I had a few questions about the Fix our Forest Act and where it stands now…
1. If this bill were to pass the senate, how well would it be able to be implemented given that there have been large cuts to the Forest Service staff?
2. Is this bill the same as the USDA “emergency directive” I’ve been hearing about that would allow unregulated logging in half of our National Forests? I am trying to figure out what is true and what is rumor and if maybe that directive is being posted about inaccurately on social media.
Hi @Rachele Krivichi. Any activities that federal agencies are responsible for are going to be hampered by staffing and funding cuts to those agencies. That includes the US Forest Service and the fireshed management projects in Fix Our Forests. But that doesn't mean we should stop supporting good legislation, while also supporting efforts to adequately fund and staff those agencies.
The timber production Executive Order is separate. It just directs a few agency heads to find ways to produce more timber from federal lands. Some people have argued that Fix Our Forests will facilitate this effort, but I disagree. Fix Our Forests has very stringent criteria about what sort of projects can qualify for its fireshed management – see new updates to our training page on the subject. And the Executive Order already directs the agency heads to do things like streamlining permitting, even without Fix Our Forests. Plus, we have pretty limited timber harvesting/processing capacity in the USA now anyway.
I'd also recommend coming to our updated Fix Our Forests Act training on May 8th:
@Dana Nuccitelli
Wonderful, thanks for the info and clarity on this. There are definitely a lot of things floating around out there on social media and it's hard to determine what's getting overblown and what is accurate. I will definitely attend the training.
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