[MCN] ICYMI: Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics take Tester/Daines/Zinke to Wood Shed

[Matthew Koehler]

The following article from Forest Service Employees for Environmental
Ethics (FSEEE) raises serious red flags over calls for more national forest
logging from Senator Tester, Senator Daines and Rep Zinke.

SNIP: "So while they publicly bang the drum of “more logging!” the Montana
legislators are quietly sending a message to the Forest Service leadership
acknowledging what they don’t want to say out loud: There aren’t enough
buyers for lumber milled from the trees they so dearly want to see cut
down."



http://fseee.org/index.php/ground-truth/sound-off/1004318

Take My Lumber — Please!

Earlier this month, the three members of Montana’s congressional delegation
wrote letters to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell that say a whole lot
about economic reality, environmental policy and political duplicity.

The first letter, signed by Democratic Senator Jon Tester, went to the
chief on September 15. The second, signed by Republican Senator Steve
Daines and Republican Representative Ryan Zinke, followed two days later.

Both made pleas that the Forest Service give “flexibility” to Montana
lumber companies that hold contracts to log on national forests.

Translation? Mill owners are having trouble selling the lumber milled from
trees they’ve purchased from the Forest Service. By law, most companies
that are awarded federal timber sale contracts must complete the logging
within a specified timeframe, typically a few years.

[image: Montana's congressional delegation. From left, Senators Jon Tester
(D) and Steve Daines (R), and Representative Ryan Zinke (R).]

Montana's congressional delegation. From left, Senators Jon Tester (D) and
Steve Daines (R), and Representative Ryan Zinke (R).

These same Montana legislators have been among the loudest voices demanding
that the Forest Service offer more timber for sale. They say more logging
is needed to make forests less prone to wildfires and disease and to
support the state’s economy.

Turns out Montana mills can’t get through the trees they already have.

The three Montana legislators have repeatedly accused conservationists of
interfering with attempts to raise logging levels in the state. Early this
year, Tester earned a rare “4 Pinnochios”
<http://fseee.org/index.php/ground-truth/briefly/1004101-a-bit-of-a-stretch->
from
the Washington Post by claiming on Montana Public Radio that “every logging
sale in Montana right now is under litigation. Every one of them.”

At the time, according to the Forest Service, there were 97 timber sales
under contract in Montana. A total of 14 faced litigation, and only four
were under court order forbidding logging.

Zinke is a sponsor of the deceptively labeled Resilient Federal Forest Act
of 2015. Among other measures, that legislation would require groups and
individuals to post bonds before filing lawsuits against Forest Service
timber sales. The overall goal of the bill is to increase the amount of
national forest land available for logging.

A combination of factors has led to low demand for lumber. That includes
the looming expiration of the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the United
States and Canada and lessening demand in China.

In his September 15 letter, Tester requested that Forest Service Chief
Tidwell “work with the forest products industry in Montana to evaluate
appropriate steps that ensure our sawmills have adequate flexibility to
honor their existing contracts.”

So while they publicly bang the drum of “more logging!” the Montana
legislators are quietly sending a message to the Forest Service leadership
acknowledging what they don’t want to say out loud: There aren’t enough
buyers for lumber milled from the trees they so dearly want to see cut down.
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