Stoltze boss calls for trust system on federal lands

F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber has survived a hundred years — including the worst recession in U.S. history. It uses the latest technology, including a new $22 million boiler.

But lawsuits, budget cuts, fires and bugs could put an end to its business, Stoltze general manager Chuck Roady told a congressional panel on July 11.

Speaking in front of the House Natural Resources Committee, Roady advocated setting aside about 23 percent of National Forest lands under a “trust” system where the primary goal would be timber management. Roady noted that a trust approach has been successful in states across the country, including Montana, where thousands of acres are managed for timber and income for schools, community projects and road maintenance.

Right now, he said, the Forest Service is facing gridlock from environmental lawsuits, particularly in Region 1, which includes Montana. Locally, two timber sales at the sound end of the Hungry Horse Reservoir are being held up by litigation. Region wide, 30,000 acres of timber sales are being held up by appeals or litigation from environmental groups.

The groups are “fringe” organizations, Roady claimed. Even on projects where there’s collaboration with mainstream environmental groups and other interests, these groups still sue, he said. Locally, the groups that sue most often are Friends of the Wild Swan and the Swan View Coalition.

“The lack of management we see on our federal forests is a result of both a conscious decision to reduce the harvest as part of the revised forest management plans, as well as the result of an aggressive campaign of litigation,” Roady said. “Make no mistake. These serial litigants do not sue the federal government because they have this heartfelt love of the land or a fondness for a specific bird, fish or wildlife. They sue because they’ve learned how to control, manipulate and profit financially through the court systems.”

These lawsuits divert money from important work, he said.

“The endless litigation is what leads the Forest Service to spend over $350 million annually on their NEPA analysis, rather than designing, implementing, and completing badly needed forest health projects,” Roady said. “We need some form of legislative litigation relief on our National Forests, and we need it to happen quick.”

The Forest Service doesn’t deny that lawsuits are a huge problem in the region, Forest Service deputy chief Jim Hubbard said.

“In your part of the country — south-central Montana in particular — a huge role,” Hubbard said of lawsuits. “It has virtually shut things down on the National Forest, and so environmental clearance there, collaborative or not, has been difficult.”

Roady also brought up concerns about the Obama administration’s plan to cut fuel reduction and timber sale programs in 2014.

Roady attended the hearing at the invitation of Montana Rep. Steve Daines and spoke as a representative of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, a timber trade association.

“Responsible stewardship on Forest Service lands by companies like Stoltze continues to be held back by frivolous litigation by fringe environmental groups,” Daines stated. “It is overwhelmingly evident that reforms are needed to protect the health of our forests, the safety of our communities, our watersheds and the strength of our timber industry, which is jobs — it’s of great importance to our state’s economy.”