Fix Our Forests Act Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. The Fix Our Forests Act has passed in the House and now moves to the Senate for consideration.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, a farmer from Sunnyside, says we should treat our forests like we do our crops …
NEWHOUSE … “If we look at our forests more like a agricultural effort, it needs pruning, it needs tending to. We just don’t put a fence around a field and expect it to grow without ever providing any attention. We need to have active forest management in order to reduce the catastrophic fire pressure that we see.”
Newhouse says the bipartisan measure would enable desperately needed forest management …
NEWHOUSE … “And we’re going to accomplish this in several different ways. But one of the things that has been holding back the Forest Service is the length of time it takes to get permits in order to do the necessary management work in our forests. So, we’re trying to expedite those.”
But also, Newhouse this would remove the political motivations …
NEWHOUSE … “Reduce the amount of challenges from environmental activists that truly have hampered the Forest
Service’s ability to do what they need to do.”
Newhouse says we need proactive forest management practices now, and the Fix Our Forests Act will help us achieve this goal.
