Tag Archives: Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act

Pro-logging bill would ramp up timber sales

Here’s more information on U.S. Representative Steve Daines’ pro-logging bill . . .

A pro-logging bill making its way through Congress would dramatically revise forest management throughout the country, ramping up timber production four-fold on the Flathead National Forest, while dramatically increasing harvests on all of the state’s national forests and restricting litigation designed to halt those projects for environmental scrutiny.

The “Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act,” or H.R. 1526, was co-authored by U.S. Rep. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and passed the House of Representatives Sept. 20 on a 244-173 vote.

The bill mandates annual harvests of one-half the U.S. Forest Service’s long-term sustainable yield for each national forest, matching the statewide harvest rates that were commonplace two decades ago.

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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.

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