From the desk of Michael Strickland
Senators question Forest Service decision, point to impact on jobs, local economies
Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have
joined a bipartisan letter led by Senators Jon Tester (D-Montana.), Ron
Wyden (D-Oregon), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) warning the President
against reducing timber sales on Forest Service lands.
The
Senators are joined by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Max Baucus
(D-Montana), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), Jeff Flake
(R-Arizona), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), and
Mark Udall (D-Colorado).
The Forest Service’s budget proposal
for 2014 would cut timber sales by 15 percent. The Senators say the
plan threatens jobs and small businesses and is inconsistent with the
agency’s previous forest restoration efforts.
“At a time when
we need to be increasing timber harvest, the Administration’s blueprint
sets us even further back,” the Senators wrote President Obama. “The
cuts would have serious consequences for counties and businesses in our
states and across the country. We urge you to reconsider proposed cuts
in timber sales and instead find new ways to boost timber supply in a
responsible manner.”
The Senators note that in addition to
boosting the market’s timber supply and creating jobs, increasing the
timber harvest will help to mitigate wildfires. Dead trees combined
with historic drought to burn a near-record 9.3 million acres nationwide
in 2012.
The Senators’ bipartisan letter to President Obama is available below and online HERE.
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