Video of the full hearing
September 29, 2015 - Congressman McClintock is the Chairman of the Federal Lands Subcommittee. The subcommittee held a hearing on "State, Local, and Tribal Approaches to Forest Management: Lessons for Better Management of our Federal Forests” on September 29th, 2015. Congressman McClintock delivered the following opening statement at the hearing:
Chairman’s Opening Statement
Subcommittee on Federal Lands
House Natural Resources Committee
September 29, 2015
The Subcommittee on Federal Lands meets today to examine state, local, and tribal approaches to forest management and how we can apply these approaches to better federal forestry management. We will begin with five minute opening statements by the Chairman and Ranking Member.
When Gifford Pinchot founded the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, he envisioned an agency that worked cooperatively with local communities to maximize the sustainable use and enjoyment of our resources. His policy was to manage our forests “for the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the long run.”
For decades, the Forest Service did just that. The emerging science of forestry offered us principles of sound forest management with which to assure healthy, thriving and resilient forests in perpetuity.
These practices prevented vegetation and wildlife from overgrowing the ability of the land to support them. The sale of excess timber provided a steady stream of revenues to the treasury which could, in turn, be used to further improve, protect and manage the public lands. It also contributed significantly to our nation’s prosperity.
But 45 years ago, we replaced these sound management practices with what can only be described as a policy of benign neglect. In the 1970’s, Congress opened a floodgate of ponderous and Byzantine laws, regulations and lawsuits, with the explicit promise to “save the environment” from the predations of mankind.
After 45 years of these policies, I believe we are entitled to ask, “How are our national forests doing?” The answer is damning. Our forests have not been improved by these policies, and in fact, have been tragically and catastrophically harmed by them.
Surplus timber harvested from of our national forests has dropped more than 80 percent in those years, while acreage destroyed by forest fire has increased proportionally. Wildlife habitats these laws were supposed to preserve are being incinerated as forests become choked with the overgrowth these laws have prevented us from removing. We have lost vast tracts of national forests to pestilence, disease and fire. We cannot even salvage the fire-killed timber before it loses its value and is abandoned to insects and decay.
Ironically, our non-federal forest lands are conspicuously healthier than the federal lands precisely because they are freed from so many of the laws that are tying the hands of our federal public foresters.
Adequately funding our national forests would not be an issue IF we could sell the excess timber out of our forests before it burns as we did for many decades. This paid not only to clean out and protect our forests, but also to replant the acreage we lost, assure a perpetual resource for future generations, restore a vibrant and prosperous economy to our forested regions.
The House has already taken the first step toward restoring sound forest management to our public lands by adopting the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, HR 2647 by Congressman Bruce Westerman.
It seeks to provide the Forest Service with immediate reforms that require no new regulations, rules, planning or mapping. Among other things, it streamlines fire and disease prevention programs by providing categorical exclusions from NEPA for forest treatment and salvage operations. It sets a 90-day time limit on environmental studies for salvage sales, assuring that fire-killed timber can be quickly removed to create both revenues and room so that we can restore fire-damaged lands.
It permanently fixes the fire borrowing problem by amending the Stafford Act to allow wildfire costs that exceed the budget to be paid for by the Disaster Relief Fund.
HR 2647 passed the House in July, and we now await action in the Senate.
This legislation, however, was just the first step. We must consider additional approaches and new ideas to improve the health of our federal forests and that is why we are here today.
We are here to answer the question, “Why are the federal forests in such poor condition while forests managed by states, localities and tribes are healthy and thriving?”
Today we will hear expert testimony from a panel of witnesses who will be able to tell the subcommittee what works for them and offer guidance for how we can improve management of our federal forests. We will also hear about the devastating economic impacts of what happens when our federal lands are mismanaged.
The American people want our forests returned to health. We want the continually rising threat of wildfire brought back under control. That will require a dramatic change in current policy. We began that process with the passage of HR 2647, and we will continue to look for solutions to this forest health epidemic.
Source: Congressman Tom McClintock
