House panel passes Westerman-led bill on national forests
WASHINGTON — The House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday approved the Resilient Federal Forests Act, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman’s bill to overhaul management practices in national forests.
The vote was along party lines; 23 Republicans voted yes and 12 Democrats voted no.
House Resolution 2936 would enable federal officials, when there’s a disaster, to quickly implement salvage operations and reforestation efforts, bypassing the sorts of environmental studies that are typically required.
In addition, it would speed up the regulatory process on many other projects and make it harder for environmentalists to block them. Judges would no longer be allowed to issue restraining orders or preliminary injunctions to halt salvage operations or reforestation efforts after large fires or some other “large-scale catastrophic event.”
The legislation also addresses shortages in funding for firefighting.
Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District, which Westerman represents, contains roughly 2.5 million acres of federal forest.
The Republican from Hot Springs introduced and was able to advance similar legislation in 2015; that bill passed in the House but died in the Senate.
Former President Barack Obama’s administration was
highly critical of the measure. Westerman said he believes President Donald Trump’s administration will support it.
The 2015 version, at one point, would’ve penalized people for unsuccessfully challenging certain forest management plans in court. In order to even bring such a suit, opponents would have had to post “a bond or other security equal to the [Cabinet secretary’s] anticipated costs, expenses and attorneys fees.” Losing plaintiffs would have had to foot the government’s legal bills. Winning plaintiffs would have been unable to recoup any of their own costs, expenses and fees from the government.
The bond requirement has been stripped from the 2017 version. The provision remains that would prevent successful litigants from recouping their legal costs.
In a written statement Tuesday, Westerman said Tuesday’s vote “proves that Congress is serious about tackling the major issues” and comes at a critical time.
“As we debated this bill, dozens of wildfires continue to burn in the southwest. With property and lives in danger, it again highlights the necessity of the Resilient Federal Forests Act. It would reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires through active forest management, addressing both the symptoms and the underlying cause of catastrophic fires in our national forests,” he added.
The measure received backing from some Democrats last time. This time, two of the original six cosponsors are Democrats from Minnesota. U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson and Rick Nolan both have portions of the Superior National Forest in their districts and represent large rural districts that were carried by Trump.
The measure has the support of the House Republican leadership and the American Forest & Paper Association.
Several environmental groups oppose the measure.
In a written statement, the Center for Biological Diversity called Westerman’s bill a “timber-industry wish list.”
The Tuscon, Ariz.-based nonprofit group, which has sued federal agencies to challenge environmental or endangered species actions, said House Republicans would “let special interests destroy some of our most vital public lands, wildlife and watersheds.”
Brett Hartl, the group’s government affairs director, called the legislation a giant step backwards.
“This bill would return forest management to the dark ages, when reckless logging devastated wildlife, degraded rivers and ruined recreation opportunities for countless Americans,” he said.