Folks Growing Tired Of Obstructionists

[BigHornRam]

Rain this morning is hopefully bringing this year's fire season to an end. The debate on forest management is only getting started.

http://missoulian.com/opinion/colum...cle_6e2978a7-a3bc-5083-a9e5-93a5ea1e725a.html

 

[BigHornRam]

Tester weighs in as well......

http://www.kbzk.com/story/36361637/daines-tester-make-separate-calls-for-forest-management-reform

 

[BigHornRam]

Link to Stonewall project that Daines referenced in editorial.

http://helenair.com/news/state-and-...cle_1645162d-56f1-5ae5-b118-44e4ed7fffb9.html

 

[COEngineer]

All of the conservation groups I follow (mostly RMEF and Nature Conservancy, but also CO DPW and USFS) have been advocating for controlled burns and timber harvest for many years. The biggest obstacles are the legal ones. I am glad to hear someone in the federal government gets it. Whether he will do anything about it or not, we'll see. Make sure you let your congressmen know how you feel.

 

[BuzzH]

Tester gets it...management takes money.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Tester gets it...management takes money.

... and fire suppression takes money from management.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Cut all the trees and ban lightning. Problem solved. Send the money to me, along with a nation's gratitude.

 

[BigHornRam]

University of Montana educated enviro shares his wisdom in today's Missoulian.

http://missoulian.com/opinion/colum...cle_503d8fb0-75aa-5a2a-9202-5d4629fb43c6.html

 

[RobG]

... and fire suppression takes money from management.

and blowing all money on fire suppression lets the PLT crowd whine about how the USFS can't get anything done.

 

[BigHornRam]

and blowing all money on fire suppression lets the PLT crowd whine about how the USFS can't get anything done.

Diverse group here supporting the USFS Stonewall project, Rob.


"This week, Christensen agreed to allow multiple parties to write a brief in support of the Forest Service and Stonewall. Among those filing the brief are the Lincoln Restoration Committee, Lewis and Clark and Powell counties, Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department, the Montana Logging Association and other timber interests, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation and several Lincoln-area residents."

 

[Ben Lamb]

Sonny Perdue had a great statement on fire. He was hammering on congresses inability to properly fund his Department, lack of ability to pass simple fixes like fire-borrowing despite broad bi-partisan support and declining budgets for restoration.

Luckily, it seems our Senior Senator actually gets stuff done, and I think he'll have a willing partner with Secretary Purdue.

Those who only advocate cutting trees are playing politics rather than focusing on the long-term fixes and budgets we need to actively manage some lands, defend the wildland-urban interface and create better habitat.

Stonewall only had a few thousand acres of logging. There was more prescribed fire than tree-cutting, IIRC. That project was mostly about habitat restoration with forest products helping pay for it.

If people really want to see progress on forest management, supporting efforts like the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act introduced by Tester would be a good first step. Then support better funding for our land managers and fix fire-borrowing. This isn't rocket surgery. It's abandoning the way Congress has messed up public land management under the auspices of cutting government.

 

[BigHornRam]

Exactly Ben. And the usual suspects litigated it. Thanks for making my point!

 

[BigHornRam]

Tester gets it...management takes money.

And money is generated with jobs.

Tester does get it.


http://missoulian.com/news/local/da...cle_f9749d70-e759-5a78-a928-2b801654bfea.html

 

[Sytes]

Some insightful discussion within those articles!!! Great to see a diverse group finally looking at this beyond extremist based groups slamming down ultimatum mentality of their way or no way thought process. We MUST focus on respecting ALL within the "OUR" definition of our land!

To see the Crips and Bloods... oops, my mistake, the Reds and Blues aka, Dems and Repubs finally come together on some major key issues is ---> a breath of fresh air in today's smoke filled setting!!!

Thanks for sharing, BHR! Some great diverse thinking going on breaking out of the hostage based groups of the "Ultimatum" crowd".

Congress must pass legislation to mend the broken way we fund wildfires so we can treat wildfire funding just like the natural disaster that it is,” said Tester. “The Forest Service must have the tools to go through a public process so that we can cut more trees and remove the dead and dying debris that fuel these fires.

Daines, a Republican, spoke in Washington, D.C., alongside the new U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke about how the massive fires of this summer are proof for forest-management reform. He said radical environmentalists are blocking common-sense projects that would decrease fire future fire dangers.

Great groups such as BHA (member) better take heed... Ultimatum based thinking will bite you in the ass if you don't think the tide will turn down the road. We must find ways to diversify our thinking of multi use especially our *renewable* resources such as our trees.