Walden co-authors expansion of Healthy Forests bill
By Paul Fattig
Medford Mail Tribune
December 09, 2009 5:00 AM

Two Oregon congressmen from opposite sides of the aisle introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at creating jobs on federal timberlands, expanding renewable energy projects and reducing the chance of catastrophic wildfires near rural communities.

The Healthy Forests Restoration Amendments Act of 2009, which expands the authority of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 beyond the wildland-urban interface, was authored by U.S. Reps. Greg Walden, a Republican from Hood River, and Kurt Schrader, a Democrat from Salem.

"We've had a bipartisan law that works — this just takes what works and expands it farther into our forests," Walden said in a telephone interview.

"This is a result of feedback that comes to all of us from our foresters and others who have made the case that HFRA works, but this is the type of work they need to do beyond the current law's authority," he added.

The original act authorized the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to thin overgrown forests within a 1.5-mile-wide, doughnut-shaped wildland-urban interface surrounding rural communities where the risk of catastrophic wildfire can be devastating.

Other authors of the legislation included U.S. Reps. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., Brian Baird, D-Wash., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.

"Forests can be managed in an environmentally friendly way while producing much needed jobs in our communities," Schrader said in a prepared statement.

"We need to recognize the economic and stewardship opportunities available in our national forests that will go a long way toward creating more jobs and managing our natural resources in a more sustainable way; and that is exactly what these two bills will accomplish."

Schrader also introduced a companion bill on Tuesday — Incentives to Increase Use of Renewable Biomass Act of 2009 — to encourage development of renewable biomass energy with $100 million in interest-free loans to install clean biomass energy projects in universities, public schools, and hospitals, as well as local government and tribal offices. Walden is a co-sponsor of that bill.

There are nearly 14 million acres of federal forestland in Oregon and Washington that require restoration work, according to Walden, including more than 300,000 acres in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Southern Oregon.

The healthy forests legislation is supported by the Society of American Foresters, which counts more than 14,000 members across the nation.

"The Healthy Forests Restoration Act was passed in 2003 to address catastrophic wildfire, insects and disease through forest restoration projects, but needs clarifying amendments to allow its intended implementation on the ground," SAF president Bernard Hubbard wrote to sponsors of the proposal. "To give our forests a fighting chance to adapt to a changing climate, we must restore health and resiliency. We believe this legislation will help accomplish this goal.

Hubbard noted that the bills, if approved, "would help to improve the health and resilience of federal forests while also producing renewable energy from woody biomass."

Sean Stevens, spokesman for the Portland-based Oregon Wild conservation group, had a different view.

"Conservationists had some issues with HFRA, but the goal of preventing fires around rural communities was one we supported," he said, noting that support included working to restore the forest to make it less prone to large- scale fires. "This (act) goes out to the back country to log pretty much unnecessarily. We would be better served to continue to focus on the work that hasn't been done around that donut-shaped area around rural communities."

Stevens said environmental groups, timber firms and rural community residents have generally reached a consensus on those projects.

"This is picking an unnecessary fight," he said.

Walden indicated the legislation he introduced Tuesday is aimed at expanding that consensus by reducing the areas identified by the resource agencies as being overgrown because of past fire suppression. No work would be done unless it meets all environmental laws, he said.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.

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