Tag: Forest Management

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Chairman of the Senate Western Caucus, today led a group of his Senate Republican colleagues in pressing the Biden administration on the implications of Biden’s Executive Order titled “Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies”, which diverts resources from actual conservation work and sets the stage for further restrictions and prohibitions on public lands.  “On April 22, 2022 President Biden issued an Executive Order entitled ‘Strengthening the Nation’s Forests, Communities, and Local Economies.’ While the rhetoric of the Executive Order focused on climate change, resilient forests and ecosystems, the order directs federal agencies

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today issued the following statement on President Biden’s Earth Day Executive Order that diverts resources from actual conservation work and sets the stage for further restrictions and prohibitions on public lands.  “Once again, the Biden administration is failing to address the underlying issues affecting Montana’s forests and threatening communities while demonstrating a lack of understanding on the many complexities surrounding effective forest management,” Daines said. “More paperwork and red tape is not the way to create healthier ecosystems, support rural communities, or meet our environmental objectives—the answer is forest management. Sadly, the Biden administration seems

U.S. CONGRESS – U.S. Senator Steve Daines and Representative Matt Rosendale are leading their colleagues in urging the Biden administration to resolve challenges stemming from the disastrous Cottonwood decision which threatens Montana forest management projects. “During a congressional hearing on October 2021, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) testified that unless action is taken to resolve challenges stemming from the 2015 Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service, (Cottonwood) decision, the agency will have to go through re-consultation, regardless of the merit, on over one-hundred forest plans that “will take years and cost millions of dollars,” threatening to undermine the Administration’s 10 Year

U.S. SENATE – Last week, several forestry and conservation groups voiced their support for U.S. Senator Steve Daines’ new bipartisan bill that would provide for more efficient and effective forest management by empowering collaboratives and public-private partnerships. Daines introduced the bill last week with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).   Statements of Support for the “Root and Stem Act:” “Only with the help of states and the private sector can we tackle the wildfire crisis and the 80 million acre forest-restoration backlog. Building on the success of the Colville National Forest’s “A to Z” project, the Roots and Stem Project Authorization Act of 2021 proposes to harness the power of public-private

U.S. SENATE — Two of Senator Steve Daines’ forest management reform bills were discussed at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today. Daines’ forestry bills will address abuse in the courts and frivolous litigation to help increase active forest management that reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfires, protects Montana families and communities from fires and supports good paying timber jobs.   Daines’ bills would reverse the disastrous Cottonwood decision and establish a pilot arbitration program to protect collaboratively-developed forest management projects from fringe litigation. Watch and download remarks HERE. “Forest management is good for our workers, watersheds, wildlife, and wildfire prevention. It’s a critical part of our way of life

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today is calling on the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to do more to reach its timber harvest goals in Montana after falling short by 30% in fiscal year 2021, due in large part to increased litigation and red tape following the Cottonwood decision. Daines stressed that Montana communities rely on the USFS to reach these goals in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, protect families from fires and support their economies.  “I understand the backlog of consultation due in large to the precedent set by the Cottonwood decision has contributed to the shortfall in volume

U.S. SENATE– U.S. Senator Steve Daines today reintroduced the “Protect Collaboration for Healthier Forests Act” to protect much needed and collaboratively-developed forest management projects that reduce the risk of wildfire in our National Forests from court room obstructionists. “Commonsense forest management projects are too often tied up in lengthy and expensive court room battles by the same fringe environmental groups whose goal is to obstruct these projects, not follow the science or local decisions,” Daines said. “We need to be doing everything we can to support projects that will help us better manage our forests and minimize the risk of devastating wildfires like we’re seeing across Montana right now.” Daines’ bill establishes a pilot