March 15, 2023 HFHC News Round Up 

Protecting the Stanislaus Landscape (USDA Forest Service)
As we enter the second year of the strategy, the Stanislaus Landscape Project is applying a full suite of needed treatments; mastication, biomass removal, machine, and hand piling for burning, hand thinning, timber harvest, hazard tree removal, prescribed fire and fuel break construction and maintenance, to restore forest resilience at a landscape scale. Combined, these efforts will reduce hazardous fuels and create a landscape that can better withstand disturbances such as wildfire, insects, disease and drought conditions, while also protecting local communities, providing for critical species habitat and supporting forest use and recreational opportunities.

Rep. Tiffany Introduces Bill to Require Transparency in Wildfire Fuel Reduction (Tiffany Press)
Last week, Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07) introduced H.R. 1567, the Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions (ACRES) Act. This legislation would hold federal land management agencies accountable by providing transparency in the work they are doing to reduce the amount of fuel for wildfires on our public lands and determine the effectiveness of the fuel reduction. Specifically, the ACRES Act would require the Secretaries of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of the Interior (DOI) to carry out a yearly hazardous fuel reduction report based on the actual number of acres that the respective agencies treated over the past year. This legislation follows investigative reporting that agencies like the U.S. Forest Service have been overstating their fuel reduction work for decades, inflating their actual work done by over 20 percent.

Congressman LaMalfa Introduces the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023 (LaMalfa Press)
Today, Representatives Doug LaMalfa (R – CA) and Jimmy Panetta (D – CA) introduced the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023. This bill creates a Clean Water Act exemption for federal, state, local, and tribal firefighting agencies to use fire retardant to fight wildfires. Fire retardant is an essential tool used to contain or slow the spread of wildfires. Currently the Forest Service and other agencies are operating under the assumption that a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit is not required for the use of fire retardant because the regulations specifically state that fire control is a "non-point source silvicultural activity" and communications from EPA dating back to 1993 indicated a permit is not required.

Gluesenkamp Perez talks timber and wood industry during Longview town hall (The Daily News)
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez answered questions about bank bailouts and Cowlitz County projects during a town hall in Longview on Monday night. Dozens of people attended the event at the Roxy Theater to hear from the 3rd District’s first-term Democratic congresswoman. Cowlitz Economic Development Council President Ted Sprague moderated the event and ran Gluesenkamp Perez through a list of questions submitted by the crowd. Several of the questions tied back to the local timber and wood industry, either explicitly or implicitly. Gluesenkamp Perez is one of three Democrats on the forestry subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. She had toured the NORPAC mill complex in Longview on Monday afternoon before coming to the town hall.

U.S. government increases funding for wildland fire management programs (Lesprom)
The Biden-Harris Administration submitted to Congress the President’s budget for fiscal year 2024, which includes significant funding increases for wildland fire and hazardous fuels management. These investments will help address the nation’s wildfire crisis and implement comprehensive reforms for the wildland fire management workforce that provide stronger financial and health support to wildland firefighters, who are the backbone of wildland fire management nationwide.

Senator Lummis and Colleagues Introduce Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023 (Sheridan Media)
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator and Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) along with several of her colleagues introduced the Forest Protection and Wildland Firefighter Safety Act of 2023. The legislation protects firefighters, communities and property in Wyoming and throughout the west from the devastating impacts of wildfires by creating a Clean Water Act exemption for federal, state, local and tribal firefighting agencies to use fire retardant on fires.

Environmental group opposes Elko County habitat plan (Elko Daily)
An Idaho-based environmental group is opposing the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to restore sage grouse habitat in northeastern Elko County, saying it is really designed to increase cattle grazing. “The Bureau of Land Management in Nevada is on a juniper-removal bender across the state,” said Adam Bronstein, Western Watersheds Director for Nevada and Oregon. “Bulldozing down established pinyon-juniper stands has a poor track record in recovering sage-grouse and helping other species like elk or mule deer. We know, as does the Bureau, that the primary goal of these projects is to increase forage production for domestic livestock, not to improve habitat for the grouse.”

Forest tightens criteria for burns ahead of season (Silver City Daily Press)
Prescribed burns may return to the Gila National Forest in April or May under stricter checklists implemented after the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire in northern New Mexico last year, a Forest Service official said at a community meeting held Saturday in Pinos Altos...The changes made this year include having more resources on-site for prescribed burns, Cornwell said. That includes a new, five-year agreement with Grant County to have volunteer fire department personnel at prescribed burns.

Three C. Oregon nonprofits focused on healthy forests and trails hire shared outreach coordinator (KTVZ)
Three Central Oregon nonprofits have come together to hire an outreach coordinator to create more awareness and educate people about healthy forests. The Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project, Deschutes Trails Coalition and Discover Your Forest are eager to connect more with each other and their community! Long-time resident of Central Oregon, Anne-Marie Daggett, is the new Outreach Coordinator which will be a shared position focused on increasing the cohesion and consistency of messaging to the Central Oregon community regarding active forest management and forest activities.

$12 million grant secured for Beachie Creek and Lionshead wildfire recovery (KPTV)
More than two years after the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires brought major devastation to the Santiam Canyon, an additional $12 million has been secured for recovery efforts. Marion County made the announcement Tuesday after signing an agreement to secure the funds from the Oregon Housing and Community Services. The county says the funds will help in assisting the nearly 100 households still trying to return home between Marion and Linn Counties.

How Many Times Must We Do This? (Greg Walcher)
Twenty-three states have now sued the EPA over its so-called “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, because once again, the agency is asserting federal authority over water not covered under the law. The lawsuit says the rule “goes beyond the power Congress delegated in the Clean Water Act, raises serious constitutional concerns, and runs roughshod over the Administrative Procedure Act.” This is eerily familiar. It is the latest round in a decade-long litigation saga, chronicling an unrelenting onslaught of federal control over private property. The new legal case is different, only in the sense that we already know the outcome, because we have already seen it. What a mess.

Coalition Letter on the “Building United States Infrastructure through Limited Delays and Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act of 2023 (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
Investments in renewable energy and lower emissions technologies, critical mineral mining, and forestry to transportation projects are taking four to ten years to complete permitting.  These delays serve only to impede critical improvements now and in the future.  Projects intended to diversify and drive a cleaner economy, support small business growth, and move goods more efficiently need to traverse an increasingly complex and opaque permitting process.  This process holds projects captive and sometimes ends up terminating them altogether. The BUILDER Act would help address these delays by setting helpful timelines for agency environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and more importantly defines the timeframe during which project-level judicial review can be filed. 

Timber-related carbon capture agreements bill fails after WV House, Senate don't reach agreement (Logan Banner)
West Virginia lawmakers could not agree on legislation to regulate timber-related carbon capture agreements on the final day of the 2023 regular legislative session, resulting in the bill’s failure. The Senate refused to accept the House of Delegates’ removal of a moratorium on timber-related carbon capture agreements from a bill that would require such agreements to be registered with the state.

Wood Vault: a Carbon Storage System to lock CO2 away (Carbon Credits)
Removing carbon dioxide through dead trees and storing it for thousands of years underground is a mission that seems to attract nobody. But a California startup, Kodama Systems, is persistent enough to take on the challenge. After all, ensuring that dead trees keep carbon out of the atmosphere for millenia and bury them below the ground is one novel way to help mitigate climate change. And a novel concept also came out of that – wood vault – a carbon storage facility that you probably haven’t heard of.

Ongoing winter weather keeps lumber prices down: Madison’s (CFI)
As more cold and snow descended yet again across North America, construction activity remained stalled thus lumber sales were similarly slow. Those purchases which were made were generally for just-in-time buying or immediate needs; almost no one was stocking up on inventory yet for this looming spring building season. For their part, sawmills could only hold off increasing production volumes to keep supply in line with ongoing muted demand. Stocking wholesalers tried to play the inventory-advantage game, only to end up selling small volumes at below current replacement costs. All eyes were on the weather, as expectations were for a burst of building to come as soon as the weather improves.

UP mill makes 2023 NCAA Final Four basketball courts (UP Source)
Both of this year’s NCAA Final Four men’s and women’s basketball courts have been made by Connor Sports Mill in Amasa. Connor Sports Mill has been making hardwood courts for 150 years. Technical Director Jason Gasperich said the process of making the floor starts seven months before the game by collecting tons of northern hard maple wood lumber. “We bring lumber in that is green so it must be dried, so we dry the lumber and then we go into the flooring melt where we convert that material to actual strips of flooring,” said Gasperich. “After that, we produced the flooring, we take it to another department where we pannel the flooring and we nail it to a custom-built subfloor.”

Harmon’s histories: um’s forestry students once published their own newspaper (Missoula Current)
Most folks are familiar with The University of Montana’s student newspaper, the Kaimin. But did you know there was another, albeit short-lived, student newspaper back in the early days of the campus – this one published by the Forestry School? The publication was called the “Forestry Number of The Kaimin.” The first of its annual editions was published on March 11, 1915. Articles included, “How to make a Cruising Stick,” “Opportunities in Forestry,” and “Table Manners for Forestry Students" (more on that, later).

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