U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) asked U.S. Senate subcommittee members during an Aug. 22 hearing to consider approving his languishing forest management legislation to reduce the time the U.S. timber industry is involved in certain litigation.
Sen. Daines introduced the Protect Collaboration for Healthier Forests Act, S. 2160, last November and the bill has sat in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining since that time.
S. 2160 would establish a federal pilot program to allow alternative dispute resolution in lieu of judicial review for certain forest projects. U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and James Risch (R-ID) are original cosponsors of the bill.
“As we speak there are 27 timber sales currently under litigation in Montana,” Sen. Daines testified during the hearing. “Combating chronic litigation doesn’t erode public input, it safeguards it. It does so by ensuring consensus-driven decisions of the majority are not obstructed by isolated dissenters, in most cases, extreme environmental groups.”
Currently, 21 of the 27 timber sales under litigation in Montana are enjoined, meaning work on more than 17,000 acres is prohibited by a court injunction, according to a statement from the senator’s office.
Such litigation could take years to resolve, according to Daines, who said disputed projects — including hazardous fuels reduction projects — could more quickly be resolved via the proposed pilot arbitration process under S. 2160.
“I can’t even see the mountains out my back door in my home which are just a few miles away because of the smoke,” Sen. Daines testified, referring to the wildfires that currently are burning in his home state and others around the country.
He also pointed to the recent enjoinment of the Teepee Creek Stewardship Project in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest after one day of operations that forced crews to stop work. The project would have helped reduce fire risks in nearby communities, according to a statement from Sen. Daines’ office.
S. 2160 would improve the viability of national forests and revive the U.S. timber industry, added Sen. Daines, a member of the full Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He urged subcommittee members to take action on the bill, which would specifically authorize the U.S. Forest Service to use binding arbitration to resolve certain forest restoration project disputes.
If enacted, S. 2160 also would limit arbitration designation by the U.S. Agriculture Secretary to not more than two projects per calendar year under the pilot program, according to text of the bill in the congressional record.
The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining also considered several other bills during its Wednesday hearing and will keep the record open for two more weeks to allow members to submit additional comments, said Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), subcommittee chairman.
Daines said he would work to bring the bill to the full Senate floor for a vote as soon as possible.