tom Partin Idaho Public Lands On October 21, Idaho Public Television aired The People s Land a documentary looking for answers to What does it mean when 60% of your state is public owned? The program examined the history of public lands in the west and how they evolved into where we are today. Public lands provide a remarkable wealth of natural resources such as water, wildlife, minerals 5

6 and timber. These lands provide a playground for many and are a potential source of raw materials and revenue for others. More and more people want something from public lands and the public is now dictating the management of those lands with conflicting objectives. Small counties such as Boise, composed of 75 percent public lands, are struggling to pay for roads and schools and feel that the U. S. government has reneged on its promise. How does the Forest Service measure success with conflicting objectives? Is public policy failing? This program can be viewed at /Irene Jerome6 6