Daines wants a change in forest management to reduce fires

In a teletownhall held Wednesday night by phone and live-stream on Facebook, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., blamed what he called "radical environmental groups" for blocking forest management projects that could reduce the frequency and severity of wildfires.

"It's time to not allow these radical environmental groups and D.C. bureaucrats to be in charge anymore and let Montanans move forward with healthy forest management initiatives," Daines said.

The teletownhall, which Daines said hundreds of thousands of Montanans took part in, came as wildfires fueled by dry conditions have torched land throughout the west this fire season. Daines said 1 million acres in Montana and more than 8 million across the U.S. have been scorched by wildfires.

"This feels like a fire season where the fire is controlling us," he said.

Daines said that because of environmental groups, much-needed forest management projects to clear dead or dying trees and debris have been blocked by litigation from environmental groups and judicial decisions.

Two fires that burned this year were in areas where the Stonewall Vegetation Project was planned, but the U.S. Forest Service was unable to move forward with the forest management project, he said.

Forest reform is greatly needed, Daines said.

"One of two things is going to happen either we are going to thin these trees out, take them, take them and use them in our timber industry and create jobs, tax revenue supporting schools and basic county infrastructure, or they are going to burn," Daines said.

Daines said the Forest Service spends a great deal of time preparing to fight litigation from environmental groups, which takes away resources from forest management.

He said he wants to change the litigation process for forest management, streamline the National Environmental Policy Act process, and end the practice of fire borrowing, where the Forest Service diverts money from other parts of its budget to fight the fires.

"We should be treating these active wildfires more like a hurricane or a tornado," he said.

Money should be set aside apart from the Forest Service budget that can be used to fight wildfires, Daines said.

Sandra of Billings, the first caller to be heard, said she grew up near Glacier and her father would sometimes cut down trees. Her father used to tell her that it was good for the forests, and her father would get money for the timber and a starter kit to plant a new tree, she said.

"I don't know why that can't happen again," Sandra said.

Daines said the way forests were managed has changed in recent years.

"Gone are the days of clearcutting timber, that just doesn't happen today," he said. "That just doesn't happen anymore."

Forests nowadays now are instead thinned, Daines said.

Kevin, a caller from Plains and fourth-generation logger, said not only new forest management policies should be changed, but policies changed in the 1990s should also be looked at.

"The Forest Service was very successful in putting fires out and keeping the acreages low before the '90s, and now they sometimes can't seem to keep them sometimes under 100,00 acres," Kevin said.

He also asked what could be done to harvest timber from many of the dead and dying trees.

Jessica from Bozeman, a mother of three children, said her children cannot go outside to play because of smoke from the fires.

She said while she agrees forests must be cleared of dead or dying trees that have been impacted by pine beetles, part of the reason for the trees being killed is because the winters are warmer and the cold is not killing those insects.

The conversation on climate change, she said, has become a forum for extreme voices on both sides of the issue.

"This is not a war between different sides, this should be a conversation between different people who have different perspectives and interests about what is the best decision and the best policies for the state and the country," Jessica said.

Daines said there would not be a debate on climate change during the call, but that forest management in the long run would make for a better forest and environment.

He said a sustainable forest management strategy will help mitigate the effects of carbon, which is increased by smoke from wildfires.

"We don't want to be going to the extremes on either end," Daines said. "We need to stay focused on the science and the facts, and a healthy forest environmentally is a very, very good thing."

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Editor's note: None of the callers in this story provided their last name.