Part I Forest Issues: Last week I attended a
periodic roundtable hosted by Congressmen Herger and McClintock along with representatives
from 12 other Forest counties of the Cascade and Sierra mountain ranges. These meetings
are held bi-annually and give the County Supervisors an opportunity to talk with the
Regional Forester, Randy Moore from the USDA Forest Service (USFS.)
These are also some of the counties with whom we will be joined in
the new Assembly and state Senate districts. I have also been working on timber issues
with members from the full 19 counties of the Sustainable Forest Action Coalition (SFAC)
for almost three years. Our focus is working with our legislators and agencies to restore
our forests and forest communities to a healthy condition.
Mr. Moore indicated that they had been making progress toward their
goal of treating 500,000 of fuels a year on National Forests in the region. Last year,
they treated 280,000 acres, which was double the acreage from only a few years ago. In
2010, they met 95% of their sales targets, with 13 MMBF either tied up in litigation or
with no bid on the sale. They did do an analysis on the “no sales” and found
that most involved low value timber. They were able to redesign around 40% of these for
sale. He said that they were trying to eliminate inefficiencies, leverage money and
improve their NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) skills.
Region 5 has calculated that they spend about $500 million and
produce $9.5 billion of water coming from the National Forests, $1 billion in recreation
and $16 billion in timber. As primary beneficiaries, Moore has been working to get
metropolitan water boards interested in investing in the restoration of Forest watersheds.
Recently, the National Forests were required to conduct watershed
assessments based on existing information. They have prioritized watersheds giving high
value to those used for drinking water and irrigation water supply. A handful have been
selected as pilot watersheds. USFS will bring in USDA, NRCS, other agencies and private
investors to maximize restoration work on the ground. Moore is also working with the PUC
to get better rates to support the removal of biomass in theses areas and to create jobs.
Currently, the Bay Delta and Hat Creek in Burney are likely pilot candidates.
The group discussed the 2011-2012 federal budget. It is anticipated
that the National Forest will be budgeted under a Continuing Resolution with a 5-10% cut
in February. Congressman McClintock spoke about the need for the National Forests to pay
for their own management through the sale of wood and other products off the land, rather
than setting aside vast tracts of land in “pristine” forests and expelling the
public from its public lands.
At this point, although there is a $328 million placeholder in the
USFS budget, it does not look like Congress will renew the Secure Schools and Communities
Self Determination Act. This provided money to backfill Forest counties for the 25% of
revenues from timber sales lost due to set asides for the northern spotted owl. At its high
point, this amounted to around $9 million to Siskiyou County split between County roads
and schools. The backfill constitutes a substantial portion of our road department and
school budgets and cannot be replaced by defaulting to the old sales formula unless timber
harvest levels are substantially increased. This will have a huge impact on our county. http://www.partnershipforruralamerica,com
Several counties complained about the new maps published in
connection with the travel management rule. The maps do not accurately reflect actual
roads on the ground – only those the Forest recognizes. This has drawn people down
dead ends with boulders across the road in areas where they are unable to turn around and
goo back. Moore stated that the maps were prepared based on uniform national standards and
the problem is known, but there are no current solutions.
Various counties reported on their progress with government to
government coordination and their local Forests. Following previous meetings with the
County group and discussions about coordination, Mr. Moore had directed each Forest
Supervisor to coordinate with County Boards of Supervisors on Travel Management Plans. Siskiyou
County has had several coordination sessions with the Klamath and Shasta Trinity National
forests.
I updated the group on NEPA requirements to measure the social and
economic impacts of proposed Forest plans and projects. The Regional office has hired a
sociologist to train local Forests to look at such impacts. The next Sierra-Cascades
Dialog Session on October 12 will center around “Improving
Social and Economic Conditions in Rural Forest Communities.” I have been asked to
speak on one of the panels. http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/SierraCascadesDialog/oct2011/ The
session is open to the public.
My website is http://users.sisqtel.net/armstrng/ |
