Bill Imbergamo - Federal Forest Resource Council
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Bill Imbergamo - Federal Forest Resource Council
- 1. Bill Imbergamo, Executive Director Arkansas Forestry Association October 2015
- 2. Who are we? โข Over 650 sawmills, pulp and paper mills, engineered wood facilities, biomass power plants, hundreds of logging contractors in 42 States โข Over 390,000 workers โข Over $19 billion in payroll โข The last best chance for forest management on our public lands
- 3. Who are we?
- 4. What is at stake? National Forests Can Help Build and Sustain High Value Timber Markets
- 5. What is at stake?
- 6. What is at stake? State: Acres: ASQ: Most Recent: Alabama: 667,000 43 MBF 38.6 MBF Arkansas: 3,000,000 208 MBF 110.2 MBF Florida: 1,200,000 52 MBF 32.2 MBF Georgia: 749,000 60 MBF 16.4 MBF Kentucky: 708,000 11 MBF 7.8 MBF Louisiana: 604,000 48 MBF 60 MBF Mississippi: 1,200,000 254 MBF 58.4 MBF North Carolina: 1,250,000 43 MBF 16.3 MBF South Carolina: 629,000 67 MBF 52.3 MBF Tennessee: 655,000 22 MBF 8.5 MBF Texas: 675,000 113 MBF 36.6 MBF Virginia: 1,664,000 54 MBF 17.5 MBF Total: 13,000,000 975 MBF 454.8 MBF
- 7. What is at stake? โข Southeastern National Forests are cutting 46.6% of total allowable cut. โข NFS timber is sold in competitively bid timber sales โ but sales are not ramped up or down based on market conditions. โข Providing supply โ even in down markets โ helps stabilize timber demand.
- 8. What is at stake? In Arkansas: โขRoughly 10 percent of total forest area โขRoughly 12 percent of commercial timberland โข3 million acres of high-visibility forest management.
- 9. What is at stake? In Arkansas: NFS Units have sold an average of 62% of their 208 Million Board Feet (MBF) Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) over the last 5 years. Fiscal Year MBF Sold: % of ASQ: 2014 134.109 64% 2013 110.229 53% 2012 131.378 63% 2011 142.373 68% 2010 135.636 65%
- 10. How did we get here?
- 11. Current Management Process: (warning: approximate) Forest Plan Forest Management Project Watershed Condition Terrestrial Condition Project Level NEPA Fire Condition Class CWPP CFLRA Road Density Plant Surveys Archaeology Wildlife Project Level NEPA T&E Species Culturally Significant Plants NPDES Permit?
- 12. How did we get here? Current laws (NFMA, NEPA, ESA): โข Do not harmonize โข Multi-level planning process creates redundancy, opportunities for judicial second- guessing โข Put judges, not resource professionals, in charge of decision-making
- 13. How did we get here? Courts have usually presumed that to โprotectโ non-timber values, we must: โข Cut fewer trees โข Cut on fewer acres โข Make it harder to pick the acres to harvest
- 14. How did we get here? Clinton Administration presided over a nearly 80 percent decline in NFS timber harvest. โข Set aside 60 Million Acres as โroadlessโ โข Proposed moving money out of timber accounts. โข Acres at risk to fire increased from 24 million in 1999 to 82 million today.
- 15. How did we get here?
- 16. How did we get here?
- 17. How did we get here?
- 18. What did we get?
- 19. What did we get?
- 20. What did we get?
- 21. What did we get?
- 22. What is to be done?
- 23. What is to be done?
- 24. What is to be done?
- 25. Fire Funding: Symptom, Not Cause
- 26. A Two Pronged Approach: HR 2647: The Resilient Federal Forests Act Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (Hot Springs!) โขStreamlines required analysis โขReduces litigation โขProvides new funding sources โขSolves โfire borrowingโ in a fiscally responsible way.
- 27. The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate! โข HR 2647 passed the House in July. โข Sent to Senate Agriculture Committee โข Hearing โ November?
- 28. The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate! Ask Sen. Boozman and Sen. Cotton to support HR 2647 โ fire funding and forest management Even enacting some of the key provisions in Westerman will help get more management on the ground: โขStreamlined analysis for collaborative projects โขNEPA Exemption for early successional habitat projects The Senate canโt help the Forest Service by simply providing a new fire funding mechanism.
- 29. The Resilient Federal Forest Act: On to the Senate! How Can You Help? โLikeโ FFRC on facebook! www.facebook.com/FederalForestResourceCoalition โLikeโ HFHC on facebook! www.facebook.com/healthyforestshealthycommunities/ Say THANK YOU to Congressman Bruce Westerman!
Editor's Notes
- Formed in 2011 as a new trade association, expanding informal efforts led by regional trade associations (BHFRA, CFA, AFRC, OTPG)
- The National Forest System covers 191 Million Acres. Growth Exceeds removals by more than 2 to 1. At 454 Million Board Feet, National Forest System in the Southeast is only cutting less than 10% of annual growth. Because the NFS grows to a longer rotation, NFS timber can help build and maintain markets for high quality sawlogs.
- The health of our National Forests โ Up to 82 million acres 42 percent of the system, is at risk to catastrophic fire, insect outbreaks
- Biggest single forest landowner in the Southeastern United States The biggest private landowner in the country only controls 6.4 million acres, with only about a third of that in the Southeast. Region 8 has only 6.8% of the NFS acres, but they account for 21% of NFS timber harvest
- Since the late 1980โs, growth has outstripped removals by more than 2 to 1: mortality is increasing due to overstocking and climate change
- Whether it has been preserving old trees, leaving large blocks of forest unmanaged, or reducing road densities, it has always (or usually) been presumed that less management is better.
- In each case, we were told this approach would lead to healthier forests, healthier wildlife populations, and rural prosperity. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again.
- Nearly 3X increase in acres at risk. Undersecretary Lyons told Congress โWith the roadless issue finally behind us, I intend to focus the agency's efforts on restoring forest ecosystems that are out of balance due to widespread fire suppression and past management practices.โ
- So environmental groups continued to litigate, even as the FS moved away from commercial harvest.
- In 2012, the Forest Service did commercial thinning or regeneration harvest on just under 110,000 acres. Even aged management was used on 1/100th of 1% of the National Forests.
- Some forests are being thinned, but as forest managers know, unless you regenerate, you are not going to have a healthy forest for the longer term.
- Pine beetle outbreak, NFS lands in Mississippi.
- Escudilla Mountain Lookout, near Alpine, AZ, after the Wallow Fire, July 2011. Half million acre, high severity fire
- Sourdough Biscuit Fire, Siskiyou NF, Oregon, 2002. 200,000 acre fire, reburned this summer. Less than 10 percent salvage from the original fire.
- Overmature Aspen stand, Gunflint District, Superior National Forest, Minnesota
- This is near Alpine, AZ. Spot the hazardous fuels treatment
- El Dorado National Forest, California. Which forest will fare better in a fire?
- Pine stand, Ouachita National Forest. This is a seed tree regeneration harvest, and itโs a vital part of meeting timber goals, wildlife habitat goals, and preventing fire danger, both for the forest and itโs neighbors.
- The Forest Service has projected that they will basically be eaten by fire in the next decade. The way it works currently, when they run out of suppression dollars, the Forest Service borrows from forest management accounts โ basically timber programs โ to pay the suppression tab. So funds that should be used to reforest, repair roads, and take care of wildlife habitat after a timber harvest wind up going towards fire suppression instead. -- Itโs a terrible way to budget -- Itโs not fiscally responsible Congress just paid back $700 Million in fire suppression costs this last week. Overall suppression tab was nearly $3 billion.
- These are basic tools the Forest Service can use right away: It streamlines the number of alternatives they must consider -- requires those suing to post a bond that would cover the govโts legal costs, -- creates alternative funding mechanisms (non-governmental) to help pay for the next project -- allows access to emergency spending for fire expenses after the FS spends the 10-year average.
- We wound up referred to the Senate Agriculture Committee, where Sen. John Boozman sits on that committee, and he has been very helpful in pressing for the November hearing.
- Some of the provisions in Westerman are probably too tough for the Senate, but even getting half a loaf is better than getting nothing.