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Jeff's avatar

Thank you for sharing this. One more greedy attack on our common lands. Contacted my senator to oppose the act.

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Rob Lewis's avatar

Thanks for acting, Jeff.

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Mike's avatar

Certainly there are things to be concerned about in the Fix Our Forest Act but it does not impact designated wilderness areas. I don't like allowing 10,000 acre proposed timber sales to be covered by CEs; I think EAs should be required, but it is incorrect to say a CE removes all public oversight. The other thing to understand is the total number of acres open to logging is an exaggeration because many areas are too steep, don't have commercial sized trees, or are too remote to reach. Lastly, there is an infrastructure problem. There simply aren't enough sawmills to take all the timber this administration wishes to log.

I'm not a fan of the current administration - not even close. But I do believe it is important to provide accurate information and this post does not do that.

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Rob Lewis's avatar

I appreciate your comment Mike, and do try and be as accurate as I can.

Regarding wilderness areas, I don't see where I implied they would be impacted. Much wilderness is in high, alpine areas where timber harvesting isn't commercially viable anyways. My concern is more with lowland and mid-elevation forests.

And I agree with you about the lack of infrastructure to carry out Trump's plan for a 25% increase in harvest, but that seems to me to be besides the point, that the intention is there, and the Fix Our Forests act grants him a congressional mandate to harvest in a way the public is largely against. That said, I've revised the second sentence with more flexible language to reflect your concerns.

I respect you opinion and invite you to explain in more detail where you think I am inaccurate. It's a large and complex piece of legislation. The matter of wildfire ecology is also complex, which is why I am so against this bill. To me, it seeks to fast-track a process that needs more, not less, scientific review and citizen input. I deeply suspect all this thinning and biomass removal will further desiccate and depauperate the landscape.

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Mike's avatar

Rob, I appreciate your response. Re: Wilderness impacts: I should have included the quote to begin with as it isn't directly from you, but from Lauren Andersen, "Over 1 million acres of wilderness in Oregon are impacted." The use of the word "impact" can mean many things but without any additional info, in my opinion, it implies cutting trees in designated wilderness areas.

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Rob Lewis's avatar

I see. I'll ask her about it.

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Rob Lewis's avatar

Hi Mike:

Hi Mike:

I forwarded your words on to Lauren and she responded:

"The agency received feedback that their emergency designation map covered wilderness areas, and there was a comment from an industry rep that they don't plan to log wilderness areas. However, the Trump administration has made no such statement or clarification in their subsequent policy directives. So until they do, we will take them at their word and operate under the assumption that wilderness areas are at risk of increased logging under this administration."

Dawn, a staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, added:

"...when the Forest Service updated their map in the last couple of weeks and released an official version of it to the public, they actually *increased* the total wilderness areas included under the emergency declaration. So now there are more than 11 million acres of wilderness areas across the US that fall under this emergency declaration.

Also, you specifically mentioned the term “impacted” so I’ll clarify that all that was meant by it is that these areas fall under the emergency declaration in the secretarial memo. A memo, I would add, with an explicit stated purpose of directing actions in response to the executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production.” So, as Lauren says, without specific clarification from the administration that they will *not* log wilderness areas, it is quite concerning to see them included under areas covered by this memo."

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Mike's avatar

Thanks for the follow-up, Rob. I would guess Lauren is referring to fireshed maps. I can't find anywhere it states that all acres covered in a fireshed map is open to logging. I found this in the Fix Our Forests Act:

(iii) USE OF EXPEDITED AUTHORITIES.—In carrying out a fireshed management project, the Secretary shall apply a categorical exclusion under clause (i)—

(I) in a manner consistent with the statute establishing such categorical exclusion; and

(II) in any area—

(aa) designated as suitable for timber production within the applicable forest plan; or

(bb) where timber harvest activities are not prohibited.

That last part is why it seems to me that designated wilderness areas are not automatically opened for logging, but would require an entirely separate legal process to make that happen. Perhaps I am missing something....

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Rob Lewis's avatar

Thanks, Mike. I will pass that along.

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Paul B Koberstein's avatar

Mike, couple things you need to know. First, wilderness areas an even national parks are vulnerable. The Forest Service is already cutting down trees in wilderness areas in the Siskiyous and probably elsewhere. There is ample video evidence. Contact K-S Wild for that. The National Park Service is currently thinning trees in Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. There is no reason to think that this logging won't continue or even expand under the Fix Our Forest Act. And second, it's true, the wood products industry lacks the infrastructure to mill those sawlogs. The USFS says current milling capacity must grow up to 10x to process all the wood coming out of the forest under the thinning program. That's why the wood pellet industry is developing five new wood pellet plants and four new export terminals in California, Oregon, and Washington.

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Mike's avatar

Thanks for that info, Paul. The Fix Our Forests Act specifically states that all laws and restrictions continue to be followed (I would need to go back and look up the exact language but don't have time at the moment). If there is logging in designated wilderness areas it is either illegal or has gone through a process that allows it in certain situations as has been approved by Congress of some NFs in CA. My point is that the Fix Our Forests Act will not open up designated wilderness for logging. If there is some language in the Act that I am missing, please point it out as I wish to be accurate.

I worked 41 years for the USFS, mostly in Colorado but some in AK. In my experience, most line officers (forest supervisors and district rangers) obey the laws and try to follow the intent spelled out in their forest plans. But, there certainly are exceptions and that is where citizen/special interest groups oversight comes into play.

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Heather's avatar

I was born in the PNW in 1953. My grandfather was born into the Territory of Washington, my grandmother not long after it became a state, so we’ve been around a while. My dad took us out in the woods camping, fishing, etc. all the time . Seems like it’s always been just getting worse, more and more logging , roads being built in forested areas, etc. But I NEVER thought I would live to see someone like Trump and his gang practically panting to RAPE our beloved beautiful woods. My grandparents and dad and mom are turning over in their graves, I am sure. Thank God for you, Rob Lewis, keeping us informed about all this mess.

(Grandpa used to love to say he was “conceived in North Carolina, born in the Territory of Washington.” He always neglected to add it became a state two months after his birth!!)

And our forests don’t need fixing, they need a rest!

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Hannah Harder, Eco-advocacy's avatar

Important stuff. Thank you!

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Paul B Koberstein's avatar

Thank you so much Rob. I'm grateful you're keeping up on this.

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Rob Lewis's avatar

Thanks, Paul.

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