U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday to highlight legislation he introduced to eliminate bureaucracy that hinders active forestry management practices during a costly wildfire season.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service that federal agencies must consult the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on programs that coincide with new critical habitat designations and new species listings.
Daines appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to discuss bipartisan legislation that he introduced, the Litigation Relief for Forest Management Projects Act, to reverse the Ninth Circuit ruling. The bill, S. 605, would codify the Obama administration’s position that federal agencies don’t have to consult FWS at the programmatic level when new habitats are established or species are listed.
“As highlighted by President Obama’s Department of Justice the Cottonwood ruling has, and I quote, the ‘potential to cripple the Forest Service and BLM’s land management functions,’” Daines testified. “DOJ also highlighted that this decision substantially increases unnecessary paperwork requirements without any conservation benefit…”
Daines pointed out the vast agency resources that would be required to adhere to the court’s decision, given that the Department of Justice has said there are more than 850 listed species in the geographical area of the Ninth Circuit.
Underscoring the importance of active forestry management, Daines noted that more than 1 million acres burned in Montana in the last fire season, and two firefighters were killed.
“Today, there are five forest management projects in Montana, comprising over 150 million board feet of timber that have been blocked through injunctions due to the Cottonwood decision,” Daines said. “These projects were designed to achieve critical objectives such as reducing the risk of wildfires, improving habitat and protecting water quality.”
S. 605, Daines added, would offer a solution to conflicting legal interpretations of the law.
“I strongly believe this legislation together with other management and wildfire funding reforms should be passed into law this year,” Daines concluded. “We say out in Montana, that either we are going to manage the forests or the forests are going to manage us.”