WASHINGTON – The House approved a bill Wednesday to speed up salvage logging of burned forests and the planting of new trees after storms and wildfires.
The bill, approved 243-182, demands that federal land hit by disasters greater than 1,000 acres be restored within months, rather than years – time in which the commercial value of fire-killed timber diminishes as insects and rot set in.
“As Americans, we like our wood products,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the bill’s chief sponsor. “We build homes and furniture from wood. So if you’re going to use wood, doesn’t it make sense to first use burned, dead trees, rather than cut down rain forests?”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has proposed a similar measure.
The measure’s co-sponsor in the House, Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., called it a common-sense plan “that will be good for the environment and the economy as well.”
But most Democrats opposed the bill, arguing that cutting large old trees and planting new ones results in forests that are more vulnerable to new fires and less valuable as habitat for fish and wildlife.
Forty-one Democrats joined 202 Republicans in supporting the bill.
Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., was the only Western Republican to vote against the bill. Spokeswoman Kimberly Cadena said Reichert believes environmental exemptions in the bill were unnecessary to remove salvaged timber.
“There are laws in place right now so that salvage logging can occur … to prevent the spread of invasive species” and water quality degradation, Cadena said.
Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., and other critics said the bill could result in young, densely stocked “timber plantations” that are prone to sudden “blowups” of intense fires and can start crown fires in nearby stands of old-growth timber.
They also said the measure would help large timber companies log in areas where they are now barred, such as roadless areas in remote forests.
Walden and Baird disputed that, saying the bill specifically bars planting trees in evenly spaced rows, commonly called plantations, and would require that temporary roads built to accommodate logging be destroyed as soon as the harvest is completed.
Environmentalists remained skeptical, saying it was unlikely that a road would be “unbuilt” once it is in place.
The bill would give public land agencies 30 days after a catastrophe to come up with a plan, with a 90-day public comment period after that. Court action would be allowed thereafter.Currently, environmental analyses can take a year or more, followed by lengthy appeals or court battles.
How they voted
How Washington representatives voted on a bill to speed up the logging of burned forests and planting of new trees after storms and wildfires:
Voting yes: Brian Baird, D; Doc Hastings, R; Cathy McMorris, R
Voting no: Norman Dicks, D; Jay Inslee, D; Rick Larsen, D; Jim McDermott, D; Adam Smith, D; Dave Reichert, R
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
