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CLOSING RANGE DAVE SKINNER THE SMELL OF RAIN
GUEST COLUMN STEVE DAINES
PROTECT ACCESS AND RESTORE MHEALTH TO PUBLIC LANDS
ONTANA’S NATIONAL FOR- levels in our rivers and streams, fire- ests and public lands have fighting teams aren’t planning for if been a treasured part of our there is a catastrophic fire this summer,
EARLY IN JUNE, U.S. CONGRESS- man Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, introduced bill HR 2644, the National Forest Collaborative Incentive Act. Greens, especially the sue-crazies, are upset, but I’m not. I’m impressed, and surprised.
The bill would put limits on lawsuits brought against forest management pro- posals in certain circumstances – those covered by community wildfire plans, those proposed by a resource advisory committee (RAC), or projects that come out of the “collaborative process” autho- rized by the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.
Under the bill, when the Forest Service prepares an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS) out of any of these three classes, it would prepare only two alternatives: No action, or implement the action.
The “exciting” part is section 202, which would require litigants to post a bond equal to the estimated “reason- able” cost of defending the chosen action in court.
Under current law, eco-plaintiff groups don’t risk a dime of their own. With no fiscal downside, they can file multiple-count, kitchen-sink allegations and if just one count sticks, everything stops until that count is resolved. Fur- thermore, even in cases where just one of many counts is upheld, the government is obligated to pay the legal costs of the plaintiff.
Under the language in Zinke’s bill, to get a bond refund (with interest, of course), plaintiffs would have to “ulti- mately prevail” on “all causes of action in all actions brought by the plaintiff chal- lenging the forest management activity.”
Furthermore, “no amounts may be obligated or expended” to cover legal fees “to any plaintiff” against collaborative, RAC or wildfire-plan projects.
Keep in mind, Zinke’s bill won’t require bonding for every lawsuit. Most other action proposals, including Forest Plans, will still be subject to litigation by the usual suspects under current dys- functioning statue.
There’s a couple other cool provi- sions, such as a RAC pilot program that would run until September 2020. RACs would be tasked with proposing proj- ects “intended” to accomplish manage- ment or “support community develop- ment” and “generate receipts.” Projects
must “include the sale of timber” and “restore and improve land health and water quality.” Even better, there would be a residency requirement for RAC appointees – who “shall reside within the county or counties” where the RAC has jurisdiction.
Congressman Zinke’s bill was added to HR 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 sponsored by Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), which passed the U.S. House June 9 (262-167) and is now before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Foresty chaired by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas).
Westerman’s bigger bill (63 pages) is pretty comprehensive. If passed, it could make a helpful dent in public-lands anal- ysis paralysis – such as a prohibition against “restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and injunctions pending appeal” of salvage harvests or reforesta- tion after certain major events.
Hmmm ... wouldn’t that have been nice to have in law after the Robert/ Moose/Wedge/Doris/Brush/Chippy/ Skyland fires? Ya think maybe the Gla- cier Rim fire might have posed less of a scare with a little less standing (and fall- ing) dry firewood? You know, premium stuff that could have gone to a mill and made logs back in 2004-5, but didn’t for some strange reason?
Unfortunately, even with a tidy vote margin in the U.S. House, GovTrack.us only gives Westerman’s HR 2647 a 15 per- cent chance of passing. As a broken-down timber beast of long standing, I think that’s too optimistic, actually.
First, some swing-state “Republican” senators up for election in 2016 will be hammered by “mainstream” environ- mental groups if they vote as they should. They don’t “get” the West except in the most-superficial way – and have no rea- son to.
Second, I have to give President Barack Obama credit – he dances only with them whut brung him. Period. If the Senate passes good forest reforms that haven’t been compromised into pablum, Obama will use his veto.
Nonetheless, I’m grateful to Congress- man Zinke and others for finally putting forth proposals that might help to end the 30-years drought of common sense on our public lands. At long last, I smell rain on the way. For all our sakes, I hope it comes in time.
state’s heritage for generations. Growing up in Bozeman, I spent weekends hunting in the Bridgers, back- packing in the Beartooths and fishing the rivers and streams of southwest Montana. Cindy and I were engaged on a 10,000-foot summit in the Gall- atin National Forest. The love of the outdoors is a tradition that I, like many Montanans, have been thankful to pass
along to my kids.
While Montanans recognize the
importance of our public lands, memo- ries alone won’t protect these precious resources for future generations. We must work together to protect Mon- tanans’ access to our public lands and improve the long-term health of our forests.
One important program that Mon- tanans have united behind is the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which helps preserve and protect Mon- tanans’ opportunities to enjoy hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. I’m a proud cosponsor of legislation to make LWCF permanent and will continue to fight to reauthorize this program.
However, LWCF is only one compo- nent of a much larger and needed effort to protect our public lands. Restoring the health of our National Forests is also crucial to conservation and protecting our outdoor heritage.
In recent weeks I joined Forest Ser- vice leaders in visiting our National For- ests to get a firsthand look at the urgent need to combat deteriorating condi- tions and reduce the risk of wildfire. While good work is being done, millions of acres across Montana are vulnerable to wildfire or suffering from beetle kill but are being left untreated. Nearly 2 million of those acres are most in need of treatment because they are near pop- ulated communities or threaten water- sheds. Unfortunately, in fiscal year 2014 the Forest Service was able to treat only 52,000 of the 2 million acres. Public safety, watersheds, wildlife habitat, and access to recreation are at risk.
And with lower than average snow- pack and rain resulting in low water
they are planning for when. We must take action to create healthy forests now – and not wait until Mother Nature makes the decision for us.
Compounding the risk are years of inadequate forest management prac- tices, spurred by obstructionist litiga- tion from fringe groups and excessive regulations. In addition, the Forest Ser- vice is being forced to spend much of its budget on responding to fires rather than preventing them. Currently, the worst 1 percent of fires consumes 30 percent of the Forest Service budget. That’s why I helped introduce the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, which ensures large for- est fires are treated and funded as the true natural disasters they are, similar to hurricanes or tornados.
It’s incumbent upon Congress to remove these barriers and equip the Forest Service with the authorities and resources they need to protect commu- nities and the environment by enhanc- ing active forest management.
I’m encouraged that the bipartisan forest reform bill recently passed by the House of Representatives incentivizes and protects Montana-made collabora- tive projects and ensures that the For- est Service can do its important res- toration and conservation work more quickly. I will continue working on sim- ilar reforms in the Senate so that we can get legislation signed into law as soon as possible.
In the past seven months, I’ve trav- eled thousands of miles across Mon- tana attending briefings and meeting with conservation leaders, sportsmen groups, local elected officials, timber representatives, mill workers and local business owners to discuss the need for active forest management.
There is strong bipartisan agreement that the status quo in our National For- ests is not acceptable – we need forest reform now.
As your senator, I will continue work- ing to ensure that Montanans’ voices are heard so that we can protect Mon- tana’s most valuable resource – our great outdoors.
Mike (Uncommon Ground) Jopek and Dave (Closing Range) Skinner often fall on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to political and outdoor issues. Their columns alternate each week in the Flathead Beacon.
“I’M A PROUD COSPONSOR OF LEGISLATION TO MAKE LWCF PERMANENT AND WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT TO REAUTHORIZE THIS PROGRAM.”
Steve Daines is a Republican Montana U.S. senator.
JULY 29, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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