Healthy Forest Restoration Act
"News"

  Healthy Forests will lead to better forest management

National Review columnist James A. Swan has an informative piece on President Bush's Healthy Forests Restoration Act posted in today's online edition. Swan highlights the merits of the legislation and commends the President for acting wisely to preserve forest health.

Contrary to what some so-called "environmental groups" proclaim, logging and controlled burning of forests is actually better for wild things and humans than immediately putting out every forest fire.

Washington has already acted wisely on this front. President Bush recently signed The Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HR 1904), which passed the House by a vote of 286 to 140 and by a voice vote in the Senate. The act improves the process of environmental-impact review and limits litigation on cutting, which is hamstringing budgets. It also maintains the Senate's authorization of $760 million annually for hazardous-fuel reduction with at least 50 percent of those funds targeting projects near at-risk communities.

The new law will help remove down and diseased timber on federal forest lands, but it doesn't only target remote and wild areas. It also provides badly needed help for forests in and around urban areas.

I recently met with the Marin County Fire Department's professional forester. The department wants the eucalyptus to go ASAP and the Health Forests Restoration Act will provide funds for cutting fire-prone urban forests like the exotic eukes. The forester is already at work writing a grant to apply for funds to clear out the eucalyptus trees that cover our hills so we can get about restoring oaks and redwoods that grow here naturally. The neighborhood is cheering because the cost of removing them is as sky-high as their towering trunks. It costs $500 to $1000 or more for a professional tree cutter to remove a mature eucalyptus around a home. By logging the entire forest, costs per tree can be significantly reduced.

Hopefully support for the Healthy Forests Restoration Act will lead to better management of our urban forests. We can preserve our trees while reducing or eliminating the conditions that too-often result in those beautiful trees becoming time bombs ticking toward devastation.

On December 3, 2003, President Bush signed the Healthy Forests legislation, helping put in place sound forest management to reduce the likelihood of these deadly wildfires.

• Read more from the official Bush-Cheney '04 blog.
• Learn more about President Bush's environmental agenda.

Healthy Forests Sent to the President In a sudden wave of bipartisanship, House and Senate lawmakers came to a final agreement on the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) last week. The Senate quickly appointed a conference committee after weeks of holding up action on the HFRA over a partisan issue. The committee passed a conference report also immediately. The bill was then quickly adopted by the House and Senate and then sent to President Bush’s desk for signature. The most contentious provisions of the bill were written in Title I—the hazardous fuels reduction section. The HFRA authorizes $760 million annually for fuels management on 20 million acres of federal lands and minimize environmental assessments, administrative appeals and lawsuits that impede the removal of dead and dying debris that could result in devastating wildfires. Other important provisions of the bill include: A silvilcultural assessment program that allows categorical exclusions from environmental analysis for projects to treat insect and disease infestations on up to 1,000 acres. A $25 million grant program to encourage biomass energy generation from the otherwise valueless wood, chips, brush, slash and other debris removed during thinning projects. A Forest Watershed Assistance Program that will financial and technical assistance to private landowners to better manage their lands in order to protect water quality, restore watershed conditions and to address threats to forest health, including wildfire. A two-million acre forest reserve program that funds conservation easements to protect existing forest ecosystems. Click here H.R.1904 for the online copy of the bill as sent to the President. We've included the text of a message from Tim Wigley - the person who orchestrated "Project Protect" - we wholeheartedly concur with his thank you message to you!  The Senate passed the bill by voice vote less than an hour after the House approved it on Friday afternoon.  Good Job! We've also included Press Releases from Senator Gordon Smith and Congressman Greg Walden. Paulette Pyle, Terry Witt & Sandi Schukar   DATE: November 24, 2003 TO: Grassroots Activists & Leaders Across the West FROM: Tim Wigley - Project Protect RE: Healthy Forests Legislation A big congratulations on your months of hard work.  All the phone calls, e-mails, faxes and letters to the editor have paid off.  The Healthy Forests Restoration Act will be sent to President Bush in the coming days for his stamp of approval. This legislation will pave the way for restoring long-term forest health and begin the process of better-protecting our water and air resources, as well as critical wildlife habitat. The bottom line is that it could not have happened without strong grassroots support.  When called, you responded.and that made the difference. Thank you again for your efforts.  There will be more battles to come but every once in a while, it's nice to win one!                   November 21, 2003 Conference Committee Approves      Healthy Forests Legislation Bill Moves One Step Closer to Becoming Law “This is an historic event. The last time House and Senate conferees reported a major forestry bill, today’s large trees were saplings. This bill creates the first real relief from bureaucratic gridlock after over eight years of legislative effort,” Goodlatte said. “This bill sends a clear signal that the Congress favors results over process, and that achieving forest management that protects our communities, our watersheds, and the lives of countless people outweighs partisan wrangling.”			The following is a letter to the editor from Congressman Scott McInnis, co-author of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act with Congressman Greg Walden.  The letter details Walden's efforts to create and pass this legislation, which the President signed into law today.      McInnis Healthy Forests Letter to            the Editor on Greg Walden Blair Jones Office of Congressman Scott McInnis (202) 225-4761 Dear Editor: I want to take this opportunity to thank and recognize Congressman Greg Walden for his extraordinary leadership in co-authoring and working to pass the Healthy Forests Restoration Act - one of the most significant reforms in forest management policy in a century. For nearly two years, I worked side-by-side with Greg to create this comprehensive bipartisan bill, which will address heavy fuel loading in our forests and the catastrophic wildfire threat posed to our communities and environment. Greg served on the forefront of our efforts to get this bill approved by the House of Representatives, and played an instrumental role in crafting the House-Senate compromise on the bill that Congress overwhelmingly passed   in November.  Thanks to Greg's efforts, President Bush signed the legislation into law this week. Many members of Congress have claimed responsibility for the successful passage of this landmark legislation.  But if anyone deserves credit for finding a solution to the wildfire crisis, then the lion's share of that recognition belongs to Greg Walden. Thanks to his dedicated efforts, our forests and communities are on their way to enjoying the protection they deserve. Sincerely, Scott McInnis Chairman, House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health CRAPO ATTENDS HEALTHY FOREST BILL SIGNING AT INVITATION OF THE PRESIDENT   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    December 3, 2003                                               CRAPO ATTENDS HEALTHY FOREST BILL SIGNING AT INVITATION OF THE PRESIDENT SENATOR SINGLED OUT BY PRESIDENT DURING REMARKS TODAY   Washington D.C.--At the invitation of President George W. Bush, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo participated in this morning’s ceremony marking the President’s signing into law the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003.  Crapo was one of the final conferees writing the changes that brought the bill to the floor of the Senate and successfully passed the measure.   During this morning’s signing ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s headquarters building in Washington, DC, President Bush singled out Crapo and a handful of other Senate and House members for their efforts on the bill and said 190 million acres of forested lands are at risk.   “This has been a determined effort to work together in a bipartisan fashion that has created the potential for some of the most effective environmental legislation in decades,” Crapo said.  “Now we must implement this law with the same pragmatic thinking to realize its potential to protect our communities, heal our environment and ecosystems, and create jobs in rural and forested areas.”   The bill embodies the legislative component of the President’s Healthy Forests Initiative.  The House passed its version of the bill on May 20, 2003, while the Senate adopted its version on October 20th by a vote of 80 to 14.  The conference committee approved the conference report on November 20, 2003, with full House and Senate approval occurring the following day, November 21, 2003.   The Senate Agriculture Committee, where Crapo chairs the Forestry Subcommittee, approved the bill by voice vote in July.  The bill enacted today includes a number of provisions authored by Senator Crapo.
	The House passed its version of the Healthy Forest legislation on May 20th by an overwhelming, and bi-partisan, majority. The Senate passed a similar version, after nearly 6 months. On November 6, the House appointed conferees, and unanimously accepted a motion from the minority to instruct conferees to finish work on this bill within one week. The House was unable to formally conference without the Senate’s cooperation. Senate Democrats appointed conferees this morning. “The good news is that both bills seek to address the issues that have tied the hands of our forest managers; NEPA analysis that drags on for months; administrative appeals that spring up at the last minute; and court actions that stall projects for so long that areas proposed for treatment frequently are destroyed by fires long before the judicial process concludes,” Goodlatte continued. There are over 190 million acres of forests and rangelands which remain at risk of catastrophic wildfires, insect and disease, a landmass larger than New England. This bill takes the modest step of addressing the hazardous conditions on only 20 million acres of this total. “We have been talking about this issue for years,” Ranking Member Charlie Stenholm said. “I remember the tremendous work done by former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Smith and his efforts to reach and find compromise. I am pleased that we have completed legislation through a bipartisan effort that will restore America’s cherished landscapes by reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires and insect and disease infestations.” The legislation takes an innovative approach to forest health on private forest lands, creating new programs to detect and suppress such forest pests as hemlock woolly adelgid and the emerald ash borer. It also creates two new programs to help family forest owners manage their forests to protect watersheds and to help protect wildlife on private lands. Both programs use a non-regulatory, incentive based approach to promote conservation, rather than a top-down, one-size fits all regulatory approach. The Society of American Foresters praised this bill for giving new tools to forest managers to protect our forests. The National Volunteer Fire Council praised it for reducing the degree of threat faced by their members when they are on the fire line. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, along with professional wildlife managers, sportsmen, and serious conservation groups all support this bill. Goodlatte applauded President Bush for his leadership in bringing this about and encouraged him to continue to exert leadership in this field to ensure that Federal land managers act aggressively to implement this program as quickly as possible. He went on to pledge vigilant oversight in the Agriculture Committee to ensure that the Forest Service acts quickly to implement this program.

News from the Committee on Resources

For Immediate Release
November 19, 2003
Contact: Brian Kennedy
(202) 226-9019


       Deal Struck On Healthy Forests, Senate to Appoint Conferees

Washington, DC - House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) announced today that a compromise has been reached in bi-cameral negotiations on the most contentious provisions of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. As a result, the Senate will appoint conferees and meet the House in an official conference to finish work on the bill.

"We have light at the end of the tunnel," Chairman Pombo said. "This bipartisan agreement puts the Healthy Forests legislation within reach of the White House. In fact, when the Senate appoints its conferees, I am confident that we can move this bill from the conference-committee table to the President's desk very quickly."

"I want the thinning and fuels reduction projects authorized in the Healthy Forests bill to start as soon as humanly possible," Pombo continued. "The sooner those start, the more we can do to protect our communities, our environment, and our firefighters from the threat of catastrophic fires."

"I also want to thank the authors of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, Representatives Scott McInnis of Colorado and Greg Walden of Oregon, for their perseverance and dedication to achieving forest management reform. Without their hard work over the last several years, I can honestly say, we would not be so close to seeing this bill become law."

Specifically, the House-Senate agreement: 

| Revamps the Forest Service's conflict-ridden administrative appeals process, requiring would-be appellants to participate early in the development stages of a forest restoration project in order to reserve the right to file an appeal. This provision is virtually identical to the House-passed language.

| Creates an historic paradigm shift in the way Court's consider legal challenges to hazardous fuels reduction projects, mandating that the Courts weigh the environmental consequences of management inaction when the specter of catastrophic wildfire looms. It would also require that federal judges reconsider any injunctions to projects every 60 days. 

| Expedites analysis and review requirements for priority wildfire mitigation projects, applying House-passed environmental analysis requirements to projects focused on protecting communities, and Senate passed analysis procedures to projects focused on protecting watersheds and endangered wildlife. Finally, Senate-passed old growth language was restructured to eliminate significant litigation loopholes. Also, requirements related to the retention of certain large trees were clarified ensuring that the bill's wildfire mitigation purposes were not trumped by these new standards.

| Ensures that the public has a full and thorough opportunity to participate in the decision making process. It embraces the House-passed, bipartisan Western Governor Association 10-Year Strategy's robust public input and participation requirements, ensuring that interested persons will have numerous opportunities to engage decision makers during all phases of a project's development and implementation.

More on Healthy Forests:

Understanding the Causes of Wildfire

GAO Study on Forest Fuels Reduction Projects and Environmental Appeals

Forest Fires and the Long Road to Healthy Forests

Wildfire Information and Statistics