POSITION:
It is Federated Women in Timber’s (FWIT) position that the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act, signed into law on December 3, 2003, is the most
significant piece of legislation passed by Congress in years to aid in the
safeguarding of our forests by implementing a more effective and timely
process to protect our communities, wildlife habitats and municipal
watersheds from catastrophic fires. FWIT greatly appreciates the vast
efforts of agencies, legislative committees and Congressional members who
worked tirelessly to gain bipartisan support for this bill. FWIT would like
to thank each member of Congress who voted to take action to help protect
our nation’s forests and nearby communities for generations to come. It is
FWIT’s position that the programs clearly defined in the Healthy Forests
Restoration Act must be fully funded and implemented to ensure that the
objectives and intentions of the Health Forests Restoration Act are upheld.
It is FWIT’s position that our nation’s
forests also need to be managed proactively through an active timber
management program. It is not enough that we only address forests already
at risk of mortality from insect and disease attack and catastrophic fires.
We must duplicate sound forest management practices on all of our nation’s
forests. These practices must include the harvest of over mature stands
before they become susceptible to damaging agents, making room for the
regeneration of vital new forests in their place. Not only is this good
forest management but it also provides our country with the important forest
products it requires.
BACKGROUND:
As a result of decades of poor forest management practices that allowed the
accumulation of dense undergrowth and brush, along with uncontrolled insect
infestations and disease, our national forests have hosted catastrophic
fires year after year during periods of drought. These fires killed
residents and firefighters, devastated habitat, and severely damaged forest
soils and watersheds for decades to come. The fires also destroyed hundreds
of millions of trees that could have provided forest products for our
nation. During these fires, visibility and air quality have been reduced,
threatening even the health of those who live hundreds of miles away. In
the past two years alone, fires burned nearly 11 million acres. In 2002,
88,458 fires burned roughly 7 million acres and caused the deaths of 23
firefighters at a total fire suppression cost of $1.6 billion dollars. In
2003, 59,149 fires burned 3.8 million acres causing the deaths of 28
firefighters. Nearly 6,800 structures were destroyed. The California fires
alone cost $250 million to contain and 22 civilians died as a result.
Our nation’s forests have been held
hostage for years as extreme environmental groups appealed prescribed fires,
disease and insect infestation controls, and timber sales. Our forest
managers have stood by with their hands tied behind their backs watching the
degradation of our most treasured lands. We have prevented our forest
managers, who are highly trained and professional, from using their
expertise and tools to effectively manage our forests. The catastrophic
fires of the last several years are proof that “you reap what you sow”. It
is tragic that communities and forests have been devastated while all along
we have had the knowledge and tools to prevent, or at least lessen, the
destruction of wildfires through sound forest management.
It is because of the high cost of these
cataclysmic fires, and the demise of our forests, that Federated Women in
Timber strongly supported the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, and
likewise supports full funding and execution of its programs.
RATIONALE:
When fully funded, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act will make great
strides to develop a process through which much needed forest management can
be implemented in a timely manner. It will provide processes to improve the
severe forest health issues that have been mounting in the past several
decades. It focuses on lands near communities in the wildland/urban
interface and high risk municipal watersheds. It spotlights lands that are
important habitat for threatened and endangered species where catastrophic
wildfire threatens their survival. The act also provides for more intense
management of forests where insects and disease outbreaks are prevalent.
Very importantly, it provides more timely judicial review of forest health
projects and ensures that courts consider both the short and long-term
effects of such projects before issuing injunctions to stop them.
Additionally, when funds have been
appropriated, the Healthy Forests Restoration Act will help communities more
effectively use wood, brush, and other plant materials removed in forest
health projects as a fuel supply for biomass energy. It will authorize a
program to support community-based watershed forestry partnerships that
address critical forest stewardship, watershed protection and restoration
needs at the state and local level. A program will be created that focuses
additional research on early detection and containment of insect and disease
infestations. And finally, it will establish a private forestland easement
program focused on recovering forest ecosystem types that protect valuable
wildlife habitat.
These programs are an important start in
the right direction to help correct the mismanagement of our nation’s
forests. However, they should not become a replacement for forest management
that actively addresses the health and productivity of all forest stands.
We need to have proactive forest management on our lands that allows land
managers to use their education and skills. Forest management programs that
include harvesting mature and over mature trees are essential for providing
long-term economic support for all forest management activities, while
providing valuable products to the nation.
CONCLUSION:
FWIT strongly supported the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 being
signed into law. FWIT greatly appreciates the agencies, committees and
individuals who labored to create and pass this important piece of
legislation. We commend each member of Congress who lent their voice and
vote to advocate for healthier forests across our country. Your leadership
is respected throughout our nation.
FWIT members urge Congress to take the important next
step to ensure the programs specified in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act
are fully implemented by providing full appropriations. The authorized
level of funding for each program in the act should be met to ensure their
goals can be realized. Moreover, we encourage support for forest management
that addresses all of our nation’s forests through sound, scientific
practices. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act aspires to “right” the years
of mismanagement of our nation’s forests but it cannot become a substitution
for active sound forest management. We must have forest management
practices that provide a sustained healthy environmental balance and provide
essential forest products.
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