Tag Archives: logging mandate

House bill mandates logging on 50 percent of available timberland

The U.S. House passed the initial version (it’s evidently a bargaining chip) of the “Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act” Friday . . .

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act on Friday, mandating logging on 50 percent of the U.S. Forest Service’s available timberland and erecting barriers to legal challenges of timber sales.

Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a co-sponsor of the legislation, said it will mean a major boost for the Montana logging industry…

Daines attached two amendments to the bill on Thursday and Friday. One would require the Forest Service to provide an annual one-page statement of revenues from timber sales to track harvest progress. The other would bar courts from issuing temporary injunctions on timber projects while they’re being challenged in court.

The Obama administration announced Wednesday it would probably veto the bill if it reached the White House in its current form. The bill also drew fire from some conservation groups.

Read more . . .

Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” gets new Senate hearing

From an AP article posted in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s bill to increase both logging and wilderness areas in Montana was the focus of another Senate hearing Wednesday as the Democrat hopes to move forward a plan that has already become an issue in his high-profile election challenge from Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington again took testimony on a re-introduced version of a bill Tester first put forward nearly two years ago. Committee members expressed interest in working with Tester to advance a measure that died late last year as part of a last-minute budget bill.

Continue reading . . .

Tester discusses setbacks in Forest Jobs and Recreation bill

From today’s Missoulian, here’s a good overview of the current status of Sen. Jon Tester’s proposed Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Short version: Still stuck in committee because of debate over the logging mandate . . .

The first questioner at Sen. Jon Tester’s Monday public forum in Missoula wanted to know how the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act was coming along.

Read the full article . . .

Note: See Sen. Tester’s web site for the full text of the current draft of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.