Forest Management Hearing

Forest Management Hearing

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation met yesterday in D.C. to hear testimony on bills addressing the management stalemate afflicting millions of acres of federal forest land. One of those was the Restoring Healthy Forests For Healthy Communities Act introduced by Congressman Doc Hastings. This bill would renew the federal government’s commitment to manage forest resources for the benefit of rural schools and counties by requiring active forest management. County Commissioner Ray Campbell, from Okanogan County, was one of many testifying.

CAMPBELL: Our county alone has 1.9 million acres of U.S. forest land. Each of the bills are significant for my county and Washington state. They fundamentally address the failures of the U.S. Forest Service to actively manage our national forests, and they offer real hope to our historic timber based communities for the first time in a generation.

Campbell also spoke about the history of forest management in Okanogan County.

CAMPBELL: I grew up in Okanogan County in an era when the U.S. Forest Service was allowed to manage the national forests in a productive, economically, and environmentally sound manner, at which time the revenues generated from the harvesting of the renewable natural resources fully paid for the management of the forests along with providing the funding to the states and on down to the counties, which helped in the survival of our local communities.

Campbell reiterated his support of the Restoring Healthy Forests For Healthy Communities Act.

CAMPBELL: If enacted, the Hasting’s active management forest bill will assure continuation of our Secure Rural Schools payments until the new reforms are fully implemented and our rural communities once again receive access to economic opportunity.

Reportedly, Washington state produces thirty times more volume per acre than the U.S. Forest Service and produces 1283 times more revenue per acre.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.