Healthy forests and rural counties bill passes House

A bill its supporters say will improve forest health on national forest lands and get money to rural counties for schools and road projects passed the U.S. House on Sept. 20 by a 244-173 vote.

H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act, now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, and had 22 co-sponsors, including Rep. Steve Daines, R-Montana.

“As a fifth generation Montanan, I know how important the responsible management of our national forests is for the health of our forests and the health of our state’s economy,” Daines said. “We’ve seen firsthand the devastating consequences of the mismanagement of our federal forests — from this year’s fire season to rampant pine beetle kill, the health of our forests and the communities that surround them continues to be at risk.”

Daines said the bill has bipartisan support and will create thousands of long-term jobs across Montana. That’s in addition to keeping Montana’s 10 national forests healthy, protecting the environment for future generations and renewing the federal government’s commitment to rural counties.

The bill directs the Sec. of Agriculture to establish at least one Forest Reserve Revenue Area inside each national forest and designate it for sustainable forest management and the production of timber products.

Twenty-five percent of the revenue from timber sales in those reserve areas would go to rural counties under the 2000 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. It also requires that timber sale revenues from national forest lands be used to reforest and restore logged areas under the 1930 Knutson-Vandenburg Fund, which had been diverted over the decades to cover Forest Service overhead costs.

Daines successfully included two amendments to the bill. The first is intended to prevent environmentalists from filing injunctions to stop timber sales based solely on procedural violations, such as paperwork errors. The second calls for an annual report detailing actual timber sales on the new reserve areas that would be posted online for accountability and transparency.

The bill was supported by timber interests in Montana including Chuck Roady, vice president and general manager of F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company, in Columbia Falls.

“As the vice president of the oldest family-owned lumber company in Montana, I know firsthand and witness every day the consequences of the lack of management of the federal forests in our state,” Roady said. “This legislation could be a game-changer for increasing forest jobs while revitalizing our timber counties and communities in Montana, and I certainly hope it becomes law.”

Julia Altemus, executive vice president of the Montana Wood Products Association, also expressed support for the proposed bill.

“This is a major step forward in the legislative process that will improve forest health and our rural forest economies in Montana and throughout the West,” she said. “I appreciate Congressman Daines’ hard work and commitment to seeing this legislation through.”

Daines strongly urged the Senate to move quickly and pass the bill.